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Floor Speech

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I rise today in support of Finland and Sweden's application to join NATO. I give my strong support to this application.

I disagree heartily with our colleague from Missouri. I know you know, Madam President, having worked on this issue, as I have--having visited these countries, we know how important they are to Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Minnesota has a special bond with the Kingdom of Sweden and the Republic of Finland, and at the core of this bond, at the core of the bond between our country and these countries, is shared values--values of democracy, values of freedom.

Yes, we have challenges--of course we do--in Asia, but I happen to believe that when you are a great power like the United States of America, you can do two things at once.

Let's look at what these countries add to our security by joining NATO.

First of all, Finland is over 2 percent of their budget on military. Sweden is increasing their budget on military. Both nations have professional militaries. They have strong and transparent economies, and mostly they believe in human rights--in freedom, in liberty, and equality. They believe in democracy.

I will note specifically that Finland has added an extra $2.2 billion in defense spending this year. Greece and Poland and Lithuania and Latvia and Estonia and Slovakia and Croatia and the United Kingdom-- above 2 percent.

So let's get the facts straight here, and let's talk about what these countries will add to our security.

We are at an unparalleled moment in history. Since Vladimir Putin's cruel, unjustified invasion of Ukraine, people all over the world have been waking up out of a 2-year plague, out of a slumber, to realize just how fragile our democracy is.

We realized it here in this building when, not so long along, insurrectionists invaded this Chamber. We didn't just sit back and say: Well, there goes our democracy. We stood up. We stood up, Democrats and Republicans, in this very Chamber.

When President Zelenskyy of Ukraine took to the streets the minute that this invasion started and looked at a video camera and said: We are here, he was saying that to his own people to give them the courage to stand up against the inhuman barbarism of a dictator, but he was also saying it to the rest of the world.

We see it on Ukraine's frontlines, where everyday people took up arms and are taking up arms to protect their country. It sent a warning shot to tyrants around the world who believe that free democracies are just up for grabs. Ukrainians have shown their true colors in bright blue and yellow, which just happen to be the colors of Sweden. They have shown their true colors, and they are showing the world what courage is all about.

Having been in the last group of Senators from this Chamber who met with leaders in Ukraine just a few weeks before the war started, I can tell you this: The people of Ukraine want to choose their own destiny, and the moral flame they have lit across the world will not be doused.

Russia's unprovoked aggression in Ukraine has changed how we think about the world's security. That is why I strongly support the decision of these two great democracies, Sweden and Finland, to join the most important and defensive alliance in the world--NATO.

When President Biden met in May with Finnish and Swedish leaders about their application to join NATO, he said the people of Sweden and Finland--he said to them that they ``have the full, total, and complete backing of the United States of America.'' We supported that. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations echoed its support with an overwhelming bipartisan vote just last month. Our leaders support this pact.

By joining NATO, allies made a sacred commitment to one another that an attack on one is an attack on all. The only time in history this has been invoked was after 9/11, when the United States was attacked, and all our allies rallied to our side. As Americans, we have never and will never forget that.

In June, we celebrated the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. NATO was formed in the wreckage of World War II. When President Truman signed the North Atlantic Treaty, he expressed the goal of its founders ``to preserve their present peaceful situation and to protect it in the future.'' And for decades, it has been crucial to upholding that peace.

Now, 73 years later, NATO is as important as ever, and the recent decisions made by our great friends, the great countries of Sweden and Finland, are a testament to the continued promise of this alliance.

As Swedish Prime Minister Andersson said in May:

With Sweden and Finland as members, NATO will also be stronger. We are security providers with sophisticated defense capabilities.

That is correct.

And we are champions of freedom, democracy, and human rights.

That is correct.

As Finland's leaders, President Niinisto and Prime Minister Marin, also said:

NATO membership would strengthen Finland's security. As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defense alliance.

I had the honor of being on a panel at the Munich Security Conference with President Niinisto, and I saw firsthand his commitment to the democracy in Finland and to the democracy all over the world.

Finland and Sweden are already among our closest partners on a range of issues. They are already important contributors to the international community, including in the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and other international organizations.

Finnish and Swedish troops have already served shoulder to shoulder with U.S. and NATO forces in Kosovo, in Bosnia.

In 1994, Sweden and Finland joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program, strengthening our official relationship and coming one step closer to being a full-fledged NATO member.

NATO, Finland, and Sweden have partnered together on securing the Baltic Sea region through regular conversations and exercises--a practice that will be even more important now.

In 2018, Finland, Sweden, and the United States signed a trilateral agreement to deepen defense cooperation and promote security in Northern Europe.

Both Finland and Sweden are already working in coordination with the United States and other allies and partners to support brave Ukrainians standing up to Vladimir Putin.

Sweden has responded to Russia's bombing of maternity hospitals with millions of dollars of support and helmets and body shields, as well as billions for the refugees flowing from Ukraine. Finland has sent military aid, including thousands of assault rifles and 70,000 ration packages, and has offered millions of dollars in humanitarian aid.

Both nations also have the potential, as I noted, to bring huge assets to this alliance, not, as my colleague from Missouri implied, to somehow make things harder. Are you kidding? Maybe he hasn't seen these countries. I have.

Finland, after fighting its own territorial wars with the Soviet Union, has a reserve force of 900,000 strong. Sweden has built its own fighter jets. Both countries recently announced upcoming expansion and reform of their militaries.

As the Arctic region, which holds increasing importance for U.S. and European security, sees encroachments from Russia and China--may I add to my colleague from Missouri--Sweden and Finland are poised to help NATO confront these challenges.

I am here to give my full support for Sweden and Finland entering NATO. As we made clear, we stand with Sweden, we stand with Finland, and we stand with democracy.

Russia's war in Ukraine--a full-scale, unprovoked, and premeditated war against a sovereign and democratic country--has changed Europe and the world, but it has also demonstrated the importance and resilience of our transatlantic alliance. We have all witnessed the bravery of the Ukrainian people as they fight for their lives, and we are proud to stand with them.

This is about the future of political freedom, economic freedom, technological freedom, and, yes, democratic freedom.

Finland and Sweden taking the step of NATO membership will not only strengthen their own security but the cause of freedom in Europe and around the world.

I would say, when things are tough, we keep our friends closer, and I believe that this strong NATO and the inclusion of Sweden and Finland will actually help us with the rest of the world, not just with this conflict in Ukraine.

So I ask my colleague from Missouri, who is not here right now, to consider that as we look at our alliances and how we deal with China. We must strengthen our trade alliances. We must strengthen our military alliances. Certainly, including Finland and Sweden as a member of NATO is one big positive step.

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