U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, and Senator Chris Coons, Ranking Member of the same subcommittee, released a joint statement on April 1 regarding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The senators addressed the importance of NATO to United States security and international stability. Their comments come as discussions about alliance unity continue among member countries.
“NATO is the most successful military alliance in history. It has underpinned the security of the United States for more than 70 years,” McConnell and Coons said in their statement. “The only time NATO has gone to war has been in response to an attack on America. NATO troops fought and died in Afghanistan and Iraq alongside American forces. The United States must not take this sacrifice – nor our allies’ commitment to make it again – lightly.”
They also commented on ongoing debates within the alliance: “Alliance disputes are as old as the alliance itself. Americans are safer when NATO is strong and united. It is in our interest for all allies to tend this unity with care.”
McConnell leads the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense according to his official website. He advocates for Kentucky agriculture as a key economic driver according to his official website and supports economic growth through reductions in government spending, debt, and taxes according to his official website. He holds records as both Kentucky’s longest-serving senator according to his official website and as the longest-serving Senate party leader in American history according to his official website. McConnell graduated with honors from the University of Louisville College of Arts and Sciences before earning a law degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law according to his official website. He is married to former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and has three daughters according to his official website.
Concluding their remarks, McConnell and Coons said: “The United States joined NATO in 1949 when the Senate voted to ratify the NATO treaty, and the United States will remain in it. The Senate will continue to support the alliance for the peace and protection it provides America, Europe, and the World.”
