Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Senator Rand Paul abstained, saying “present”, which is the same as voting “no”, except the media points its finger at Hawley rather than Paul. Cornyn, Leahy and Merkley didn’t vote for whatever reasons.

“Roll Call Vote 117th Congress – 2nd Session
Vote Summary 
Question: On the Resolution of Ratification (Resolution of Ratification for Treaty Document No. 117-3, As Amended )
Vote Number: 282
Vote Date: August 3, 2022, 05:42 PM
Required For Majority: 2/3
Vote Result: Resolution of Ratification Agreed to
Treaty Number: Treaty Doc. 117-3
Treaty Title: Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on the Accession of the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden
Vote Counts:
YEAs 95
NAYs —1
Hawley (R-MO)
Present – 1
Paul (R-KY)
Not Voting – 3
Cornyn (R-TX), Leahy (D-VT), Merkley (D-OR)” https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00282.htm

August 3, 2022: Senator Cotton Delivers Remarks on the Senate Floor https://youtu.be/N4wUbhG3goI

(Note that YouTube now has transcripts that may be read to the side).

“Now these historically neutral countries have petitioned to join NATO. Why? Sweden, and especially Finland, have always lived closer to the bear’s den and thus had a different relationship with Moscow than we do. But, now the Russian bear is rampaging, mauling a sovereign country on its borders…”

“Finland and Sweden… are well-trained and well-equipped militaries technologicallv advanced economies and vital geography”.

“In particular Finland is a country of warriors with a long and proud tradition, to put it bluntly, of fighting and killing Russian invaders.
In 1939 Russia launched an unprovoked war of aggression –
odd how russia keeps doing that – against Finland,
what has become known as the Winter War.
Few observers gave small Finland a chance.

Ever wonder where the term Molotov cocktail comes from?
The Finns gave it to us. What they lacked in anti-tank weapons
they made up in grit and Finnish soldiers rushed Soviet tanks and
dropped the bottle bombs inside them and they named the cocktail after
Russia’s deceitful foreign minister for good measure.

Then there’s the legendary sniper Simo Häyhä who killed an estimated 500 Russian soldiers – among the highest number of confirmed sniper kills ever recorded in combat, he entered into the history books better known by his nick-name “white death.” (US Senator Cotton of Arkansas).


Häyhä in Kollaa on 17 February 1940, right after being awarded the honorary rifle. Finnish Military Archives – Tapio A.M. Saarelainen: “Simo Häyhä : the sniper

