Shaheen, Senate NATO Observer Group Co-Chair, Participates in NATO Panel in Brussels

Shaheen & Tillis Re-established the Senate NATO Observer Group Earlier This Year

U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) Participate in a NATO Panel During Summit in Brussels 

(Washington, DC) – Earlier today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) participated in a panel discussion at the 2018 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit. The Senators underscored the United States’ bipartisan commitment to NATO, and discussed their efforts to strengthen the NATO alliance in their capacity as co-chairs of the Senate NATO Observer Group, which they re-established earlier this year. 

In her opening remarks, Senator Shaheen underscored Congress’ steadfast commitment to NATO allies, stating, “We appreciate the importance of NATO to national security in the United States; we understand that we are stronger with allies working together than we are alone.” 

Continuing, Shaheen later addressed the critical role that NATO plays in preserving security and stability throughout the world, particularly with the national and global security threats facing the United States and transatlantic community, stating, “The threats to our collective security have increased over the last ten years…we’re seeing threats to our cybersecurity, we’re seeing the threat from Russia and aggression, we’re seeing the threat from China in terms of its economic influence and what it’s doing in the South China Sea, we’re seeing a continued threat from terrorism, so the need to address those threats is not going away.” 

Shaheen closed her remarks by reaffirming Congress’ support for NATO, stating, “That’s why we traveled all night so we could be here to share with you our interest in maintaining the strength of NATO and our understanding of how important it is to the United States.” 

The Senators’ panel can be viewed in full here.                                                                                 

Yesterday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a resolution sponsored by Shaheen and Tillis, as well as Senate Commissioners of the Helsinki Commission, that emphasizes the importance of NATO to the collective security of the transatlantic region, and urges member states to work together to strengthen the Alliance at the NATO Summit. 

The Senators re-established the Observer Group in February to include an expanded mission to monitor NATO’s rapidly developing needs and capabilities to closely monitor and inform Senators outside of national security committees about defense spending commitments of Alliance members, the process of upgrading military capabilities, the Alliance’s counter-terrorism capability and the ability of NATO member states to address non-conventional warfare.  

Senators Shaheen and Tillis are both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator Shaheen is also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.