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Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH), Vice Chair of the U.S. Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, led a bipartisan group of 190 Members of Congress in urging the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to work together and with our NATO Allies to immediately advance the accession protocols authorizing NATO membership for Finland and Sweden.

“The Russian Federation's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an independent, peaceful, and democratic country, demonstrates the need for effective deterrence,” wrote the Members in their letter. “Additionally, an increasingly aggressive posture from Russia toward both countries make expedited action by the Administration and consent to ratification of the accession protocols by the Senate an imperative. Recently, Russian operatives have initiated cyber-attacks on Finnish government sites, Russian manned military aircraft have violated Finnish sovereign airspace, and suspected Russian drones have been observed in Swedish restricted areas, to include nuclear power plants and the royal palace. As members of NATO, Finland and Sweden, would enhance the military capabilities of the alliance and serve to increase the deterrent effect of the alliance against an increasingly aggressive Russia.”

“We appreciate your attention to this important matter and urge you to advance the NATO accession of Finland and Sweden as expeditiously as possible,” concluded the Members. “Their membership would strengthen NATO deterrence of Russia and U.S. national security.”

In addition to Connolly and Turner, the letter was signed by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, as well as the following Representatives:  Aguilar, Allred, Auchincloss, Axne, Bacon, Beatty, Bera, Beyer, Bice, Bishop, Blumenauer, Blunt Rochester, Bonamici, Boyle, Brooks, Brown, Bustos, Carbajal, Carson, Carter, Cartwright, Case, Casten, Castor, Chabot, Cheney, Chu, Cicilline, Clarke, Clark, Cleaver, Clyburn, Cohen, Cooper, Correa, Costa, Courtney, Crenshaw, Crist, Crow, Davis, Dean, DeGette, DeLauro, DelBene, Demings, Deutch, Dingell, Doggett, Dunn, Escobar, Eshoo, Espaillat, Fitzpatrick, Fletcher, Foster, Frankel, Gallagher, Gallego, Garamendi, Garcia, Gibbs, Gimenez, Gonzalez, Gottheimer, Green, Grijalva, Hayes, Higgins, Hill, Himes, Horsford, Houlahan, Hoyer, Huffman, Jackson Lee, Jeffries, Kahele, Kaptur, Keating, Robin Kelly, Trent Kelly, Kildee, Kilmer, Andy Kim, Young Kim, Kind, Kinzinger, Krishnamoorthi, Kuster, LaHood, Lamborn, Larsen, Lawrence, Lawson, Lee, Levin, Lieu, Loudermilk, Lowenthal, Lynch, Malinowski, Carolyn Maloney, Sean Patrick Maloney, Manning, Matsui, McCaul, McCollum, McEachin, McNerney, Meeks, Meijer, Mfume, Blake Moore, Gwen Moore, Morelle, Moulton, Mrvan, Murphy, Nadler, Napolitano, Neguse, Norcross, Pallone, Panetta, Pappas, Pascrell, Perlmutter, Peters, Phillips, Pingree, Plaskett, Pocan, Price, Quigley, Raskin, Reschenthaler, Rice, Rogers, Ross, Ruppersberger, Rush, Ryan, Salazar, Sánchez, Sarbanes, Scanlon, Schiff, Schneider, Schrier, Austin  Scott, David Scott, Bobby Scott, Sherman, Sherrill, Sires, Slotkin, Smith, Soto, Spanberger, Speier, Stanton, Stevens, Stewart, Swalwell, Takano, Thompson, Titus, Tonko, Norma Torres, Ritchie Torres, Trahan, Underwood, Upton, Vargas, Veasey, Velázquez, Wagner, Wasserman Schultz, Waters, Watson Coleman, Welch, Wild, Williams, Wilson, Wittman, Womack, Yarmuth.

Text of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Secretary Blinken, Secretary Austin, Chairman Menendez and Ranking Member Risch,

The Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden have announced their intention to apply for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). We urge the Administration and United States Senate to work together and with our NATO Allies to advance immediately the accession protocols authorizing NATO membership for Finland and Sweden.

Both Finland and Sweden have advanced economies and strong democratic institutions that align with the founding values enshrined in the Washington Treaty. Both nations are members of NATO’s Partnership for Peace and are Enhanced Opportunity Partners. Finland and Sweden have well-trained armed forces, sophisticated modern weapon systems, and have committed to allocating two percent of GDP to defense spending. They have participated in numerous NATO-led operations, including in Afghanistan and the Balkans, and regularly conduct exercises with NATO. As such, their forces are highly interoperable with other members and the United States. Allowing these nations to join would strengthen NATO’s deterrence across the Arctic, Nordic, and Baltic regions.

The Russian Federation's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an independent, peaceful, and democratic country, demonstrates the need for effective deterrence. Additionally, an increasingly aggressive posture from Russia toward both countries make expedited action by the Administration and consent to ratification of the accession protocols by the Senate an imperative. Recently, Russian operatives have initiated cyber-attacks on Finnish government sites, Russian manned military aircraft have violated Finnish sovereign airspace, and suspected Russian drones have been observed in Swedish restricted areas, to include nuclear power plants and the royal palace. As members of NATO, Finland and Sweden, would enhance the military capabilities of the alliance and serve to increase the deterrent effect of the alliance against an increasingly aggressive Russia.

We appreciate your attention to this important matter and urge you to advance the NATO accession of Finland and Sweden as expeditiously as possible. Their membership would strengthen NATO deterrence of Russia and U.S. national security.

Sincerely,