[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 18 (Monday, May 4, 1998)]
[Page 748]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Senate Approval of NATO Enlargement

April 30, 1998

    I am delighted that the Senate voted by an overwhelming margin to 
admit Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic into NATO. This vote is a 
major milestone on the road to an undivided, democratic, and peaceful 
Europe. The addition of these three democracies to our alliance will 
strengthen NATO, expand the zone of stability in Europe and reduce the 
chances American men and women will ever again be called into Europe's 
fields of battle. The message this vote sends is clear: American support 
for NATO is firm; our leadership for security on both sides of the 
Atlantic is strong; and there is a solid, bipartisan foundation for an 
active U.S. role in the world.
    I want to pay tribute to the indispensable efforts of the many 
leaders from both parties who brought us to this day, starting with 
Majority Leader Lott and Minority Leader Daschle. This vote stands in 
the tradition of Harry Truman, George Marshall, and Arthur Vandenberg 
and the other giants who kept America engaged in the world after World 
War II and were present at NATO's creation. Their lesson then is our 
lesson tonight--that our strength lies in a foreign policy guided by the 
interests and values that unite us as Americans.