'Stronger Than We've Ever Been': President Biden Delivers Remarks On NATO

5 months ago

President Biden delivered remarks on Wednesday at the working session of the NATO summit.

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Transcript

00:00So, good afternoon. Welcome to Hollywood. It's great to see you all here at this summit.

00:10Welcome to the NATO Summit in Washington. And many thanks to our host, the United States,

00:17and many thanks to you personally, President Biden.

00:21Dear Joe, there is no better place to celebrate the 75th anniversary of our Alliance than

00:30right here in Washington, where the North Atlantic Treaty was signed back in 1949.

00:39So thank you so much for hosting us all here.

00:43And thank you also, President Biden, for your personal leadership and your strong commitment

00:48over many years to NATO, to our transatlantic Alliance. This has all made us stronger.

00:56Let me also welcome Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. This is your first time as a full member of

01:05the Alliance, as Prime Minister, attending a NATO Summit. So welcome to the family, Ulf.

01:10It's great to see you here.

01:13In this first session, we will make decisions for our future security. We will strengthen

01:18our defense. Twenty-three Allies now meet the target of spending 2 percent of GDP on

01:26defense, up from just three Allies in 2014, when we made the pledge to invest more in

01:33defense.

01:35We will increase our support for Ukraine by establishing a NATO coordination and security

01:41assistance and training for Ukraine, and by ensuring a sustained support for the long

01:48term. Support to Ukraine is not charity. It is in our own security interest.

01:57And we will reinforce our partnerships in the Indo-Pacific to push against the growing

02:02alignment of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.

02:08Let me now pass the floor to President Biden for his opening statement. So please, Joe,

02:13you have the floor.

02:14Secretary General, Allies, friends, 75 years ago, when our nations created the Alliance,

02:23President Truman said, quote, we hope to create a shield against aggression, the fear of aggression,

02:30and to permit us to get on with the real business of creating a government and society.

02:37For 75 years, our nations have grown and prospered behind the NATO shield. Today, we're

02:46stronger than we've ever been. Since I took office, we've doubled the number of battle

02:51groups at NATO's eastern flank, and the United States has. Finland and Sweden have joined

02:57the Alliance, and the number of Allies spending at least 2 percent on defense has gone from

03:039 to 23. That's not happened by chance, but by choice. At our summit two years ago, we launched

03:12a plan to modernize our deterrence and our defense. And today, we have to ask ourselves,

03:20what is next? How can we keep making the shield stronger? One answer must be to strengthen

03:28our industrial base. Right now, Russia is on a wartime footing with regard to defense

03:35production. They've – they're significantly ramping up their production of weapons,

03:40munitions, and vehicles. And they're doing it with the help of China, North Korea, and Iran.

03:48We cannot – in my view, we cannot allow the Alliance to fall behind.

03:53The fact is that so many of my – let me put it this way. I'm very pleased that today,

04:01all NATO members are making the pledge to expand our industrial base and our industrial capacity,

04:07like our defense spending commitment. This is a critical step to maintaining our security.

04:13The first time ever, every NATO nation is pledging to develop plans for defense production at home.

04:20That means, as an alliance, we'll become more innovative and competitive, and we're able to

04:26produce more critical defense equipment more quickly than – and we should – we may need it.

04:32You know, we will not be surpassed – we cannot be surpassed by anyone when it comes to our

04:38readiness. Here at home, Americans have seen the power of investments like these. In my

04:45administration, we've already invested $30 billion in defense manufacturing to restart or

04:51expand production across 35 of our states. We're investing billions more. The result?

04:59Stronger supply chains, a stronger economy, a stronger military, and a stronger nation.

05:07Let me close with this. This new pledge sends an unmistakable message to the world

05:13that every NATO member is committed to doing their part to keep the alliance strong. We can

05:20and will defend every inch of NATO territory, and we'll do it together.

05:26And that – we're investing in our future strength to ensure NATO will always be ready

05:32for whatever threats we will face should be a clear message we're making to the – sending to

05:37the world. So I want to thank you, every NATO member, for your commitment, for our shared

05:42security. And I will now ask the press to depart so we can get started.

'Stronger Than We've Ever Been': President Biden Delivers Remarks On NATO

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