[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 31 (Thursday, March 19, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S2250]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            NATO ENLARGEMENT

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise to express my strong support for 
the protocols of accession to NATO, specifically for Poland, Hungary, 
and the Czech Republic.
  I think this is truly a historic decision in the sense that it 
shatters once and for all the artificial division of Europe that 
occurred at the end of the Second World War. Now, if history is any 
guide, it ensures and enhances the prospects for peace, prosperity, and 
harmony throughout Europe.
  Mr. President, in the nearly 50 years of its existence, NATO has 
provided the military security umbrella that has permitted old enemies 
to heal the wounds of war and to build strong democracies and 
integrated free economies. Expanding NATO to include the emerging 
democracies of Eastern Europe will, I hope, produce the same results, 
that is, stronger and freer economies whose people can live in the same 
harmony as do the people of France and Germany.
  I would also note that the prospect of NATO enlargement has already 
begun as seen by the process of harmonization in Central and Eastern 
Europe. Hungary has settled its border and minority questions with 
Slovakia and Romania. Poland has reached across an old divide to create 
joint peacekeeping battalions with Ukraine and Lithuania.
  Mr. President, an expanded NATO will make the world safer simply 
because we are expanding the area where wars will not happen. As 
Secretary of State Albright testified last year before the Foreign 
Relations Committee, and I quote, ``This is the product paradox at 
NATO's heart: By imposing a price on aggression, it deters 
aggression.'' At the same time, we gain new allies, new friends who are 
committed to our common agenda for security in fighting terrorism and 
weapons proliferation, and to ensuring stability in places such as the 
former Yugoslavia.
  There is no doubt in my mind that had Soviet troops not in 1945 
occupied Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, and installed puppet 
governments, the debate over whether these three countries should be 
members of NATO would have long ago been resolved in their favor.
  The people of these countries have yearned to have freedom, 
democracy, and peace for more than 40 years, as evidenced by Poland 
particularly. The blood in the streets of Budapest in 1956, the 
demonstrations of the people in Prague in 1968 who confronted Soviet 
tanks, and the public confrontations of Solidarity throughout Poland 
beginning in the 1970s all laid the foundation for the collapse of 
communism, which we have seen in our lifetime.
  Now as they begin to build institutions of democracy and free 
enterprise, as they move to further integrate their economies with the 
rest of Europe, they should participate in the collective security of 
the continent. I think this will bind these countries closer together 
far into the future and ensure stability and peace throughout the 
continent.
  Mr. President, there have been expressions of concern by some people 
that expanding NATO is a mistake because it would somehow be perceived 
as a threat, a threat to Russia. I find that argument hard to accept. 
In my opinion, NATO has never been a threat to Russia. Even during the 
height of the Cold War, no one seriously considered that NATO 
threatened the Soviet Union. Quite the contrary. NATO stood to defend--
defend--against any potential military threat to its members. There is 
a difference between defense and offense. And NATO is designed for 
defense. It was never designed as an alliance of aggression--rather, it 
is an alliance against aggression.

  I think the same holds true today, Mr. President. The people of 
Russia, who are slowly trying to emerge from the darkness and terror of 
70 years of communism, have nothing--I repeat, nothing--to fear from 
NATO. Our goal is not to isolate Russia but to engage and support her 
in her efforts to develop a lasting democracy and a free market.
  The people in the evolving democracies of Poland, the Czech Republic, 
and Hungary have earned the right to become full partners in Europe and 
full partners in NATO. I hope my colleagues will support the dreams, 
hopes, and aspirations of these people who have struggled for freedom 
for so long, after so many decades in which they have lived without 
hope. They have that opportunity today.

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