Congratulating Albania and Croatia on being invited to begin accession talks with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and expressing support for continuing to enlarge the alliance.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise today in strong support of House Resolution 1266, a resolution congratulating Albania and Croatia on being invited to begin accession talks with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. I support this continuing enlargement of the alliance.

These nations have been preparing for NATO for 8 years and are undergoing a historic process. They have made important improvements in the areas of ethnic diversity, human rights, free market economic principles and the promotion of good neighborly relations. Their unique geo-strategic position will be an asset to NATO. I commend the governments of these deserving nations for this historic achievement.

However, it bears mentioning there were three nations being considered for NATO membership this year, Croatia, Albania, and Macedonia. Unfortunately, Macedonia's bid for NATO accession was blocked due to an ongoing dispute with another NATO member.

It is a shame that Macedonia, our steadfast ally who just this year committed to doubling its troop level in Iraq and has military serving in Afghanistan, was treated in this manner. I remember Macedonia took over 35,000 refugees, I was there at the time, as Milosevic tried to wipe out Kosovo.

Macedonia's strong and sincere commitment to transforming their country into one dedicated to the principles of free market economics, pluralistic democracy and the rule of law cannot be denied. The exclusion of Macedonia from NATO will only serve to diminish regional stability, which I think is what we want, and will discourage other developing democracies from making needed political, economic and military reforms.

Its omission was purely political. As a Member with both Macedonian and Greek constituents in my district, the 8th District of New Jersey, I have been involved in this dispute for a long time. I strongly belief we should be bringing nations together, not keeping them apart.

We are talking about objecting because of what Macedonia calls itself. Thomas Friedman has written about this time and time again. This is the 21st century. What are we doing to ourselves? This nation has responded every time the United States has asked, and yet we have accepted the denial. And the State Department agrees with my position.

Madam Speaker, I offer my sincere congratulations to Albania and Croatia on their achievement.

And I will tell you how far this went, Madam Speaker: The denial on the floor of the Senate, holding up the U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia, Philip Reeker, apparently because he was not talking enough ``pro- Greece.''

I am pro-Greece. I am pro-Macedonia. We cannot afford to have this happen, because we stand for the little guy, remember, the United States of America. Macedonia is a very small country, less than 2.5 million people. It doesn't have a great standing army.

I ask us not only to congratulate Croatia and Albania, but do everything in our power to make sure Macedonia sits at the table.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1266) congratulating Albania and Croatia on being invited to begin accession talks with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and expressing support for continuing to enlarge the alliance, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to support this resolution, which was introduced by my good friend, the ranking member of the Europe Subcommittee, Elton Gallegly, the gentleman from California, a resolution that congratulates Albania and Croatia on receiving an invitation to begin accession talks with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and expresses support for further expansion of the alliance.

At the NATO summit held in Bucharest this past April, the alliance made notable progress on integrating the Balkans into this important Euro-Atlantic institution. Most significantly, NATO invited Albania and Croatia to begin accession talks. I was pleased to see that accession protocols were signed with both countries on July 9th.

These two countries, Albania and Croatia, have made remarkable progress in reforming their political institutions and strengthening their military capabilities in recent years. They will make important contributions to international security, as well as to the stability of Southeastern Europe.

NATO has also recognized the hard work and commitment demonstrated by other countries in the region. The alliance responded positively to a request from Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina to intensify their engagement. Both countries have been active

participants in NATO's Partnership for Peace program for the last 18 months and will begin an intensive dialogue with NATO on a wide range of political, military and financial issues.

NATO leaders also extended a hand of friendship to Serbia, inviting the country to similarly upgrade its engagement to Intensified Dialogue, even though Belgrade has yet to indicate its interest in enhanced cooperation at this stage.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Chicago (Ms. Schakowsky).

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy).

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1266, a resolution I introduced that congratulates Albania and Croatia for the decision by NATO to invite these two countries to become full members of the alliance.

On April 3rd of this year, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at its summit meeting in Bucharest invited Albania and Croatia to begin accession talks to join the organization. This decision was in recognition of wide-ranging political, economic and military reforms undertaken by these two aspiring members.

Both Albania and Croatia have made significant progress in establishing civilian control in their armed forces and ensuring those forces are closely integrated with the militaries of NATO members. Both have made substantial progress in holding free and fair elections, establishing democratic institutions and building their free market economies.

