[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 37 (Wednesday, March 5, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E303-E304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  BIPARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO NATO PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY 
                    MEETINGS AND SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN S. TANNER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 5, 2008

  Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I recently led a bipartisan House 
delegation to NATO Parliamentary Assembly meetings in Brussels and 
Paris, and to additional meetings in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia 
(or Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, FYROM), and Albania from 
February 16-24. The co-chair of my delegation was the Honorable Jo Ann 
Emerson. In addition, Representatives Carolyn McCarthy, Ellen Tauscher, 
Dennis Moore, Jeff Miller, Mike Ross, and Ben Chandler, and staff, 
worked to make this a highly successful trip in which we examined 
current NATO issues, above all the coming decision at the NATO summit 
in Bucharest on possible enlargement of the alliance.
  The NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NPA) consists of members of 
parliament from the 26 NATO states, as well as members of parliament 
from associated states such as Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Croatia, 
Albania, and Macedonia. During NPA meetings delegates discuss and 
debate a range of issues of current importance to the alliance. At the 
February meetings, three issues dominated the discussions: enlargement 
of the alliance, Afghanistan, and developments in Kosovo. Delegates 
have the opportunity to listen to presentations by specialists from 
NATO and on NATO affairs, and to engage in discussion of the issues 
raised. An additional element of the meetings is the opportunity to 
meet and come to know members of parliaments who play important 
foreign-policy roles in their own countries. Some of these 
acquaintances can last the duration of a career, and are invaluable for 
gaining insight into the developments of allied states.
  Enlargement is one of the key issues before the alliance today. NATO 
will hold a summit in Bucharest April 2-4. Croatia, Albania, and 
Macedonia are candidate states, and each must receive unanimous support 
from all 26 allied governments in order for it to receive an invitation 
to join. From that point, each member state will follow its own 
constitutional processes to amend NATO's founding Washington Treaty to 
admit new states and to make a commitment to defend additional 
territory. There must again be unanimous support in this process for a 
candidate if it is to be admitted to membership. The alliance is still 
at an early stage, therefore, in considering the applications for 
membership of these three countries. Congress will hold hearings on the 
qualifications of the three states, and the United States and other 
allies will expect them to continue to work to meet NATO requirements 
under their Membership Action Plans (MAPs).
  Our delegation also held discussions over NATO's effort to stabilize 
Afghanistan. It is clear, as Secretary of Defense Gates himself 
reportedly noted on February 8, that U.S. involvement in Iraq has 
damaged the effort to persuade allies to send forces to Afghanistan. 
European public criticism of the Iraq conflict has made more difficult 
our allies' task of persuading parliaments to contribute more troops to 
Afghanistan. The United States now contributes approximately 15,000 
troops to NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and 
will soon send 3,200 additional Marines to compensate for shortfalls in 
allied forces in the fight against a resurgent Taliban. This is a 
highly important mission in the effort to stem the growth of fanaticism 
and barbarism that remains a threat to civilized peoples everywhere. 
Each of us in the delegation made an effort to persuade our 
counterparts from the NATO parliaments to support ISAF and to 
contribute the forces necessary to stabilize Afghanistan.
  Kosovo declared independence on February 17. Our delegation arrived 
for meetings in Brussels the day before, and reaction in southeastern 
Europe to the decision to place Kosovo under the EU's ``supervised 
independence'' was a principal topic of discussion. The United States 
and most allies quickly followed with recognition of Kosovo's new 
status and urged its continued development as a democratic, multi-
ethnic state. NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR), of whom approximately 1,500 
are U.S. soldiers, continues to provide security and is an important 
factor for stabilization in the current tension between Kosovo 
Albanians and the Serb minority in the north of the country. With the 
assistance of our embassies, the delegation closely followed 
developments in Kosovo throughout the trip.
  While in Brussels, we met first with Ambassador Nuland, the U.S. 
permanent representative to NATO. She provided a briefing and responded 
to our questions on a wide range of issues. There followed two days of 
meetings of the NPA's Economics and Security, Defense and Security, and 
Political Committees. The meetings raised such issues as NATO's 
political agenda, the effectiveness of the alliance's public diplomacy 
efforts, and a possible new Strategic Concept, which would lay out 
NATO's mission and goals for the coming several years.
  We also held a private meeting with NATO Secretary General Jaap de 
Hoop Scheffer. Afghanistan and public support for ISAF were important 
topics of discussion, as was Kosovo. De Hoop Scheffer offered to come 
to Washington to meet with Members of Congress in the near future, and 
this is an idea worthy of consideration. There was also a 
``brainstorming'' session at NATO headquarters, attended by 
Representatives Ross, Moore, and Miller. Representative Ross made a 
forceful presentation outlining the importance of the ISAF mission, and 
of allies making a fair share of the contributions to NATO forces in 
Afghanistan. The rest of the delegation attended a meeting of the North 
Atlantic Council, the alliance's governing body, comprised of 
representatives from the 26 member states. A range of issues--Russia, 
energy security, Kosovo, and Afghanistan among them--was discussed. We 
ended the day at NATO headquarters with a meeting with U.S. General 
Karl Eikenberry, who is the deputy head of NATO's Military Committee; 
he was also formerly commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan. He 
briefed the delegation on the effort to defeat the Taliban, and on the 
complexities of the political situation in Pakistan that is affecting 
Afghanistan's stability.
  The delegation held meetings at the European Commission the following 
day. As chairman of the NPA's Economics and Security Committee, I 
presided over some interesting meetings on trade and the international 
economy. A highlight of the day was an exceptional presentation by the 
EU's Director General for trade, David O'Sullivan, who gave a lively 
presentation and concise overview of the principal points of 
controversy in the Doha round of trade talks, and in broader trade 
issues.
  The delegation then traveled to Paris for meetings at the 
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). After a 
brief session with our ambassador to the OECD and his staff, I chaired 
sessions at the OECD on a number of issues. The global economy, 
Russia's economic practices and potential, and the value of education 
in economic development were key subjects of discussion. That evening 
we met with members of the French-American Foundation, together with 
our ambassador to France and a number of members of the French 
parliament who are in the French-American caucus.
  The following day the delegation traveled to Zagreb, Croatia, for the 
beginning of meetings with candidate state governments for membership 
in the alliance. Serbian reactions to Kosovo's independence and 
recognition by many governments had set the region on edge. The U.S. 
embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, was attacked on February 21, as were the 
Slovenian and Croatian embassies there. U.S. Ambassador to Croatia 
Robert Bradtke accompanied us during much of our stay in Croatia and 
kept us up to date on developments in Belgrade and on the safety of 
U.S. personnel at our embassy there. He also briefed us on Croatia's 
efforts to qualify for NATO membership.
  While in Zagreb, we met with Prime Minister Sanader, President Mesic, 
and other senior officials. We were interested in discovering the

