[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 98 (Tuesday, June 6, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1965]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                  NATO

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, the strongest military alliance in the 
world is the NATO alliance. President Joe Biden has made that alliance 
stronger than ever since its creation.
  Countries like Finland now want to be part of that alliance for their 
own safety because they share our values. Countries like Sweden feel 
the same way. They want to be part of this alliance, which President 
Biden has supported completely.
  It has never been stronger since its creation, and the contributions 
made by the alliance members to the war in Ukraine are unprecedented. 
It has never happened before. Nations from all over Europe and nations 
that share our values are standing behind the NATO alliance.
  To hear the suggestion on the floor of the Senate that somehow there 
is a weakness in the Biden administration when it comes to NATO is 
belied by the facts and the truth.
  The fact of the matter is, as well, that when you look back at the 
previous President, named Donald Trump, chart what he has to say about 
Ukraine now. He questions whether we should be helping them at all. He 
questions whether or not we should make Vladimir Putin angry.
  You all know and remember, as I do, as well, that during the 4 years 
of the Trump administration, there was this ambivalence, this bromance 
between Putin and Trump that no one could explain. And now to have 
someone come to the floor and say Joe Biden isn't strong enough when it 
comes to standing behind the people of Ukraine, that is just flatout 
wrong.
  The support for the Ukrainian people against Vladimir Putin is 
universal across--I shouldn't say ``universal.'' Let me strike that 
word. It is almost universal and should be universal across all Members 
of Congress. Democrats and Republicans alike in the Senate believe that 
we are doing the right thing as a nation standing behind the people of 
Ukraine.
  As a cochair of the Ukrainian Caucus in the U.S. Senate, I believe 
this in my heart and soul: If the Ukrainians do not prevail over 
Vladimir Putin, I am afraid we are going to have more wars to fight. I 
can think of other countries that are vulnerable to his expansionist 
dreams: Poland, for goodness' sake; the Baltic States; Moldova. The 
list goes on and on.
  President Biden has made a stand in Ukraine, and it is the right 
position to take. To suggest that the NATO alliance is not behind him 
is wrong. They are behind him in a way that is unprecedented in 
history.
  I am happy to report that I am not only pleased to support the 
Ukrainians in this effort, but I think we have done everything that we 
should do.
  Now, remember, President Biden has an important decision to make each 
time someone suggests a new weapons system: Will this be provocative? 
Will it lead to expansion of the equipment used in war, even to nuclear 
weapons?
  That is an important question. I don't know if I could sleep at night 
if I had to worry about my decision the next morning and whether it 
would trigger a nuclear war. But that is what President Biden faces day 
after day, after day. People who come in and say, ``Just send every 
weapon system and don't think twice about it,'' don't understand the 
burden of the Presidency--to make sure we do the right thing to support 
the Ukrainian people, but not a provocative action that draws in 
American forces or runs the risk of nuclear war.
  The President has to make the careful decision with every weapons 
system. So if it takes an extra day or week, do it right, Mr. 
President. Don't be pushed into it by those who really can't understand 
the gravity of each of these decisions. Stand behind the Ukrainian 
people. Do it through the NATO alliance. Do it in a way that doesn't 
expand this war to include American troops or to make it a nuclear 
conflict. That, I think, is the bottom line.