Congressman George Latimer who represents New York’s 16th Congressional District that includes part of Westchester and the Bronx, is involved in a growing bipartisan effort to block President Trump from invading Greenland and seizing it for the U.S.
Latimer sits on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He has become a co-sponsor of bill H.R. 7016 that would prohibit U.S. action to invade NATO countries and territories such as Greenland and to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for such an invasion. The House bill as of Jan. 14 had 33 Democrats and 1 Republican on board. It had been introduced by Democrats Rep. Bill Keating of Massachusetts, Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania along with Republican Don Bacon of Nebraska.
Over in the Senate, similar legislation has been introduced by Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.
The senators noted that NATO remains the most successful defensive alliance in history, and its credibility rests on the shared understanding that the sovereignty of member states will be respected and defended by one another.
President Trump has threatened to send the U.S. military to invade and seize Greenland, which in the 1700s became a colony of Denmark. It subsequently became its own country within Denmark and had representation in Denmark’s parliament. In 1979, Denmark granted Greenland home rule and a Greenland Parliament was established.
Denmark does not want to give up Greenland, Greenland does not want to leave Denmark and the Greenland people by an overwhelming margin do not want to become part of the U.S. Nevertheless, Trump has persisted in offering to buy Greenland coupled with threats to take the country by force.
As of a Jan. 14 internet post, Trump said that total U.S. control of Greenland is the only option and that the U.S. will seize it if necessary.
Latimer took to the floor of the House of Representatives for a speech on the subject. He began by reminding his colleagues and others who have strong religious beliefs that their religions preach against stealing what others legitimately own as well as requiring ethical behavior.
“We face now the most important test of our democracy in over 150 years: whether the federal government will blatantly steal the assets of an independent, sovereign nation who is our ally, for no legitimate reason other than lust for land,” Latimer said in his House speech. “In the rhetoric of coveting thy neighbor’s goods, the president of the United States of America is fixed on coveting the sovereign land of the kingdom of Denmark – the island of Greenland. This president has spoken about it in his frequent public ruminations, and we learn he has tasked our military to plan how we might take Greenland by force, without the consent of Denmark.”
Latimer described any taking of Greenland as violating the principles established by America’s founding fathers and turning the U.S. into a “thug” nation.
“Saddam Hussein’s Iraq seized Kuwait. Vladimir Putin’s Russia launched war to take over Ukraine. Adolf Hitler’s Germany grabbed Poland and Czechoslovakia and for a while all of continental Europe. Mussolini took Ethiopia. And Chairman Xi has long coveted Taiwan. Each presented their flimsy ‘reasons’ for their actions, justifications that fooled no one,” Latimer said. “Is this who America intends to emulate? Putin, Hitler, Hussein?”
Latimer cited Trump and his chief aide Stephen Miller for falsely claiming that the U.S. must take over Greenland in order to protect the U.S. from an Arctic region threat.
“With that very thought in mind, in 1951 we signed an agreement with Denmark that allows to place any military asset in Greenland that we feel we need … with the support and agreement of Denmark,” Latimer said. “They have not reneged in that deal or thrown up roadblocks to American defense needs. We are trying to burst into a room by force when the door is set wide open and the welcome mat is displayed. But Denmark, a NATO ally, owns Greenland legally.”
Latimer raised the possibility that Donald Trump hates NATO as much as does Russian President Vladimir Putin who sees NATO as interfering with his efforts to expand his empire.
“We have the world’s greatest military – but it is not a toy to be used to glorify any one man’s lust for an expanded control of land,” Latimer said. “It is NOT the ‘Department of War’… it is the ‘Department of Defense.’ That is how Americans view our role in the world – to defend ourselves and to defend freedom, in a world with dictators and thugs who would subjugate all of us if they could.”
Latimer said that the U.S. for now still is a democracy with a Constitution and three branches of government, not with a dominant dictator with a subservient Politburo and judiciary.
“Attacking Greenland for no strategic benefit that we don’t already have places us in league with Russia and China,” Latimer said. “We will regret such a decision every day we live thereafter. Let this Congress make a strong, unambiguous statement that America does not ‘take’ land for some trumped up reason.”
