HON. JOE WILSON (R)
of South Carolina
in the House of Representatives
Saturday, August 22, 2020
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, this past week was a tremendous success for the Polish-U.S. Alliance. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sealed a defense cooperation agreement Saturday with Polish officials that will pave the way to deploy more American troops to Poland. President Donald Trump has fulfilled promises made, promises kept, to protect the citizens of Poland discouraging Putin threats.
Pompeo signed the deal with Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak that sets out the legal framework for the additional troops.
The agreement would also further other aspects of U.S.-Polish cooperation primarily in investment and trade ties. Poland has agreed to construct multiple facilities to support more U.S. troops operating in that country. Some 4,500 U.S. troops are currently based in Poland, but about 1,000 more are to be added. President Andrzej Duda of Poland has proudly cited this could be named Fort Trump.
The pact signed Saturday supplements NATO efforts and allows for the enhancement and modernization of existing capabilities and facilities by allowing U.S. forces to access additional Polish military installations. It also sets out a formula for sharing the logistical and infrastructure costs of an expanded U.S. presence in the country.
This complements additional NATO troops to be stationed in the Baltic Republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, These German, French, and British assets reinforce the vibrancy of NATO to deter Putin aggression with peace through strength.
It is especially meaningful as we sadly remember the infamous Nazi and Soviet invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, which was schemed by the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact, leading to killing millions of Poles, the Holocaust, and the Katyn Forest massacre of 22,000 Polish military, scholars, law enforcement, and security personnel by Soviet Red Army troops.
