Bipartisan Senate NATO Observer Group Co-Chairs Respond to President Trump’s Comments on NATO

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Thom Tillis (R-NC), co-chairs of the Senate NATO Observer Group, released the following statement on President Trump's threats to pull out of NATO:

"NATO is the strongest and most successful military alliance in history. It promotes economic stability and protects our most important trading relationships. It is a crucial force multiplier in an increasingly dangerous world. Our allies, year after year, have stepped up decisively in the face of mounting threats and have agreed to spend five percent of GDP on defense to bolster burden sharing. Our citizens know that NATO makes Americans safer and more prosperous, which is why NATO's favorability is consistently above 60 percent among the U.S. public.

"NATO stood by America when we were under attack and came to our aid after the September 11th attacks. Their soldiers fought and died alongside our troops in Afghanistan.

"Any President that contemplates attempting to withdraw from NATO is not only fulfilling Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping's greatest dreams but would be undermining America's own national security interests.

"Let us be clear, Congress will not allow the United States to withdraw from NATO. A bipartisan bill drafted by then-Senator Rubio which passed into law prevents any President from unilaterally doing so. Instead, the law clearly states that only Congress can authorize the President to withdraw the U.S. from NATO. That will not happen. Congress and the American people know we are stronger when we stand with our allies. This is a basic fact and one that we ignore only to our own detriment."

###

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Tweet