[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 48 (Monday, April 27, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S3620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             NATO'S MISSION

  The Senate does not have merely the obligation to determine whether 
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic should be admitted to NATO, but 
to safeguard the integrity of the organization they would be joining. 
NATO has been a successful military alliance with a clearly defined 
mission: protecting the territorial integrity of its members, defending 
them from external aggression and preventing the domination of Europe 
by any single power. NATO's mission remains just as valid today as it 
was at its inception. I am convinced that a NATO which includes Poland, 
Hungary, and the Czech Republic will be a stronger, more viable 
institution as long as NATO retains its essential character throughout 
this transition.
  I share the concerns of some of my colleagues that unless we are 
vigilant, NATO may evolve into a UN-style peacekeeping force. However, 
it is important to underscore that the expansion of NATO to include 
Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic will inhibit--not promote--this 
objectionable outcome. The prospective members are eager to join NATO 
to receive the same strong security guarantee that NATO members have 
traditionally enjoyed. They understand what it means to be invaded and 
occupied, and do not want NATO's ability to carry out its mission to be 
diluted or compromised. They will be on our side in the internal debate 
in the North Atlantic Council over NATO's strategic concept in the 21st 
century.