Sen. Susan Collins has declared her support for a measure that passed in the House that would make it difficult for a president to pull the country out of NATO.

The Maine Republican is part of a bipartisan group that introduced a resolution this month to prohibit a president from withdrawing from NATO without first securing approval from the Senate.

“Over the past seven decades, NATO has proven to be the world’s most successful military alliance and a major force for peace, stability, and prosperity. It is critical that we reaffirm the United States’ commitment to this vital pillar of our national security,” Collins said in a prepared statement Wednesday.

Collins told her colleagues that supporting the measure “would be a strong statement of support for this important alliance that serves the strategic interests of the United States.”

Both of Maine’s U.S. House members – Democrats Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden – were among the 357 lawmakers who supported a proposal Tuesday to bar the use of federal funds by a president to withdraw from the treaty that has locked the U.S. to Canada and European allies in common defense since 1949.

The Senate resolution requires the president to win two-thirds support from the Senate to suspend, terminate or withdraw from NATO. It also prohibits funding any effort to do so and grants congressional counsel permission to challenge a president in court if he tries to sidestep the provision.

Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, said in a prepared statement that Trump’s “repeated threats to withdraw from NATO are dangerous.”

“Our NATO allies have fought alongside our troops since World War II, yet President Trump disparages these nations and cozies up to our adversaries,” he said. “At a time of increased Russian aggression and global threats, our alliance with NATO is more important than ever to ensure the safety of the American people.”

Collins and Kaine were joined by Republicans Cory Gardner of Colorado, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida, and Democrats Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Chris Coons of Delaware and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

The New York Times reported recently that senior administration officials said that several times over the course of 2018, Trump privately said he wanted to withdraw from NATO.

In public, the president has griped on a number of occasions that European nations are failing to spend what he considers their fair share of the cost of the mutual defense required by the NATO treaty.

A bill with the same provisions was introduced last year after a July summit, which included Trump and other NATO leaders, led to fears that the president might try to quit the organization. It was championed by Kaine and the late Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican.

scollins@sunjournal.com

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