Senate Ratifies Entry Of Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic To NATO
|
|
Voting on NATO expansion in the Senate
| |
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, May 1) -- The Senate voted 80 to 19 Thursday night to approve adding Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to the nearly half-century-old North Atlantic Treaty Organization and leave the door open for other former Soviet satellites to join later.
The vote was a crucial foreign policy victory for President Clinton, who has made NATO expansion a top priority of his second term.
The final tally was 13 votes more than the two-thirds majority needed for treaty modifications. The measure does not go to the House. Passage came after the Senate rejected, 59-41, an amendment by Sen. John Warner, R-Va., for a three-year moratorium before any further members are added.
While neither NATO nor the Clinton administration has designated any additional members beyond the three, nearly a dozen other nations have applied for membership.
|
|
NATO troops in training
| |
NATO was created after World War II to contain communism. Proponents call it a natural extension of the Cold War. Opponents fear it could create new divisions, destabilize Russia,and become a "blank check" for further U.S. expenditures beyond the nearly $1 billion already spent to prepare Eastern European countries for NATO membership.
In advance of the final vote, Clinton said the addition of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic -- with more to come -- would bring the world "closer than ever to realizing the dream of a generation: a Europe that is united, democratic and secure."
The Senate worked into the night Thursday on the measure. The White House was optimistic, but aides said Clinton was making last-minute calls anyway to a handful of senators still undecided.
One of the last to announce his position was Sen. Patrick Leahy, who told the Senate late Thursday he would vote against the NATO expansion because "we should be working to build a non-threatening" relationship with Russia's fragile democracy.
Supporters pleased Warner amendment was rejected
Supporters were heartened after the 59-41 vote, which they viewed as the most serious of all weakening amendments.
Previously, the Senate rejected, 83-17, a proposal to bar NATO membership to nations that are not first members of the 15-member European Union. None of the three proposed new NATO members are.
And it turned back, 80-20, an amendment that would have required Clinton to get specific approval from Congress to keep U.S. troops in Bosnia -- or bring them home -- before the NATO expansion could proceed.
Clinton and congressional supporters called the proposed expansion the natural next step after the end of the Cold War. But opponents complained about potential hidden costs, said it would further isolate Russia and lead to more entangling military commitments.
Proposed pause 'reasonable period of time'
Warner, the leading opponent, called his proposed three-year pause "a reasonable period of time" that would leave the decision on future expansion to the next U.S. president and the Congress elected in 2000.
But critics of Warner's amendment said it would work against the spirit of opening NATO to the new democracies of central and eastern Europe. "This is what we fought the Cold War for," said Sen. John McCain.
All 16 NATO members plus the three new ones must agree to the expansion. Canada, Denmark, Germany and Norway have already approved it.
Earlier Thursday, the Czech Senate ratified the country's accession, 64-3, two weeks after the Czech lower chamber approved it. Poland is waiting to vote until NATO members approve it. In Hungary, where 85 percent of voters endorsed it in a November referendum, the parliament is expected to approve it later this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
|
News
NATO