Senate Votes 95-1 to Add Sweden and Finland to NATO

Chris Menahan
InformationLiberation
Aug. 04, 2022

The Senate voted 95-1 on Wednesday in favor of pledging American forces to fight and die in defense of Sweden and Finland in case they're attacked.

95-1-1: Senate votes to approve a resolution in favor of Finland and Sweden joining NATO.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) was the lone ‘no’ vote.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) voted present. pic.twitter.com/MjcmcZ2PWG
— The Recount (@therecount) August 3, 2022

pic.twitter.com/7NqhFjMo8H
— Vaush 🇺🇸 🇹🇼 🇽🇰 (@VaushV) August 2, 2022

Senator Josh Hawley, the lone no vote, said his disagreement with the measure was that we should be fighting with China.

Expanding NATO does not make America safer. That’s the bottom line. Our priorities now should be to defend against China abroad and our own border at home pic.twitter.com/UApuSz4iGU
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) August 4, 2022

From The Hill:

The Senate on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to approve a resolution ratifying Sweden’s and Finland’s accession to the NATO, sending another signal that Congress remains unified in opposing Russian aggression toward Ukraine and Europe.

The Senate voted 95 to 1 to approve the resolution, with every member of the Democratic caucus and most Republicans voting in support. It ratifies protocols of accession that NATO allies signed on July 5.

[...] The resolution was a top priority of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who visited Sweden and Finland in May as part of a congressional delegation that also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"Partisanship is in many ways a huge scam," Michael Tracey commented on Twitter. "Both parties routinely unite on the most consequential issues, the latest example being the Senate ratifying NATO expansion 95-1. Try to find significant partisan dissension on Taiwan/China and you’ll come up empty. They are scamming you."

Partisanship is in many ways a huge scam. Both parties routinely unite on the most consequential issues, the latest example being the Senate ratifying NATO expansion 95-1. Try to find significant partisan dissension on Taiwan/China and you’ll come up empty. They are scamming you
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) August 3, 2022

Even the one Senator who did vote against NATO expansion, Josh Hawley, had no principled objection: just a pragmatic one, in that Hawley thinks military resources expended in Europe should instead be expended in Asia to counter China. So, zero senators had a principled objection
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) August 4, 2022

Who’d have thought: the minute the focus turns to military expansionism, suddenly Republicans become huge fans of Scandinavia
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) August 4, 2022

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) declared today that Sweden and Finland finally decided to join NATO because they said, “Enough is enough! Now it’s time to pick between Good and Evil. Evil is Vladimir Putin. Good is Western Democracies”

There’s your caliber of thinking in the US Senate
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) August 4, 2022

Most Americans don't think our troops should be in Ukraine, let alone pledged to defend Sweden and Finland. Nonetheless, those of us who comprise the great American majority have essentially zero representation in "our" Senate.

This is "democracy!"

[Header image by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0]

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