[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 113 (Tuesday, July 9, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4255-S4257]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                  NATO

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, today, world leaders are descending on our 
Nation's Capital for an important NATO summit, the 2024 NATO summit--
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is fitting that this 
gathering is taking place in our Nation's Capital because this is where 
the story of NATO began.
  In April of 1949, leaders of the United States and our closest allies 
gathered here in the Nation's Capital to sign the North Atlantic 
Treaty. With the stroke of a pen, those 12 countries became the 
founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
  The core mission of NATO can be summed up in only two words: 
collective defense. An attack against one ally is considered an attack 
against all allies. Of course, Europe had been through two devastating 
world wars, and the hope was, by creating the North Atlantic Treaty 
Organization, that aggression could be deterred and, thus, the peace 
maintained.
  Seventy-five years ago, this commitment aimed to deter the Soviet 
Union from expanding its influence into Western Europe. Nearly 23 years 
ago, the collective defense clause was invoked for the first and only 
time in history in the wake of the attacks on the United States on 9/
11. America's NATO allies were there when we needed them--an act of 
friendship and support that we should never forget.
  Today, the collective defense clause continues to serve as a firewall 
that safeguards NATO member states and underpins global security. And 
in the 75 years since NATO was founded, its membership has grown from 
12 to 32 countries, and its influence continues to grow with the recent 
additions of Sweden and Finland.
  Beyond ensuring the security of its members, NATO plays a key role in 
maintaining peace and stability around the world. Suffice it to say, 
NATO leaders have a big job ahead of them this week. Conflicts are 
unfolding around the globe, and democracy is under attack by the 
world's leading aggressors.

  Nearly 2\1/2\ years have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine, and the 
fighting has not let up. Yesterday, Russia fired missiles at a 
children's hospital in Kyiv and other sites across Ukraine--killing at 
least 38 people and injuring more than 100.
  In addition to the fighting in Europe, a war is also raging in the 
Middle East, as we know. More than 9 months have passed since the 
horrific terrorist attacks by Hamas against civilians in Israel, but 
Israel is not only defending its sovereignty against Hamas. It is also 
battling direct fire from Hezbollah and Iran. Just to be clear, Iran is 
the head of the snake here. Hezbollah and Hamas are proxies for Iran, 
committed to the ultimate destruction of Israel.
  In addition to the conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, tensions 
are growing in the Indo-Pacific as well. The Chinese Communist Party 
continues to bully and threaten China's neighbors in the region. Just 
last week, China anchored one of its Coast Guard ships off the coast of 
the Philippines in a clear act of intimidation. This came after another 
incident last month when Chinese Coast Guard crewmen attacked Filipino 
sailors trying to resupply the Sierra Madre. One sailor lost his thumb, 
and a Philippine Navy boat was left in tatters. Clearly, China is 
testing America's commitment and the commitments of democracies around 
the world to protect a treaty ally in the Pacific.
  While the Senate was in recess last week, I had the privilege of 
traveling to Romania, Armenia, and Malta with a bipartisan delegation 
of Members led by our friend, Senator Roger Wicker--the ranking member 
of the Armed Services Committee and one of the principal delegates to 
the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
  Our conversations with our allies around the world affirmed a key 
point that cannot be overlooked: None of these conflicts that are 
playing out today are occurring in a vacuum--not

