[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 48 (Monday, April 27, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S3621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       RESOLUTION OF RATIFICATION

  As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, I raised a number of 
concerns about the Administration's proposal to expand NATO and I am 
pleased that these have been addressed in the Resolution of 
Ratification. This Resolution of Ratification underscores that NATO's 
central mission remains the territorial defense of its members and that 
NATO command, structures, force goals, and defense planning must 
reflect that fact. It confirms that Russia will not have a voice or a 
veto on NATO decision-making and that the Permanent Joint Council will 
be a mechanism for explaining NATO policy, not creating it. It also 
ensures that there will be a clear, equitable distribution of the 
financial costs of expansion. American taxpayers should not pay the 
costs of modernizing the forces of our current allies, because they 
have failed to live up to their previous commitments. Nor should our 
taxpayers pay more if any of our European allies refuse to pay their 
fair share for the costs of bringing in new members.