by Greg Piper The United Kingdom pioneered the legal practice of recognizing a person as the opposite sex without a surgical operation nearly 20 years ago. Its gender-identity clinic for children was created before the fall of the Soviet Union. But as 2023 draws to a close, the U.K.’s. educational policy…
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Finland officially became the 31st member of the NATO military alliance Tuesday, an event brought on by the shock of Russia’s aggression in eastern Europe, according to Reuters.
Finland and Sweden reversed a decades-long nonalignment policy after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, beginning the process of seeking entry to the alliance that requires all members to come to the defense of any one attacked in May, Reuters reported. NATO members ratified Finland’s entrance on Thursday, sparking threats of “countermeasures” from Moscow.
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The United States Senate voted to approve a treaty to allow Sweden and Finland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Wednesday.
The treaty received bipartisan support and was passed with 95-1 votes in favor of expanding NATO, The New York Times reported. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell voiced their support for the ratification of the treaty and the growth of the organization.
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Virginia had the most representatives voting ‘Nay’ on Monday against a resolution supporting adding Sweden and Finland to NATO. The resolution passed with 394 votes in favor, just 18 votes against, all Republican, and 19 members not voting. Three of Virginia’s four Republican congressmen voted against the measure: Congressmen Morgan Griffith (R-VA-09), Bob Good (R-VA-05), and Ben Cline (R-VA-06), while Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) voted in favor.
In a press release, Griffith said that the Senate has the constitutional power to ratify adding the two countries to NATO, but not the House. He said that the resolution also calls for other NATO countries to support adding the two countries.
“I think that goes well beyond the House’s jurisdiction,” Griffith said.
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