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the wars in Ukraine or in the Middle East or the tensions in the Indo-
Pacific. Everything is connected. We might wish that it weren't true, 
but it is inarguably true, and this instability we are facing today has 
serious downstream consequences.
  As each of these conflicts has played out, we have witnessed a 
daunting realignment of powers around the world that is reminiscent of 
what we saw in the 1930s with the rise of Germany.
  Today, Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran have grown closer and 
closer together through an intricate web of weapons, technology, and 
energy transfers. In short, the tyrants of the world today are drawing 
closer and closer together, forming a modern-day axis of evil. When 
these big powers are at odds, the international order frays, and the 
regional players take advantage of the situation as it suits their 
interests. That point was driven home during our visit to Armenia--the 
former Russian satellite--when we discussed the ongoing instability in 
the Caucasus.
  Now, I know you have to pull out a map to figure out where some of 
these countries are, but they are critical in terms of our analysis of 
the threats not only in the region but in the potential to spread those 
threats and major conflicts to other parts of the world.
  In 2020, Russia brokered a deal to end the military conflict between 
Armenia and its neighbor Azerbaijan over longstanding territorial 
disputes. Russia promised to deploy peacekeepers to the region to 
enforce that agreement, but it is safe to say that Russia has not 
upheld its end of the deal. Each year since that deal was reached, 
Azerbaijan, supported by Turkiye, has encroached further and further 
into Armenian territory, and Russia has done nothing to stop it, 
notwithstanding its agreement to do so. Understandably, Armenian 
leaders are outraged by the situation. They signed a treaty, after all, 
to prevent this exact scenario, and Russia has abandoned its promise.
  Our conversations with the Armenian leaders were powerful reminders 
of why it is so important to honor our security commitments around the 
world. We have made a commitment to our NATO allies, to Ukraine, to 
Israel, and to other partners around the world to support their 
security. But the truth is, their security is part of our security 
because we know, from history, that conflicts can arise in 
unpredictable places and can spread like a wildfire, thus directly 
challenging the United States' national security.
  So that is why we cannot and we must not back out of these promises 
and risk other countries seeing us as an unreliable ally, because the 
truth is that weakness or unreliability is a provocation to the bullies 
and tyrants and autocrats around the world. When they see weakness, 
they continue to probe until they come up against resistance. Whether 
we are talking about an ally or an adversary, countries around the 
world must not doubt America's commitment to our own national security, 
as well as the security of our allies, partners, and friends.
  I say all of this to emphasize how much is at stake today. Presently, 
this is the most dangerous period of our history and of world history 
since World War II. We are talking about far more than the fates of 
individual states or governments. The stability of the international 
order is hanging in the balance.
  With the NATO summit here in Washington this week, the eyes of the 
world are once again on the leadership. Like it or not, if the United 
States fails to lead, there is no other country that can fill the void. 
This is part of the responsibility that comes with being the preeminent 
economic and military power in the world--again, not for the purpose of 
conquest but for the purpose of deterring and discouraging conflicts 
from breaking out because, again, we know how these can spin out of 
control as a result of miscalculation or a mistake or otherwise.
  Leaders from around the world--our friends and allies--are watching 
to see how the United States responds to the threats unfolding around 
the globe. They are watching us to see if we will live up to our 
commitments--things like the Budapest Memorandum in 1994, wherein we 
agreed to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine in exchange for their 
giving up their nuclear weapons. At the time, Ukraine had the third 
largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world, and they gave up those 
nuclear weapons in exchange for that guarantee to protect their 
sovereignty. That is part of what is at stake today in Ukraine.
  Our friends and allies are watching our support for Ukraine, our 
assistance for Israel, and the message that we are sending to China. 
They are testing our attention span to see if we are so distracted by 
other major conflicts or other things happening around the world that 
it creates an opening for smaller ones, and they are watching to see if 
our commitments to our allies are truly ironclad and can be depended 
upon.
  So, this week, President Biden has one job to do, and that is to 
deliver a clear and powerful message to our allies. He must reaffirm 
America's commitment to collective defense. He must demonstrate 
decisive leadership and solidarity with our NATO allies. He needs to 
deliver a strong warning to our would-be adversaries that attacks 
against the United States and our allies will not be tolerated.
  Russia, China, Iran, North Korea--they are all watching, and there is 
no room for weakness or vacillation when it comes to sending this 
important message of deterrence. Deterrence, of course, is what 
maintains the peace. We never want war. We never want military 
conflict. We want to be so strong and so intimidating with our friends 
and allies that our adversaries won't take that step of initiating a 
military conflict.
  I hope President Biden can summon up the energy and the forcefulness 
and the ability to express this important message to our friends and 
allies around the world because our adversaries are watching, but so 
are our friends.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.


