Nato

Floor Speech

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Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, the core of NATO is Article 5: An attack on one is an attack on all.

Since the end of World War II, the U.S. and our allies have honored and operated on this mutual trust. President Truman called it a neighborly act.

There is no article for if a NATO member attacks another because for 80 years, we have led a peaceful partnership for our shared democratic ideals. Truman considered the treaty a means to establish freedom from aggression and from the use of force in the North Atlantic community. If one ally invaded another, the center would not hold.

Now, President Trump seeks to threaten our historic alliance by his flippant, poisonous quip that we will have Greenland one way or another. As a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, I have met with the Prime Minister of Denmark and other key allies. They believe in America's global leadership. They have fought and died alongside us in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now, they fear our words. They plan for a future in which the United States is no longer the indispensable nation, a core global ally.

This cannot be the path we forge. It is good to have friends, and in order to have friends, we must be one.

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