Regarding Albania, I want to single out the assistance of their military in three areas of operation: Albania's participation in the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Bosnia; its contribution of 140 men to the NATO operations in Afghanistan; and the participation of Albanian Special Forces as part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.

With respect to Croatia, it has been and continues to be a significant contributor to peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Kosovo. In Afghanistan, Croatia has been a supporter of the NATO-led mission and in the past year has sharply increased their military forces in that country. In addition, Croatia has strongly backed international efforts in the areas of nonproliferation and the fight against illegal trafficking of weapons, drugs and persons.

I have traveled to Croatia on numerous occasions and can attest to the fact that the Croatians and Americans enjoy a close friendship based on common interests and common values. Today we enjoy the closest bilateral relationship with Croatia since the country achieved its independence in 1992.

Madam Speaker, Albania and Croatia are two strong allies that have shown that they are ready, willing and able to become full members of NATO. I urge the passage of H. Res. 1266, and also urge the Senate to move quickly to ratify amendments to the NATO treaty that would allow these two nations to join our most important international alliance.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this resolution.

I am very pleased that Albania and Croatia were invited to join the alliance at the Bucharest summit in April of this year. Enlarging NATO has been hugely successful in advancing stability and cooperation among NATO's member states, and this invitation to Albania and Croatia to join the alliance is very welcome news.

Unfortunately, another friend and important ally, the Republic of Macedonia, was blocked from joining NATO at the Bucharest summit due to the objection of a single nation, Greece, over the official name of Macedonia. This is very disappointing.

Macedonia has made significant economic and political reforms. They have made a strong contribution to U.S.-led military missions. They have been deemed to be fully qualified to become a member of the alliance.

Greece is our long-time friend, our valued ally, but their refusal to allow Macedonia into NATO over a bilateral name dispute represents, to my belief, the first time NATO membership has been denied any country due to a bilateral dispute unrelated to strategic defense considerations of the alliance. This is a very troubling precedent. It sets the stage for what could be a pattern, where member states leverage their advantage to nonmember states seeking to get into NATO and try and extract any measure of bilateral concession, all occurring at the expense of the alliance.

I strongly support a quick and expedient resolution to the name dispute between Greece and Macedonia so that Macedonia can join Albania and Croatia in signing accession protocols with NATO. I commend the United States diplomat that has led the efforts to resolve this issue. Both Greece and Macedonia have expressed their resolution to continue to work on getting a breakthrough. I encourage their efforts and I urge them, these great countries, these important friends of ours, to rise above the temptation to exploit nationalist themes for domestic political advantage in each of their respective countries. Put that aside, rise above that for the good of the alliance. Resolve this issue and let Macedonia in.

The resolution before us commends Albania and commends Croatia for the beginning of the accession process. They deserve this commendation. Please support this resolution.

Announcement By the Speaker Pro Tempore

I thank the gentleman from Ohio, the gentleman from California, and also Mr. Gallegly for introducing this important statement in support of Croatia and Albania.

Over the last 17 years, we have seen the bilateral relationship between Croatia and the United States grow to the

point where today Croatia stands as a steady and reliable friend in Southeast Europe and the Balkans. Exemplified by President Bush's successful trip there in April of this year, Croatia has become a true partner on a global scale. The U.S. and Croatia share joint efforts in the war against global terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and international organized crime, which represent the most dangerous threats to national and international security.

As an active contributor to NATO-led operations in Afghanistan, Croatia has already demonstrated itself willing and capable to assume responsibilities of NATO membership, and will prove to be an effective contributor to the collective defense and overall alliance mission. In total, Croatia currently participates in 17 international peacekeeping missions and is a current nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

As cochair of the Croatian Caucus, it has long been a goal of ours to see Croatia receive an invitation to join NATO, and I was pleased when the invitation to begin accession discussions came earlier this year. The government and the people of Croatia have worked very hard, and NATO has taken notice of their political, social, and military reforms. All Croatians and Croatian Americans deserve to feel true national pride in this accomplishment. I know that I speak for myself, my cochair Mr. Visclosky, and other members of the Croatian Caucus when I say that we look forward to continuing to work with Croatia and their very capable embassy here in the United States on a variety of issues of mutual concern.

This is truly a great accomplishment for the nation of Croatia, and it is very appropriate that as a Congress we stand together to honor the accomplishments of our friend and ally. I thank all the Members who cosponsored this resolution and helped to bring it to the floor, and encourage my colleagues to join me today in honoring Croatia and Albania.