04 March 1998
(Looks forward to vote by the full Senate in weeks ahead) (260) New York -- President Clinton, in New York City the evening of March 3, welcomed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's "strong endorsement" earlier in the day "for admitting Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to NATO. "By adding these countries as our newest allies," the President said in a written statement, "we will make NATO stronger, Europe more stable and America more secure." The Senate Committee, chaired by Senator Jesse Helms (Republican-North Carolina), voted 16-2 in favor of NATO enlargement. The two dissenting votes were cast by the most conservative and the most liberal of senators on the panel: John Ashcroft (Republican-Missouri) and Paul Wellstone (Democrat-Minnesota). Following is the White House text: (begin text) THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary (New York, New York) March 3, 1998 STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT Welcoming Strong Senate Foreign Relations Committee Support for NATO Enlargement I welcome today's strong endorsement by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for admitting Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to NATO. By adding these countries as our newest allies, we will make NATO stronger, Europe more stable and America more secure. The United States has led the way in building an undivided, democratic, peaceful Europe. I hope we will be among the first to ratify NATO's historic enlargement. I look forward to the full Senate vote on this issue in the weeks ahead. (end text)