C-Span closed caption text below omits words and sentences, as always, and is sometimes inaccurate. Nonetheless, it gives a quick idea of this excellent speech. A few corrections have been added, but there was no time to redo the whole text. So, listening to the video and/or reading the YouTube transcript is a good idea.
“MR. COTTON: TODAY THE SENATE EXERCISES ONE OF OUR UNIQUE AND MOST IMPORTANT CONSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES, THE DEBATE AND RATIFICATION OF A TREATY. AND THE NATO ACCESSION TREATY FOR SWEDEN AND FINLAND IS THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL KIND OF TREATY BECAUSE IT COMMITS AMERICA TO THE MUTUAL DEFENSE OF ANOTHER COUNTRY. WE COMMIT ALONG WITH OUR NATO PARTNERS TO COME TO SWEDEN AND FINLAND’S DEFENSE IF THEY’RE ATTACKED. JUST AS FINLAND AND SWEDEN WILL COME TO OUR DEFENSE IF WE’RE ATTACKED. IT’S A WEIGHTY MATTER INDEED. I WANT TO EXPLAIN WHY IF ONE HONESTLY CONSIDERS ALL THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND WEIGHS ALL THE EVIDENCE, I DON’T BELIEVE THIS IS A CLOSE DEBATE AT ALL. IF FINLAND AND SWEDEN JOIN NATO, THE ALLIANCE WILL UNQUESTIONABLY BE STRONGER. THE RISK OF WAR AND OF AMERICA BEING DRAGGED INTO WAR WILL DECREASE IN EUROPE AND VLADIMIR PUTIN’S UNPROVOKED WAR OF AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE WILL BACKFIRE IN ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT LASTING WAY. I NOTED AT THE OUTSET HOW UNUSUAL THIS MOMENT IS. FINLAND AND SWEDEN ARE HISTORICALLY NEUTRAL COUNTRIES. SWEDEN HAS REFRAINED FROM JOINING MILITARY ALLIANCES SINCE THE DAYS OF NAPOLEON. FINLAND ALSO CHARTED A COURSE OF NEUTRALITY EVEN AFTER THE SOVIET UNION INVADED FINLAND DURING WORLD WAR II. NOW THESE HISTORICALLY NEUTRAL COUNTRIES HAVE PETITIONED TO JOIN NATO. WHY? SWEDEN, AND ESPECIALLY FINLAND, HAVE ALWAYS LIVED CLOSER TO THE BEAR’S DEN AND THUS HAD A DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP WITH MOSCOW THAN WE DO. BUT NOW THE RUSSIAN BEAR IS RAMPAGING, MAULING A SOVEREIGN COUNTRY ON ITS BORDERS THAT’S NOT IN THE RANKS OF NATO. FINLAND AND SWEDEN WANT TO NATURALLY AVOID UKRAINE’S FATE. THEY CONCLUDED REASONABLY ENOUGH THAT THERE IS STRENGTH IN NUMBERS, AND THEY’RE RIGHT ABOUT THAT. IF I WERE SITTING IN STOCKHOLM OR HELSINKI, I WOULD WANT TO JOIN NATO TOO, BUT WE’RE HERE IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE. WHAT MATTERS TO US, WHAT SHOULD MATTER TO US IS WHAT’S IN IT FOR US. MUCH AS WE MAY ESTEEM THE FINS AND THE SWEDES, AND WE SHOULD, THEY’RE GOOD PEOPLE, WE NEED ALLIES THAT ENHANCE OUR COMMON DEFENSE, ALLIES WHO CAN PULL THEIR OWN WEIGHT AND THEN SOME. MILITARY ALLIANCES ARE NOT CHARITIES. BUT FINLAND AND SWEDEN AREN’T CHARITY CASES. THEY BRING INTO NATO THEIR WELL-TRAINED, WELL-EQUIPPED MILITARY TECHNOLOGY AND VITAL GEOGRAPHY. FINLAND IS A COUNTRY OF WARRIORS WITH A LONG AND PROUD TRADITION AND TO PUT IT BLUNTLY OF FIGHTING AN KILLING RUSSIAN INVADERS. IN 1939, RUSSIA LAUNCHED AN UNPROVOKED WAR OF AGGRESSION AGAINST FINLAND. WHAT HAS BECOME KNOWN AS THE WINTER WAR. FEW OBSERVERS GAVE SMALL FINLAND A CHANCE. BUT THE OUTNUMBERED AND OUTGUNNED FINNS SHOCKED THE WORLD. NOT LEAST STALIN AND THE RUSSIAN COMMUNISTS BY MATCHING THE RED ARMY BLOW FOR BLOW. EVER WONDER WHERE THE TERM MOLOTOV COCKTAIL COMES FROM? THE FINS GAVE IT TO US. WHAT THEY LACKED IN ANTITANK WEAPONS, THEY MADE UP IN GRIT AN COURAGE. FINNISH SOLDIERS RUSHED SOVIET TANKS AND DROPPED THE BOMBS INSIDE