[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 14, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S6250]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NATO PROTOCOLS OF ACCESSION

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I would like to speak about the 
historic vote last week in this Chamber to recommend the ratification 
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Protocols of Accession. I 
add my belated support to the protocols which serve to broaden the 
world's greatest alliance and, in the process, strengthen it to 
confront the new dangers of this new century.
  It is said that the poppies in the fields of Europe are red with the 
blood of millions of Europeans and Americans who gave their lives so 
that millions more could live in peace. Such is the legacy of the 20th 
century. And from that same period, that same struggle, emerged the 
most successful strategic alliance the world has ever known--the North 
Atlantic Treaty Organization.
  For nearly half a century, that alliance manned the ramparts of a 
Europe that was divided and was still, truly, at war with itself. The 
fact that the war was a cold one, was itself cold comfort to the 
countless thousands trapped behind what came to be known as the `iron 
curtain.'
  When framed against the circumstances of NATO's birth and the fact 
that for so long the alliance's purpose was to keep the peace in a 
divided continent, the event that we gathered for last week was truly 
awesome indeed. Last week, we welcomed many of the nations of Europe 
once held captive by Communism into the partnership of the North 
Atlantic Treaty Organization.
  The vote gave us the opportunity to affirm the place that NATO holds 
in the constellation of American security. Our fate is bound up with 
Europe's--to deny this is to overlook the lessons of history and the 
signposts of the future. Within Europe we find many of our closest and 
our oldest allies. For over 50 years, we have drawn strength from NATO, 
and for over 50 years we have, through NATO, worked hard for the 
security of our partners. We cannot, will not, must not stop now.
  Let us not forget, in times of crisis NATO has worked for American 
security as well. In the wake of September 11, 2001, the alliance 
invoked Article V of its charter for the first time in its history, 
calling the attack on one member an attack on all. European aircraft 
helped secure the skies over the eastern seaboard of the United States. 
Our NATO partners and our partnerships with them continue to be crucial 
to our Nation's security: the challenges we face as a nation are 
formidable--terrorism, tyrants, and the proliferation of weapons of 
mass destruction among them--and we cannot, we must not, face them 
alone.
  But the world has changed, and so, too, must the alliance. The issues 
raised by Senators Levin and Warner address some critical questions. As 
the number of alliance members increases, the ability of the council to 
act quickly may become harder and harder to realize. That is especially 
true because every NATO action requires unanimous consent. In addition, 
we must acknowledge the possibility that with 26 alliance members, the 
chances that one of them may someday cease to uphold the basic values 
that the treaty organization is based on also becomes--mathematically 
speaking, at least--more likely. The amendments request that the North 
Atlantic Council study how to deal with both eventualities, and I 
believe these requests to study are both appropriate and timely.
  However, while I support these amendments, I am mindful of NATO 
Secretary General Lord Robertson's recent warnings that developing 
procedures to suspend members or changing the decisionmaking apparatus 
of the alliance would be ill-advised at this juncture. Lord Robertson 
has navigated the Alliance through some perilous waters during his 
tenure at the helm of NATO, and I see no reason to distrust his counsel 
now.
  The expansion of NATO makes clear that, despite the claims of 
alarmists, this great alliance is not stumbling into irrelevance. We 
have had differences with some of our partners, and we will continue 
to. But with our commitment, the alliance can once again prove its 
resilience. It can once again demonstrate that common values between 
nations are the strongest bonds of all. We must not forget that enemies 
of America are also enemies of NATO, and they see the democratic 
diversity of our nations as a weakness. They think they can divide us. 
They are wrong. In our diversity, we find a wellspring of great 
strength. Standing in the Chamber today speaking for Senate approval of 
these protocols, I am reminded of the words of the Great Seal of the 
United States: e pluribus unum: ``from many, one.'' I welcome our new 
European allies into the alliance structure; they will add their 
strength to ours, and their addition will make us all more secure.
  There are those in this country and in Europe who question the value 
of strong trans-Atlantic ties; they cite recent disagreements between 
some European nations and our own government as a rationale for the 
United States to stride alone into whatever fate holds in store for us 
all. By way of rejoinder, I offer President John F. Kennedy's words in 
1962, when he urged his fellow Americans to ``think 
intercontinentally.'' President Kennedy continued, ``acting on our own, 
by ourselves, we cannot establish justice throughout the world; we 
cannot insure its domestic tranquility, nor provide for its common 
defense, or promote its general welfare, or secure the blessing of 
liberty to ourselves and our posterity. But joined with other free 
nations, we can do all this and more. We can assist the developing 
nations to throw off the yoke of poverty. . . We can mount a deterrent 
powerful enough to deter any aggression. And ultimately we can help to 
achieve a world of law and free choice, banishing the world of war and 
coercion.'' President Kennedy called for a trans-Atlantic partnership 
based on common values and concerns, one that looked outward as well as 
inward, one that would ``serve as a nucleus for the eventual union of 
all free men--those who are now free and those who are vowing that some 
day they will be free.''
  The truth in President Kennedy's words in 1963 has not diminished in 
40 years. Although we may disagree with our partners and brothers in 
peace, our paths have not diverged, and our concerns are tied together 
still. I applaud my colleagues for their overwhelming vote for the 
ratification of the Protocols of Ascension that which, once ratified by 
all 19 NATO members, will allow these 7 nations, Bulgaria, Estonia, 
Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, to become parties 
to the North Atlantic Treaty, and full members of the treaty 
organization.

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