NATO expansion approved in House

Archived Articles | 16 Oct 2002 | JBANCEWR

Washington, DC (JBANC) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed resolutions October 7th reaffirming continued American commitment to
NATO, and supporting the candidacies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to join the Alliance.

The resolution introduced by Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA) passed by the wide margin of 358-9, while the resolution introduced by Rep. John Shimkus
(R-IL) passed by voice vote, which is by at least a two-thirds margin.

The Gallegly resolution, H.Res.468, was recently amended to endorse member candidacies of seven aspirant countries, including Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The margin of support of those who voted was nearly 98%, which is even more than the highly successful passage of the Solomon Freedom Consolidation Act. One representative voted "present" and 63 members did not vote. Gallegly, who recently spent a week visiting the Baltics, is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe in the International Relations Committee.

Final vote results on H.Res.468 are available at:
http://jbanc.org/vote02.html

Additional supporting comments on the House floor were given by Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA), Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), and Rep. Doug Bereuter (R-NE), all members of the House International Relations Committee. Credit was given to both the Committee chairman, Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) and Ranking Member Lantos for helping move the debate and vote on the measure. There were 20 co-sponsors of the Gallegly bill, with Lantos, Bereuter and Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA) as original co-sponsors.

The Shimkus resolution, HCR116, supporting membership of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was originally introduced in April 2001 and eventually garnered 56 co-sponsors. Supporting voices on the House floor were Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Rep. Gallegly, Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) and Shimkus, who added that it is "important for the House of Representatives to send a message to NATO leaders before the 2002 summit that the United States stands firmly behind the Baltics' candidacy."

Shimkus and Kucinich are co-chairs of the House Baltic Caucus, currently with over 75 members.

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