THEM. THEN THERE’S THE LEGENDARY SNIPER WHO KILLED AN ESTIMATED 500 RUSSIAN SOLDIERS, AMONG THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF CONFIRMED SNIPER KILLS EVER REPORTED IN COMBAT. HE ENTERED INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS BETTER KNOWN BY HIS WELL-EARNED NICKNAME, WHITE DEATH, WHICH ALSO HAPPENS TO BE WHAT EVERY RUSSIAN GENERAL FEARS FROM ANOTHER TANGLE WITH THE FINNS. THE FINNS HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN THE LESSONS OF THE WINTER WAR. STILL TODAY EVERY ADULT FINNISH MAN MUST FULFILL A PERIOD OF NATIONAL SERVICE, ALMOST ALL CHOOSE THE MILITARY. FINLAND HAS A 900,000 MAN RESERVE IT CAN DRAW ON IN A TIME OF CRISIS AND CAN FILL AN ARMY OF 280,000 WHEN FULLY MOBILIZED. FINLAND’S RESERVES ARE LARGER THAN THE RESERVES OF FRANCE, GERMANY AND ITALY COMBINED. FINLAND HAS FIREPOWER IN ADDITION TO MANPOWER. ACCORDING TO SCHOLARS, THE FOUNDATION FOR THE DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES, FINLAND HAS ONE OF THE STRONGEST MILITARIES IN EUROPE WITH MORE ROCKET LAUNCHERS THAN FRANCE, GERMANY OR THE UNITED KINGDOM. IT HAS A STRONG FLEET OF FIGHTER JETS AND PLANS TO BUY 11 AMERICAN-MADE F-35’S. SWEDEN IS AN INDUSTRIAL POWERHOUSE THAT WILL ADD MUSCLE TO THE ALLIANCE. THE SWEDISH NAVY IS AN ADVANCED FORCE WITH ADVANCED WARSHIPS AND SUBMARINES. THEY HAVE PRODUCED SOME OF THE FINEST RADAR AIRCRAFT AND WEAPONS. IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE BRITISH, THE SWEDES MANUFACTURE THE IN-LAW ANTITANK. I WOULD ADD THAT THE SWEDISH FIRM ERICKSON ALONG WITH NOKIA, ARE AMONG THE FEW ALTERNATIVES TO WITH HUAWEI FOR TELECOMMUNICATION. THEY ARE PUTTING THEIR MONEY WHERE THEIR MOUTHS ARE WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR DEFENSE MANY FOLLOWING RUSSIA’S INVASION OF UKRAINE, FINLAND BOOSTED DEFENSE SPENDING BY 70% AND WILL SPEND MORE THAN 2% OF ITS TOTAL ECONOMY ON THE MILITARY THIS YEAR. SWEDEN IS IN THE MIDDLE OF DOUBLING ITS DEFENSE SPENDING AND PLANS TO REACH THAT 2% GOAL NO LATER THAN 2028. FOR THESE REASONS ALONE, FINLAND AND SWEDEN ARE NOT ONLY WORTHY ADDITIONS TO THE ALLIANCE BUT WILL BECOME TWO OF THE STRONGEST MEMBERS OF THE ALLIANCE FROM THE MOMENT THEY JOIN. BUT THAT’S NOT ALL. THEY ALSO ADD KEY GEOGRAPHIC ADVANTAGES TO OUR ALLIANCE. FIRST, THE SWEDISH ISLAND OF GOTLAND IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BALTIC SEA, FEWER THAN 200 MILES FROM THE RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE IN KALININGRAD. HE WHO CONTROLS GOTLAND CONTROLS THE BALTIC. IN THE EVENT OF A CONFLICT WITH RUSSIA, NATO COULD KEEP ENEMIES FROM RESUPPLYING BY SEA. THEY WOULD MAKE IT EASIER TO RELIEVE THE BALTIC STATES BY SEA AND AIR IN THE EVENT OF A RUSSIAN INVASION. SECOND, FINLAND CONTROLS THE NORTHERN SHORES OF THE GULF OF FINLAND THROUGH WHICH RUSSIAN SHIPS MUST PASS TO REACH PETERSBURG. OUR NATO ALLY ESTONIA ALREADY HAS THE COASTLINE OF THIS NARROW WATERWAY, THAT IS NOT EVEN 30 MILES WIDE AT ITS SMALLEST POINT. BY ADDING FINLAND TO THE ALLIANCE, RUSSIAN AGGRESSION WOULD BECOME EVEN MORE DIFFICULT. THIRD, THE DANISH STRAITS WOULD ALSO BEING IN EFFECT NATO WATERS. RUSSIA’S BALTIC FLEET MUST PASS THROUGH THIS STRATEGIC EXTRA STRATEGIC CHOKE POINT. SWEDEN CONTROLS THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN SHORES. BY ADDING SWEDEN TO THE ALLIANCE, WE FURTHER COMPLICATE RUSSIA’S NAVAL OPERATIONS. FOURTH, THE 800-MILE BORDER OF RUSSIA AND FINLAND — THIS BORDER WOULD MORE THAN DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF BORDER THAT RUSSIA MUST DEFEND. IT WILL THREATEN RUSSIA’S MILITARY INSTALLATIONS WHERE RUSSIA’S LARGEST NAVAL FORCES ARE POSITIONED TO BREAK OUT INTO THE ATLANTIC AND THREATEN THE UNITED STATES. SO ASIDE FROM THEIR MILITARY STRENGTH AND ECONOMIC POWER, FINLAND AND SWEDEN ALLOW US TO TURN THE BALTIC INTO A NATO LAKE, BOTTLE UP RUSSIA’S FLEET, CUT OFF ITS ISOLATED MILITARY BASE AND EXPOSE RUSSIA TO GREATER RISK IN THE EVENT OF CONFLICT. