The United States House of Representatives have approved the resolution expressing their support for Finland and Sweden applications to join NATO.
The approval came in the lime line of Russia invasion of Ukraine in early February, a decision which made the two Nordic countries to tender their application to join the military alliances for support against Russia aggression.
The resolution was approved with an utmost majority of people voting in support, with the numbers of those supporting the motion were 394 as against the 18 members who voted against, while 17 members refrained from the voting proceeding.
Majorly among the 18 who voted against the motion were leaders of the Republican party who vehemently rejected the bid by the U.S House of Representatives.
According to Chip Roy who was among those that opposed the resolution gave his opinion on his refusal to accept both Finland and Sweden into NATO, he said “I voted NO on H.Res. 1130, a non-binding resolution expressing support for Finland and Sweden joining NATO. NATO is an important military alliance, and it served as a critical bulwark against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. However, our country is $30 trillion in debt, and Congress should not sign off on expanding NATO when more than half its current members aren’t even meeting their defense spending obligations. Further, we have had no briefing on how this would impact US security responsibilities. We simply cannot afford to continue to subsidize other countries’ failures to adequately provide for their own defense. Our decisions about military alliances should serve our interests first, and the American people deserve better.” A twitter user by Kristina Wong tweeted.
According to update from The Hill report, the resolution that has been passed expresses support for Finland and Sweden’s decision to seek membership in NATO. It further calls member states to support the Nordic countries in joining NATO.
The resolution approved opposes any efforts by Russia to respond to Finland and Sweden’s decision to become part of the military bloc, and calls on member of NATO to work collectively on the alliances defense against external forces.
The representatives who voted against the resolution were Chip Roy, Jefferson Van Drew, Mary Miller, Dan Bishop, Michael Cloud, Matt Rosendale, Lauren Boebert, Tom McClintock, Ben Cline, Bob Good, Madison Cawthorn, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaezz, Ralph Norman, Morgan Griffith, Thomas Massie, Andy Biggs and Warren Davidson. The Hill reported.