[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S4896]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                  NATO

  Mr. President, this concerns me more than ever because of what has 
just been said by our President in Europe to our vital NATO allies. 
There is a number I have been holding in my heart this week--1,044. 
That is the number of NATO troops who have died in combat in 
Afghanistan while having served shoulder to shoulder with the United 
States.
  President Trump is correct to raise the issue of contributions to our 
mutual defense. President Trump has had a real impact. He has gotten 
our NATO allies to up the ante by more than $14 billion in the last 
year and a half. I wish he had gone to Brussels and simply said: Thank 
you, folks, for increasing your contributions. Now let's focus on 
interoperability and deployability and on linking arm-to-arm and facing 
our real adversary--Russia.
  The NATO alliance exists for mutual defense. How can you successfully 
defend when you can't successfully identify your real adversary?
  I have just returned from a bipartisan trip to visit Sweden, Denmark, 
Latvia, and Finland--two NATO allies and two very close security 
partners. All four of these countries have fought alongside us in 
Afghanistan and have suffered combat deaths. For two of those 
countries, they have been the first combat deaths since the Second 
World War.
  When our President makes misleading, mistaken comments that NATO 
doesn't pay its fair share or is using us as a piggybank or, as he said 
in a campaign-style rally in Montana, that NATO is killing us, it 
really weighs upon the hearts of our vital allies that have sent their 
young men and women to serve alongside ours and, in 1,044 cases, to 
die.
  We need to respect our vital allies and recognize that for seven 
decades, our NATO allies and our security partners--whether the 4 I 
just visited with the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations 
Committee or the others among the 29 in NATO--are stepping up their 
investments, but they have already paid a price that few other 
countries have paid of sending their sons and daughters, alongside 
ours, into combat.
  Rather than question their commitment to our mutual security, I wish 
our President would celebrate that they have increased their 
investments, thank them for their strong partnerships and alliances, 
and begin facing our country toward its true adversary--Russia.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all time be 
yielded back.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  All postcloture time is expired.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the 
Benczkowski nomination?
  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Arizona (Mr. McCain).
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Are there any other Senators in the 
Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 51, nays 48, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 152 Ex.]

                                YEAS--51

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Manchin
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--48

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Jones
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Markey
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     McCain
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the 
President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

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