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED THEN ONE MIGHT CONTEND THAT FINLAND AND SWEDEN ARE THE STRONGEST CANDIDATES TO JOIN NATO SINCE ITS ORIGIN IN 1949. WE WILL SOON SEE THAT MOST SENATORS AGREE WHEN WE VOTE LATER TODAY AND REALLY HOW COULD ONE DISAGREE. AFTER ALL, THE LAST COUNTRIES TO JOIN NATO, MONTENEGRO AND NORTH MACEDONIA WERE EACH APPROVED BY THE SENATE WITH ONLY TWO NO VOTES. THOSE COUNTRIES BROUGHT THEIR OWN CASE TO NATO. LET’S BE HONEST, WHO CAN DENY FINLAND AND SWEDEN? COUNTRIES FAR LARGER, CAPABLE, AND FAR MORE STRATEGICALLY SITUATED. IT WOULD BE STRANGE, INDEED, FOR ANY SENATOR WHO VOTED TO ALLOW MONTENEGRO OR NORTH MACEDONIA INTO NATO TO TURN AROUND AND DENY MEMBERSHIP TO FINLAND AND SWEDEN. I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR THE DEFENSE OF SUCH A CURIOUS VOTE. BUT SINCE SOME OBSERVERS HAVE CRITICIZED THEIR BID FOR MEMBERSHIP, LET ME ADDRESS THOSE ARGUMENTS NOW. THE MOST BASIC ARGUMENT IS — ISN’T REALLY DIRECTED AT FINLAND OR SWEDEN BUT AT NATO ITSELF. SOME CRITICS SAY AMERICA SHOULDN’T DEFEND COUNTRIES HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD. THESE CRITICS ARE SEVEN DECADES TOO LATE. WE ARE TREATY BOUND TO DEFEND MORE THAN TWO DOZEN NATIONS IN EUROPE. WHETHER WE SUPPORT THIS TREATY TODAY OR NOT, WE WILL STILL BE TREATY BOUND TO DEFEND THOSE NATIONS. SO THE REAL QUESTION TODAY IS WHETHER ADDING TWO CAPABLE AND STRONG NATIONS TO OUR MUTUAL DEFENSE PACT WILL MAKE US STRONGER OR WEAKER. THE EVIDENCE I’VE SHARED DEMONSTRATES THAT ADDING FINLAND AND SWEDEN WILL INDEED MAKE US STRONGER, MORE LIKELY TO DETER RUSSIAN AGGRESSION AND TO DEFEAT RUSSIAN AGGRESSION SHOULD IT COME. NEXT, SOME OPPONENTS CONTEND THAT ADMITTING FINLAND IN PARTICULAR IS A LIABILITY BECAUSE THE UNITED STATES WOULD BE COMMITTING TO THE DEFENSE OF ITS 800-MILE BORDER WITH RUSSIA. THIS ARGUMENT IS BOTH ALARMIST AND BACKWARDS. IT’S ALARMIST BECAUSE RUSSIA HASN’T ATTACKED A NATO MEMBER IN ITS MORE THAN 70-YEAR HISTORY EVEN AS IT HAS ATTACKED MANY NONNATO COUNTRIES. GIVEN THE RUSSIAN ARMY’S PITIFUL PERFORMANCE IN UKRAINE, THEY WILL BE IN NO POSITION TO BREAK WITH THAT RECORD ANY TIME SOON AND FINLAND IS THE LEAST LIKELY TO BE ATTACKED BY RUSSIA AFTER THE TRAUMA OF THE WINTER WAR. WHITE DEATH IS A STRONG DETERRENT. MOREOVER, THESE CRITICS ARE THINKING ABOUT THIS ISSUE BACKWARDS. AS I SAID EARLIER, IT’S RUSSIA THAT HAS TO WORRY ABOUT ITS LONG BORDER SHOULD IT ATTACK OUR ALLIES. NATO IS A DEFENSIVE ALLIANCE, ALWAYS HAS BEEN, ALWAYS WILL BE. NEITHER FINLAND NOR ANY OTHER NATO COUNTRY HAS ANY PLAN OR DESIRE TO INVADE RUSSIA. BUT SHOULD RUSSIA EVER BE TEMPTED TO ATTACK NATO, THE FINNISH BORDER CREATES NEARLY INSURMOUNTABLE WAR-PLANNING DILEMMAS FOR THE RUSSIAN GENERAL STAFF. TO BORROW WHAT U.S. GRANT TOLD HIS COMMANDERS ABOUT ROBERT E. LEE, RATHER THAN WORRY ABOUT WHAT RUSSIA WOULD DO AT FINLAND’S BORDER, RUSSIA SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT US.