[[Page E304]]

progress that Croatia has made in military modernization and in other 
aspects of the program outlined for the country in the MAP. That 
evening Ambassador Bradtke arranged for us to meet with members of the 
Croatian parliament, including opposition figures and key members of 
the foreign policy and defense committees, as well as independent 
voices in Croatia. This meeting allowed us to hear a wide range of 
views beyond those in the government, and added to our ability to 
evaluate Croatia's progress in the MAP. There is a consensus that 
significant progress has been made over the past several years. A key 
issue was the relatively low level of public support--somewhat over 
50%--in the population for NATO membership, a figure that appears to be 
climbing. There must also continue to be progress made in the fight 
against corruption.
  The following day we flew first to the Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), 
then to Albania. In Macedonia, our ambassador gave us a briefing that 
touched on several issues of relevance. The delegation then proceeded 
to meetings with Macedonian President Crvenkovski, Prime Minister 
Gruevski, and other senior officials, including General Stojanovski, 
the chief of defense forces. The internal political situation in the 
country remains complicated and unsettled, and issues range well beyond 
ethnic divisions in the country. Macedonian troops serve in NATO 
operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Bosnia-Hercegovina, and we met 
several soldiers who had returned from assignments there. A key issue 
in NATO is the formal name of the country, and there are continuing 
discussions with Greece to attempt to reach a compromise under U.N.-
sponsored talks. We are hopeful that Skopje and Athens can reach a 
settlement of this issue, and that Macedonia's candidacy for NATO can 
be judged solely on its qualifications under the MAP.
  In Albania we met with President Topi and with Prime Minister 
Berisha. We also met with members of parliament from both the governing 
parties and the opposition. We were accompanied throughout our meetings 
by U.S. Ambassador Withers, who provided an overview of developments in 
Albania. There are conflicting views on the depth of the problem caused 
by organized crime and corruption in Albania, and this was one issue 
raised in our discussions with government officials. While laws have 
been passed to fight crime and corruption, it may be useful for 
Congress in the coming months to examine the degree to which such 
legislation has been implemented. It should be said that Albania, 
although a poor country, by all accounts has made progress in 
downsizing and modernizing its military.
  The Serbian reaction to Kosovo's independence time and again surfaced 
during our meetings. In the coming months, we are likely to see a range 
of ideas raised for and against the possible membership of the 
``Adriatic 3'' in the alliance. These are small countries with 
correspondingly small militaries; they must concentrate on niche 
capabilities to make a contribution to allied security, and each is 
making progress along this road. Given the continuing tensions in the 
region in part brought on by Serbia's reaction to Kosovo's 
independence, proponents of the three governments' candidacies are 
likely to argue that their developing democracies and contributions to 
multinational, cooperative efforts to bring stability are factors in 
their favor. These are issues that my delegation and other Members of 
Congress will be considering in the coming months.
  As always, members of the United States military contributed greatly 
to the success of this trip. The logistics of such a trip, compressed 
into a tight time frame, are complicated and require lengthy and 
detailed preparation. Our crew was from the 932nd Air Wing at Scott 
AFB, Illinois. This is an Air Force Reserve unit, and they did an 
outstanding job. I thank them for their hard work and their dedication 
to duty.

                          ____________________