At Reagan National Defense Forum, Shaheen Reaffirms America’s Unwavering Bipartisan Support for NATO and Ukraine, Discusses Future of Democracy Worldwide

(Simi Valley, CA) – At the Reagan National Defense Forum, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chair of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, Co-Chair of the bipartisan U.S. Senate NATO Observer Group and a senior member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, joined a panel to discuss America’s continued bipartisan support for NATO, Ukraine and promoting democracy worldwide. The panel, titled A Secure and Free Europe: NATO, Ukraine, and the Arsenal of Democracy, featured U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Co-Founder of Anduril Industries Brian Schimpf, Swedish Minister of Defense Pål Jonson, Former Secretary of the U.S. Army Ryan McCarthy and was moderated by Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post. The annual Reagan National Defense Forum brings together defense leaders from across the world to discuss policies that strengthen our national security. You can watch the full panel discussion here. 

“There continues to be a strong bipartisan consensus in Congress that we should continue to support Ukraine in their courageous efforts to address the Russian aggression in the country,” said Shaheen. “I think we need to put NATO membership on the table as we’re looking at any future discussion around what happens in Ukraine, and obviously the Ukrainians need to be part of that discussion – it can’t just be the United States, Europe and Russia... Obviously NATO is a consensus organization so there would have to be an agreement, but it needs to be on the table as we’re looking at negotiations.” 

Last month, Shaheen and U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-ID), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led the annual bipartisan Congressional delegation to participate in the 16th annual Halifax International Security Forum to discuss strategic cooperation on shared global security goals with hundreds of national security leaders from across the world. She recently spoke at the National Security Innovation Forum with U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and U.S. Department of Defense Under Secretary Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon’s chief acquisition officer, about the importance of maintaining a bipartisan approach to national security goals and challenges in the 119th Congress and beyond. 

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