PUTIN SEEMS WORRIED AFTER ALL. HE BLUSTERED AND THREATENED CONSEQUENCES IF SWEDEN AND FINLAND SOUGHT NATO MEMBERSHIP BUT
HE MEEKLY ACQUIESCED. OTHERS SAY OUR MAIN STRATEGIC FOCUS SHOULD BE ON CHINA, NOT RUSSIA. I AGREE. CHINA IS THE GREATEST LONG-TERM THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES, BUT ADMITTING FINLAND AND SWEDEN TO NATO ENHANCES OUR COMMON DEFENSE, ESPECIALLY OUR DEFENSES IN EUROPE, A NATO THAT IS STRONGER MILITARILY, ECONOMICALLY AND GEOGRAPHICALLY IN EUROPE IS A NATO THAT NEEDS TO LEAN LESS ON AMERICAN POWER. WE OUGHT TO WELCOME STRONG CAPABLE ALLIES IN EUROPE WHO CAN FREE UP THE AMERICAN MILITARY TO FOCUS MORE ON THE PACIFIC THEATER. THAT’S DOUBLY TRUE WHEN THERE IS ERICKSON AND NOKIA THAT CAN HELP US BEAT CHINA IN THE GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY RACE. OTHERS HAVE OBJECTED THAT THE MAJORITY OF NATO MEMBERS ARE CURRENTLY FAILING TO PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE TOWARD OUR COMMON DEFENSE. I AGREE HERE TOO. I’M TIRED OF FREELOADING, GRANDSTANDING FRIENDS. HOW IS THAT A CRITICISM OF SWEDEN OR FINLAND. AS I SAID, FINLAND PAYS ITS FAIR SHARE AND SWEDEN HAS CHARTERED A CLEARER PATH THERE THAN MANY NATO MEMBERS. AND BOTH NATIONS ARE DOING SO FOR A REASON MORE DURABLE THAN DIPLOMATIC SWEET TALK – PERCEIVED DANGER. SOME CLAIM THAT EXPANDING NATO WILL PROVOKE RUSSIAN AGGRESSION, BUT THE FACT IS NATO EXPANSION IS THE RESULT, NOT THE CAUSE, OF RUSSIAN AGGRESSION. COUNTRIES ARE BANKING ON NATO — BANKING ON NATO’S DOOR BECAUSE OF RUSSIA’S BEHAVIOR. AS I MENTIONED EARLIER SWEDEN AND FINLAND HAVE LONG HISTORIES OF NEUTRALITY. VLADIMIR PUTIN’S VIOLENCE TOWARDS HIS NEIGHBORS HAS MADE THAT NEUTRALITY UNTENABLE IN THEIR MINDS. A FEW CRITICS OF NATO EXPANSION LOVE TO QUOTE THE WORDS OF GEORGE WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS. OUR FIRST PRESIDENT WARNED AGAINST PERMANENT ALLIANCES AND HE RECOMMENDED AS LITTLE POLITICAL CONNECTION AS POSSIBLE WITH OTHER NATIONS. THAT ADVICE WAS WELL SUITED FOR A YOUNG WEAK REPUBLIC IN 1796 BUT WASHINGTON DIDN’T STOP WRITING WHERE THESE CRITICS STOPPED READING. THE GREAT STATESMAN SAW A FUTURE WHERE AMERICA WOULD GAIN STRENGTH, STAND UP AND ASSERT ITSELF. WASHINGTON CONTINUED. WITH ME A PREDOMINANT MOTIVE HAS BEEN TO ENDEAVOR TO GAIN TIME TO OUR COUNTRY, TO SETTLE AND MATURE ITS YET RECENT INSTITUTIONS AND TO PROGRESS WITHOUT INTERRUPTION TO THAT DEGREE OF STRENGTH AND CONSISTENCY WHICH IS NECESSARY TO GIVE IT HUMANLY SPEAKING THE COMMAND OF ITS OWN FORTUNES. WE HAVE GAINED SINCE WASHINGTON’S TIME THE COMMAND OF OUR OWN FORTUNES. ONE OF THE PILLARS OF OUR STRENGTH IN MODERN TIMES IS OUR NETWORK OF ALLIES AND PARTNERS IN THE OLD WORLD. THESE BEACHHEADS AND LODGEMENTS OF FREEDOM HELP US KEEP THE AWFUL POWER OF MODERN WAR AT A DISTANCE. FINLAND AND SWEDEN ARE TWO SUCH NATIONS. THEY HAVE ASKED TO JOIN OUR MUTUAL DEFENSE ALLIANCE AND THEY ARE WORTHY PARTNERS. I URGE MY COLLEAGUES TO GRANT THEIR REQUEST, RATIFY THIS TREATY, AND WELCOME TWO MORE STRONG BEACHHEADS AND LODGEMENTS INTO THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION. I YIELD THE FLOOR. A SENATOR: MADAM PRESIDENT.” https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5026542/senator-cotton-challenges-senator-hawley-opposition-sweden-finland-joining-nato#

Sweden And Finland Inch Closer To NATO RFERL-NATO Map

Photo source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_Häyhä#/media/File:Simo_Hayha.jpg