Nato
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, the strongest military alliance in the world is the NATO alliance. President Joe Biden has made that alliance stronger than ever since its creation.
Countries like Finland now want to be part of that alliance for their own safety because they share our values. Countries like Sweden feel the same way. They want to be part of this alliance, which President Biden has supported completely.
It has never been stronger since its creation, and the contributions made by the alliance members to the war in Ukraine are unprecedented. It has never happened before. Nations from all over Europe and nations that share our values are standing behind the NATO alliance.
To hear the suggestion on the floor of the Senate that somehow there is a weakness in the Biden administration when it comes to NATO is belied by the facts and the truth.
The fact of the matter is, as well, that when you look back at the previous President, named Donald Trump, chart what he has to say about Ukraine now. He questions whether we should be helping them at all. He questions whether or not we should make Vladimir Putin angry.
You all know and remember, as I do, as well, that during the 4 years of the Trump administration, there was this ambivalence, this bromance between Putin and Trump that no one could explain. And now to have someone come to the floor and say Joe Biden isn't strong enough when it comes to standing behind the people of Ukraine, that is just flatout wrong.
The support for the Ukrainian people against Vladimir Putin is universal across--I shouldn't say ``universal.'' Let me strike that word. It is almost universal and should be universal across all Members of Congress. Democrats and Republicans alike in the Senate believe that we are doing the right thing as a nation standing behind the people of Ukraine.
As a cochair of the Ukrainian Caucus in the U.S. Senate, I believe this in my heart and soul: If the Ukrainians do not prevail over Vladimir Putin, I am afraid we are going to have more wars to fight. I can think of other countries that are vulnerable to his expansionist dreams: Poland, for goodness' sake; the Baltic States; Moldova. The list goes on and on.
President Biden has made a stand in Ukraine, and it is the right position to take. To suggest that the NATO alliance is not behind him is wrong. They are behind him in a way that is unprecedented in history.
I am happy to report that I am not only pleased to support the Ukrainians in this effort, but I think we have done everything that we should do.
Now, remember, President Biden has an important decision to make each time someone suggests a new weapons system: Will this be provocative? Will it lead to expansion of the equipment used in war, even to nuclear weapons?
That is an important question. I don't know if I could sleep at night if I had to worry about my decision the next morning and whether it would trigger a nuclear war. But that is what President Biden faces day after day, after day. People who come in and say, ``Just send every weapon system and don't think twice about it,'' don't understand the burden of the Presidency--to make sure we do the right thing to support the Ukrainian people, but not a provocative action that draws in American forces or runs the risk of nuclear war.
The President has to make the careful decision with every weapons system. So if it takes an extra day or week, do it right, Mr. President. Don't be pushed into it by those who really can't understand the gravity of each of these decisions. Stand behind the Ukrainian people. Do it through the NATO alliance. Do it in a way that doesn't expand this war to include American troops or to make it a nuclear conflict. That, I think, is the bottom line.
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