[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2221-2222]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          TRAVEL TO PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC FOR THE NATO SUMMIT

  Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, as many of my colleagues may be aware, 
I am a strong advocate of NATO enlargement to include Europe's new 
democracies. As such, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to join 
President George W. Bush at the NATO Summit in Prague last November, at 
which time invitations for NATO membership were extended to Bulgaria, 
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
  I remain deeply grateful to the President for inviting me to join him 
as a member of the Congressional delegation to the NATO Summit, along 
with my colleague Senator Bill Frist, and Congressman Tom Lantos, 
Congressman Elton Gallegly and Congressman Doug Bereuter. I appreciate 
that the President has recognized my lifelong passion for the inclusion 
of the former Captive Nations as members of the NATO Alliance, and I 
was proud to be in the room on November 21, 2002, when NATO Secretary 
General Lord Robertson officially announced the decision to invite 
seven countries to become part of the Alliance.
  As Lord Robertson articulated on that historic day, the decision to 
include these new members will serve to strengthen the Alliance as it 
prepares to confront new challenges to global security. After working 
with the NATO aspirant countries on comprehensive domestic reforms in 
preparation for membership in the Alliance, the Secretary General 
concluded that, ``We can therefore say with complete confidence that 
this round of enlargement will maintain and increase NATO's strength, 
cohesion and vitality.'' I share his belief that these countries will 
make significant contributions to the NATO Alliance. As Secretary of 
Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 
General Richard Myers have also expressed, these countries will bring 
niche capabilities, as well as energy, freshness and enthusiasm, to the 
Alliance.
  I sincerely believe that although the newly invited countries still 
have work to do on their Membership Action Plans, their reforms will be 
swifter and more complete as they are brought into the Alliance, rather 
than left out.
  Upon our arrival in the Czech Republic, we were informed that we were 
invited to attend a mock NATO Summit for students, which included young 
people representing all 19 members of the NATO Alliance, as well as the 
aspirant countries. The students were scheduled to discuss and debate 
the same issues that were to be addressed by the Heads of States of the 
NATO member countries. President Bush was the keynote speaker at their 
event. I was pleased that Senator Frist and I had the opportunity to 
introduce ourselves to the various delegations, and I enjoyed the 
chance to share common experiences with the delegations from Macedonia, 
Croatia, Italy and Lithuania on an informal basis.
  President Bush gave a most inspiring speech to the young people, 
emphasizing the fact that NATO has become more than simply a military 
organization, and is in fact an organization composed of people who 
share common values. With these common ties, he remarked, those 
countries who have been traditional adversaries will no longer

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go to war against one another. Instead, as Article V of the NATO 
Charter clearly states, an attack against one is an attack on all.
  Following the President's speech, we proceeded to a reception with 
Secretary of State Colin Powell. I was delighted to talk with him about 
NATO's changing role, as well as the many perspectives from which he 
has viewed the formulation of our foreign policy. On Wednesday evening, 
November 20, 2002, members of the U.S. delegation attended a dinner 
with other delegates to the NATO Summit, which was hosted by the Aspen 
Institute. I was glad to have the opportunity to visit with President 
Mesic of Croatia, President Trajkovski of Macedonia, Prime Minister 
Dzurinda of the Slovak Republic, President Kucan of Slovenia, and our 
host, President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic.
  Thursday, November 21, 2002 was a thrilling day for me. I have longed 
to be present when Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, 
Slovakia and Slovenia were invited into NATO, and I was pleased to be 
there to see President Havel begin the program and to hear Lord 
Robertson formally invite seven countries to join the Alliance. With no 
objections, the consensus among the Allies was to invite these young 
democracies into NATO. Each delegation, through its President or Prime 
Minister, made a statement to express their support for these seven 
countries and their strategic importance to the NATO organization. It 
was inspiring to hear country give their enthusiastic endorsement, and 
it gave me some comfort that they would help to move the approval of 
these countries' membership through their respective legislatures.
  On Thursday afternoon, I joined other members of the U.S. delegation 
at a small luncheon in honor of the NATO aspirant countries. I enjoyed 
the chance to visit with President Vaira Vike-Freiberga of Latvia, 
Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana of Romania, President Moisiu of Albania, 
Prime Minister Drnovsek of Slovenia, as well as Prime Minister Simeon 
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha of Bulgaria. It was a wonderful celebration of the 
invitations extended to Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, 
Slovakia and Slovenia, as well as the ongoing reforms in Macedonia, 
Albania and Croatia to prepare for membership in the Alliance.
  Later that day, my wife Janet and I were happy to talk further with 
Czech President Vaclav Havel at a dinner held in his honor at the 
Prague Castle. Following dinner, at 1:30 a.m. Prague time, I placed a 
call to Cleveland to talk with individuals with ties to NATO aspirant 
countries who were gathered at the Lithuanian Hall of Our Lady of 
Perpetual Help at a rally to celebrate the historic events that had 
taken place that day. I enjoyed the opportunity to share with them the 
experiences that I was having in Prague. It was truly a capstone to an 
unbelievable day that I will never forget.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate as we 
begin to discuss the merits of NATO enlargement during this session of 
Congress.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, as an appropriator, I come to the 
floor today to express my opposition to the omnibus appropriations 
bill.
  The $385 billion omnibus appropriations bill cuts almost $10 billion 
from what the Senate Appropriations Committee approved last year.
  On top of these draconian cuts, the bill before us includes a 2.9 
percent across-the-board cut, to non-military programs, and will affect 
critical programs such as homeland security, education, and job 
training.
  This bill is a major mistake and represents a short-sided approach to 
solving our Nation's problems.
  What is happening is an administration's effort to starve domestic 
programs in order to save dollars for a $674 billion tax cut. If this 
effort is successful, we will see interest rates rise, the deficit 
balloon, and a 10-year cumulative deficit of $2 to 3 trillion.
  Americans don't know it yet but soon will learn that this bill makes 
a house of cards out of homeland security, which loses $1 billion which 
was already requested, authorized, and appropriated.
  How many Americans know that this bill will likely cut 1,175 FBI 
agents, 490 food safety engineers, and 1,600 customs inspectors who are 
vital if we are to protect our homeland from contraband and those that 
would do us harm.
  How many Americans know that the Head Start cut of $107 million could 
prevent 2700 youngsters from a Head Start experience, or leave 224,000 
needy individuals without the meals provided by WIC, or 230,000 
veterans without medical services.
  To make matters worse, this bill is being offered at a time when our 
Nation continues to face significant challenges in protecting homeland 
security, increasing school achievement, and strengthening our work 
force.
  Essentially what this bill does is cut the money from a number of 
critical projects so this body can pass a tax cut of $674 billion, 
which will lead to a $2 trillion deficit over the next 10 years.
  Every day this body is faced with tough choices. But in my decade in 
the Senate, I believe this bill represents one of the worst pieces of 
legislation to pass this Senate.

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