Contact: Caroline Rabbitt (202) 224-2353

Washington, D.C.- Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement on the results of the United Kingdom's referendum on its membership in the European Union:

"The British people exercised their sovereign right of self-government, decisively choosing to leave the European Union. We respect their decision and celebrate their democracy. Now is the time to preserve and strengthen our special relationship with the United Kingdom, which remains our closest NATO ally and a key member of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance. We should now begin negotiations on a free-trade agreement with the United Kingdom. I urge the Obama administration and EU leaders to move forward in the spirit of magnanimity and friendship with our British allies.

"Meanwhile, the result of this referendum should remind leaders in Washington, London, Brussels, and across Europe that our citizens are dissatisfied with stagnant economies, declining wages, uncontrolled migration, rising crime, and terror attacks at home. It's time to abandon the failed policies of the past and solve the real problems of the present."