[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 59 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 59

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
  States remains committed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
                                (NATO).


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 11, 1999

 Mr. Bereuter (for himself, Mr. Bliley, Mr. Boehlert, and Mr. Lantos) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                       on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
  States remains committed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
                                (NATO).

Whereas for 50 years the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (hereafter in this 
        preamble referred to as ``NATO'') has served as the preeminent 
        organization to defend the territories of its member states against all 
        external threats;
Whereas NATO, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty, and 
        the rule of law, has proved an indispensable instrument for forging a 
        trans-Atlantic community of nations working together to safeguard the 
        freedom and common heritage of its peoples, and promoting stability in 
        the North Atlantic area;
Whereas NATO has acted to address new risks emerging from outside the treaty 
        area in the interests of preserving peace and security in the Euro-
        Atlantic area, and maintains a unique collective capability to address 
        these new challenges which may affect Allied interests and values;
Whereas such challenges to NATO Allied interests and values include the 
        potential for the re-emergence of a hegemonic power confronting Europe; 
        rogue states and non-state actors possessing nuclear, biological, or 
        chemical weapons and their means of delivery; transnational terrorism 
        and disruption of the flow of vital resources; and conflicts outside the 
        treaty area stemming from unresolved historical disputes and the actions 
        of undemocratic governments and sub-state actors who reject the peaceful 
        settlement of disputes;
Whereas the security of NATO member states is inseparably linked to that of the 
        whole of Europe, and the consolidation and strengthening of democratic 
        and free societies on the entire continent, in accordance with the 
        principles and commitments of the Organization for Security and 
        Cooperation in Europe, is of direct and material concern to the NATO 
        Alliance and its partners;
Whereas the 50th anniversary NATO summit meeting, to be held on April 24-25, 
        1999, in Washington, D.C., offers the historic opportunity to chart a 
        course for NATO in the next millenium;
Whereas NATO enhances the security of the United States by providing an 
        integrated military structure and a framework for consultations on 
        political and security concerns of any member state;
Whereas NATO remains the embodiment of United States engagement in Europe and 
        therefore membership in NATO remains a vital national security interest 
        of the United States;
Whereas NATO should become the core security organization of a future Euro-
        Atlantic architecture in which all states enjoy the same freedom, 
        cooperation, and security;
Whereas NATO has embarked upon a historic mission to share its benefits and 
        patterns of consultation and cooperation with other nations in the Euro-
        Atlantic area through both enlargement and active partnership;
Whereas the impending membership of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland will 
        strengthen NATO's ability to perform the full range of NATO missions and 
        bolster its capability to integrate former communist adversary nations 
        into a community of democracies;
Whereas the organization of NATO national parliamentarians, the North Atlantic 
        Assembly (NAA), serves as a unique transatlantic forum for generating 
        and maintaining legislative and public support for the Alliance, and has 
        played a key role in initiating constructive dialogue between NATO 
        parliamentarians and parliamentarians in Central and Eastern Europe; and
Whereas NAA activities, such as the Rose-Roth program to engage and educate 
        Central and Eastern European parliamentarians, have played a pioneering 
        role in familiarizing the new democracies with democratic institutions 
        and a civil society: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (hereafter in 
        this resolution referred to as ``NATO'') is to be commended for 
        its pivotal role in preserving trans-Atlantic peace and 
        stability;
            (2) the NATO allies, at the Summit meeting to be held in 
        Washington, D.C. in April of 1999, should articulate a concrete 
        vision for the Alliance in the 21st century, clearly setting 
        out the continued importance of NATO for the citizens of the 
        Allied nations;
            (3) the Alliance should adopt a strategic concept clearly 
        establishing that defense of shared interests and values are as 
        important for peace and stability as maintaining a vigorous 
        capability to carry out collective defense;
            (4) the Alliance, while maintaining collective defense as 
        its core function, should, as a fundamental Alliance task, 
        identify crisis management operations outside the NATO treaty 
        area, based on case-by-case consensual Alliance decision;
            (5) the Alliance should make clear commitments to remedy 
        shortfalls in areas such as logistics, command, control, 
        communications, intelligence, ground surveillance, readiness, 
        deployability, mobility, sustainability, survivability, 
        armaments cooperation, and effective engagement, including 
        early progress in the NATO force structure review;
            (6) the Alliance must ensure equitable sharing of 
        contributions to the NATO common budgets and overall defense 
        expenditure and capability-building;
            (7) the Alliance must recognize and act upon the threat 
        posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and 
        terrorism by intensifying consultations among political and 
        military leaders, and deploying comprehensive capabilities to 
        counter these threats to the international community at the 
        earliest possible date;
            (8) the Alliance should pace, not pause, the process of 
        NATO enlargement and remain prepared to extend invitations for 
        accession negotiations to any appropriate European democracy 
        meeting the criteria for NATO membership as established in the 
        Alliance's 1995 Study on NATO Enlargement, regardless of 
        geographic location and on the same conditions applied to the 
        Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland;
            (9) while maintaining its unchallenged right to make its 
        own decisions, NATO should seek to strengthen its relations 
        with Russia and Ukraine as essential partners in building long-
        term peace in the Euro-Atlantic area; and
            (10) the Alliance should fully support the NAA's activities 
        in enhancing and stabilizing parliamentary democracy in the 
        nations of Central and Eastern Europe, ensuring ratification of 
        appropriate new NATO members, continuing to deepen cooperation 
        within the Alliance, and forging democratic links with the new 
        European democracies.
                                 <all>