August 20, 2008 - U.S. House Armed Services Committee member Trent Franks (R-AZ) gave the following statement upon hearing of the agreement signed today by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski.

“The Poles have shown great leadership, courage, and foresight, both for the sake of their own national interest and for freedom loving nations.

“Throughout approximately 18 months of negotiations, Democrats in Congress raised multiple high bars for the European Site. They wanted NATO’s support and stamp of approval, and we received that months ago; they wanted assurance that the site’s testing was sufficient, and we received that as well; and lastly, Democrats insisted on having the Czechs and the Poles agree to the installation as a pair, rather than as individual sovereign nations, which materialized in the formal agreement reached with Poland yesterday.

“Every objection has been addressed and every demand raised by the Democrats has now been met.  It is now left to Congress to act swiftly in fully funding the European Site.”