             160-Year Anniversary of the Battle of Monocacy

  Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, in 1864, after 3 years of Civil War, many 
citizens of the North were ready for peace. The 13th Amendment had 
passed in this very Chamber but failed to do so in the House of 
Representatives, and the fate of Abraham Lincoln's Presidency--and 
perhaps the continuation of the war--was on the ballot.
  In that spring of 1864, Lincoln placed his hand on a Hoosier 
general's shoulder, and he said: ``I believe it right to give you a 
chance.'' What he really meant was a second chance.
  I rise to mark a day 160 years ago when that second chance and a 
refusal to flinch from duty, even in a forlorn hope, saved our Nation's 
Capital and possibly much more than that.
  Not long after his meeting with Lincoln, that same soldier was 
ushered into the office of Secretary of War Ed Stanton.
  ``What do you know of the Middle Department?'' the Secretary asked.
  ``Nothing,'' his visitor replied.
  ``Nothing?'' the Secretary repeated.
  ``I am from the West,'' General Lew Wallace answered.
  By ``the West,'' Wallace meant Crawfordsville, IN, and that is 
exactly where he was when the year began--an officer whose career 
appeared to be at a dead end.
  Two years before, the division under his command arrived late to the 
Union lines during the first day of fighting at Shiloh. Wallace was 
scapegoated after one of the deadliest battles in the war up to that 
point. He was removed from his command in the Army of Tennessee and 
placed on reserve. Requests for a reinstatement failed.
  ``I had cast my last throw. What next?'' Wallace wondered.
  The answer came from another Hoosier--President Abraham Lincoln. 
Wallace was to report to Washington and take command of the 8th Army 
Corps and the Middle Department even though he didn't even know where 
the Middle Department was headquartered. The answer, Stanton told him, 
was Baltimore, and that is where Wallace headed after buying a Rand 
McNally map of the United States for 15 cents.
  In early July, Wallace sat at his desk studying that map closely. He 
had just received word from the anxious president of the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad that Confederate troops were advancing through the 
Shenandoah Valley. The path from there to Washington, DC, was wide 
open. The city was poorly defended with Union soldiers. They were away 
attacking Richmond at the time.

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  ``Washington, seriously menaced, was incapable of self-defense--that 
much was clear,'' he wrote years later.
  Staring at that map, Wallace understood that the threat was very real 
and his responsibility was crystal clear. Without orders--without 
orders--he departed for Monocacy Junction, where the roads and railroad 
leading to Washington and Baltimore crossed a tributary of the Potomac.

  Upon arrival, he stood on a bluff looking down on the Monocacy River 
and the green pastures and golden wheat fields beyond it. He could see 
the steeples of Frederick, MD, not far off and the Catoctin Mountain on 
the horizon.
  The peaceful summer was interrupted with the echo of distant gunfire. 
Soon it was clear: General Robert E. Lee had sent General Jubal Early 
north to take Washington. He had crossed the Potomac and was on his way 
east toward Monocacy Junction, perhaps to Baltimore--more likely to 
Washington, just 40 miles away.
  Wallace had already moved with great urgency. He messaged Washington 
to recall troops and prepare for an attack. He called in what brigades 
or parts of brigades he could to augment his own men, eventually 
raising a force of several thousand. Then he spread them thinly along 
the eastern bank of the river, determined to block its bridge just long 
enough for reinforcements to arrive in the Capital.
  On the night of July 8, the eve of the battle, Wallace laid down and 
placed his head on a folded coat, but anxiety made sleep impossible. 
Could he throw a hastily gathered and mostly green force in the way of 
a superior army, in an objective so hopeless? The Navy Yard up in 
flames, the Capitol menaced, the library inside it looted, the treasury 
emptied, foreign heads of state rushing to recognize the Confederacy--
and then, most painfully, the image of Abraham Lincoln ``cloaked and 
hooded, stealing like a malefactor from the back door of the White 
House just as some gray-garbed Confederate brigadier burst in the front 
door.''
  The next morning, July 9, when the Confederate Army of over 15,000 
arrived at Monocacy River, it was met with fierce resistance from the 
outnumbered Federals. Rebel charges were repeatedly turned back until 
late in the afternoon, when Wallace, after heavy losses--nearly 1,300 
dead and wounded--ordered his men to withdraw toward Baltimore.
  Early's battered army paused for the night before it continued on to 
Washington. When he reached its gates on the 11th, Union reinforcements 
were waiting. A skirmish at Fort Stevens followed, and the rebels 
departed emptyhanded.
  The Union stand cost the Confederates a full day--a full day--and 
with it, their chance at Washington.
  Monocacy. Monocacy. Monocacy is usually unmentioned among the list of 
consequential Civil War battles, but today, on its 160th anniversary, 
we reflect on its importance. You see, had Early's men taken the 
Capital, however briefly, the humiliation could have persuaded a war-
weary population to dismiss Abraham Lincoln.
  What then would be the fate of the 13th Amendment or the eventual 
terms of peace? Because of Wallace's steely resolve and his men's 
uncommon valor, the questions went unanswered. Lincoln was reelected. 
The following January, the 13th Amendment to forever end slavery passed 
Congress. The war was over by April, and the Union was preserved. And 
General Lew Wallace, not unlike the hero of a novel he later wrote, was 
redeemed.
  When it comes to words, Wallace will always be best known for ``Ben-
Hur,'' but the message he forwarded to Washington after the Battle of 
Monocacy is timeless too. It should inspire all of us still, a reminder 
that rising to our duty, no matter the odds or even outcome, can change 
the course of history.

       I did as I promised. Held the bridge to the last.

  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.