[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 118 (Tuesday, July 11, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2292-S2293]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                  NATO

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, right now, President Biden and other 
NATO leaders are convening in Lithuania. The way I see it, there are 
four key objectives for this important summit: securing more Western 
support for Ukraine; improving NATO's own military capabilities; 
strengthening collective resolve against the primary threats posed by 
China, Russia, and terrorists; and welcoming Sweden to the alliance. I 
am encouraged by the progress NATO is making towards each of these 
objectives, but there is more work to be done.
  As transatlantic leaders confer about how to help Ukraine defeat 
Russian aggression, it is significant they are doing so in a Baltic 
country--itself once a ``captive nation'' subjected to decades-long 
Soviet occupation. The Baltics' proud history of resistance drives 
their active contributions to NATO and extensive contributions from 
their own arsenals to Ukraine's fight.
  Decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, brutal Russian occupation 
has now found a new target, and the fate of Ukraine's resistance 
continues to depend on Western support. Western allies should use this 
week's summit to commit even more critical capabilities to tip the 
balance of forces in Ukraine's favor.

[[Page S2293]]

  Time is of the essence for allies to increase production of critical 
munitions and to send longer range, more sophisticated, and more lethal 
systems to the frontlines. In this regard, I welcome President Biden's 
decision to provide Ukraine cluster munitions to improve its defense 
against Russian invaders.
  However overdue, these munitions will both improve Ukraine's 
capability to strike Russian forces and compensate for shortfalls in 
standard artillery rounds. Despite vocal opposition from his own party, 
the President ultimately made the right call.
  The fact of the matter is, Russia has been using cluster munitions 
for months in Ukraine. American cluster munitions have a substantially 
lower failure rate than the Russian munitions. And while the risk of 
unexploded ordnance is not zero, it is fantasy to believe that wars can 
be fought without risk.
  Here is the bottom line: It should be up to Ukraine whether to employ 
these effective weapons on its own soil.
  Plenty of liberals have criticized President Biden for this decision. 
The New York Times editorial board suggested that helping Ukraine match 
capabilities its aggressors are already using amounts to ``a clear 
escalation of the conflict.'' The senior Senator from Vermont suggested 
yesterday that the President should be concerned about what ``the rest 
of the world feels'' about these weapons. Never mind that providing 
these capabilities to Ukraine will save lives by facilitating a 
counteroffensive designed to stop Russia's conscious efforts to kill 
civilians.
  If liberals are truly concerned about civilian casualties in Ukraine, 
they should support giving our friends the capabilities they need to 
end Russia's brutal war.
  The stakes are simply too high for leaders in Washington to let their 
own naivete and virtue signaling get in the way of reality. Ukraine's 
war will not be won with yard signs or hollow promises to hold Putin 
accountable; it will be won with weapons.
  The same rules apply to future conflicts we hope to deter. Unity is 
important, but hard power will be decisive. On this front, NATO is 
making progress toward rebuilding the hard power many allies allowed to 
atrophy. Every member of the alliance now spends at least 20 percent of 
its defense budget on actual capabilities. Our allies are making 
progress toward spending 2 percent of GDP on defense, and more than 
half of the alliance should hit that goal by the end of next year. But 
we should agree that 2 percent is a floor, not a ceiling, for our 
commitments to collective defense. Our allies should invest in critical 
capabilities and modern systems that add to NATO's combat power, and 
they should revive defense industrial bases that have languished since 
the Cold War.
  Certainly, another clear way to strengthen NATO is to welcome Sweden 
to the alliance. Like Finland, Sweden is a high-tech economy with a 
strong industrial base. Its leaders are committed to contributing to 
the alliance and are investing even more significantly in an already 
capable military.
  I am encouraged that President Erdogan and Prime Minister Orban have 
agreed to support Sweden's accession, and I look forward to rapid 
action by the Turkish and Hungarian Parliaments.
  For America's part, it is past time for the Senate to consider the 
National Defense Authorization Act. We have an obligation to ensure the 
U.S. military remains the world's preeminent fighting force, capable of 
deterring and defeating enemy aggression.
  The Senate will have an opportunity to lead our allies by example as 
soon as the Democratic leader brings the NDAA to the floor.