Courtney Grills Trump Official on President’s Claim that “We No Longer Need or Desire NATO Countries’ Assistance”
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, in a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Ranking Member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, questioned a Trump Department of Defense official on the President’s claim that the U.S. “no longer need[s] or desire[s] NATO countries’ assistance” and “NEVER DID!”
“On February 21st, we needed NATO’s help,” Courtney said. “We had a distress signal from a U.S. submarine 8 miles off the coast of Greenland, where a sailor was experiencing a medical emergency. Luckily, there was a Danish military patrol ship that was nearby and flew a Seahawk helicopter to the submarine and evacuated that sailor to Greenland, where he received medical attention. All part of the NATO alliance.
“The fact of the matter is, and we all know this, that submarine was on patrol as part of our nuclear deterrence mission… which is essential to homeland defense and is part of NATO’s mission.”
To watch and download the full video, click here.
“It was a perfect example of NATO at work,” Courtney continued. “Because we had a NATO ally in the region, and we have a defense arrangement so that people could act quickly to respond to a situation like that, there was no diplomatic gymnastics that anybody had to go through. They just did it. They just acted as a good ally would in terms of making sure that situation was addressed.”
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