Expressing Support for the Sovereign Decision of Finland and Sweden to Apply to Join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) As Well As Calling on All Members of Nato to Ratify the Protocols of Accession Swiftly

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Mr. Costa, for yielding this time. I thank my friend and the ranking member, Mr. Turner, for his role in bringing this to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, as has been said over and over again, Vladimir Putin made a terrible strategic and tragic miscalculation by illegally invading the sovereign and democratic nation of Ukraine. His false justification for that invasion was the supposed threat posed by NATO expansion. His other false claim was that Russian Ukrainians were being terrorized and threatened. Neither of those allegations was true.

Now, his actions have led directly, as Mr. Turner just pointed out, and as Mr. Costa pointed out, to the opposite of what he intended. That is, we are going to be adding two extraordinary members of the European community, two countries that have shared our values, our democratic values, our nation of laws values, and our humanitarian values with us for literally over half a century.

Together, Finland and Sweden will add substantial capabilities to NATO's collective defense and make the Baltic region much more secure against Russian aggression. But much more than that, they will add value, because of their values, to our alliance.

Mr. Speaker, I was in Denmark in April, meeting with senior officials. I can attest that the addition of Finland and Sweden to the NATO family will create a Scandinavian bloc--Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland--within NATO that will be more than the sum of its parts, significantly contributing to the peace and stability of Europe and to the security of all NATO nations, including the United States.

As I have said before, we must ensure that Putin's invasion will result in a strategic defeat for Russia. I pause, Mr. Speaker, to emphasize that point. Vladimir Putin must not win this war, not only for the sake of the Ukrainians and their extraordinary bravery, and the bravery and the leadership of Mr. Zelenskyy, their President, but because the free world needs to send a very strong, clear, and unmistakable message that tyranny will not prevail. We must send a message to dictators around the world that this action is unacceptable and will be opposed until victory by the free world.

We must defend the hard-won principle in international laws and norms that a nation cannot simply invade and seek to conquer territory from a neighbor by force. That was accepted for centuries, indeed, millennia, but it is not acceptable today in a world of nuclear weapons, in a world that has a United Nations that stands for the principle that no nation can by force take the land of another nation.

I thank Representative Keating for his leadership on this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I hope we can all come together, Democrats and Republicans, as I think we will, in a resounding, unanimous vote to show our support not only for Ukraine, which we have demonstrated over and over again by votes of this House, but also for our new NATO allies, the people of Finland and Sweden.

I thank the Prime Minister of Sweden, Magdalena Andersson, and the Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, for their leadership in taking what is in many respects a courageous stand.

The Finns, of course, have a very long border with Russia. They believe, correctly, in my view, that their security is contingent, and that is why they are joining NATO.

As we have reiterated time and time again, this House is committed to honoring Article 5 of the NATO Charter.

Mr. Speaker, this is a good resolution that will stand us in good stead as a nation and as a global community.

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