[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 27 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 27

 Establishing the policy of the United States toward NATO's Washington 
                                Summit.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 19, 1999

Mr. Lugar (for himself, Mr. Roth, Mr. Lott, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. DeWine, 
   Mr. Voinovich, and Mr. Hagel) submitted the following concurrent 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Establishing the policy of the United States toward NATO's Washington 
                                Summit.

Whereas the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will celebrate its 
        fiftieth anniversary at a historic summit meeting in Washington, D.C., 
        commencing on April 23, 1999;
Whereas NATO, the only military alliance with both real defense capabilities and 
        a transatlantic membership, has successfully defended the territory and 
        interest of its members over the last 50 years, prevailed in the Cold 
        War, and contributed to the spread of freedom, democracy, stability, and 
        peace throughout Europe;
Whereas NATO remains a vital national security interest of the United States;
Whereas NATO is currently conducting military operations against the Federal 
        Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) to further the objective 
        of a lasting peace in Kosovo;
Whereas NATO enhances the security of the United States by embedding European 
        states in a process of cooperative security planning, by preventing the 
        destabilizing renationalization of European military policies, and by 
        ensuring an ongoing and direct leadership role for the United States in 
        European security affairs;
Whereas the enlargement of NATO, a defensive alliance, threatens no nation and 
        reinforces peace and stability in Europe, and provides benefits to all 
        nations;
Whereas Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that ``any other European 
        state in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to 
        contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area'' is eligible to 
        be granted NATO membership;
Whereas the July 1998 communique of the NATO Summit in Madrid reaffirmed that 
        ``NATO remains open to new members under Article X of the North Atlantic 
        Treaty'' and stated that ``the Alliance expects to extend further 
        invitations in coming years to nations willing and able to assume the 
        responsibilities and obligations of membership'';
Whereas the accession to NATO by Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary will 
        strengthen the military capabilities of NATO, enhance security and 
        stability in Central and Eastern Europe, and thereby advance the 
        interests of the United States and NATO;
Whereas Congress has repeatedly endorsed the enlargement of NATO with bipartisan 
        majorities;
Whereas the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, a multinational body composed of 
        delegations from the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty, has 
        called for NATO to welcome new members through the adoption of 
        Resolution 283 of 1998, entitled ``Recasting Euro-Atlantic Security: 
        Towards the Washington Summit'';
Whereas additional democracies of Central and Eastern Europe have applied for 
        NATO membership;
Whereas the enlargement of NATO must be a careful, deliberate process with 
        consideration of all security interests;
Whereas the selection of new members should depend on NATO's strategic 
        interests, potential threats to security and stability, and actions 
        taken by prospective members to complete the transition to democracy and 
        to harmonize policies with NATO's political, economic, and military 
        guidelines established by the 1995 NATO Study on Enlargement;
Whereas NATO must consider and debate the qualifications and potential 
        ramifications of new members on a country-by-country basis;
Whereas the accession of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary to NATO is an 
        important step in the post-Cold War era toward a Europe that is truly 
        whole, undivided, free, and at peace and must be complemented by the 
        extension of NATO membership to other qualified democracies of Central 
        and Eastern Europe;
Whereas extending NATO membership to other qualified democracies will strengthen 
        NATO, enhance security and stability, deter potential aggressors, and 
        thereby advance the interests of the United States and its NATO allies;
Whereas, because participation in missions under Article 4 of the North Atlantic 
        Treaty is not obligatory and each NATO member is free to make an 
        independent decision regarding participation in those missions, the 
        United States and other NATO members are able to decide on the basis of 
        their interests and an independent assessment of the situation whether 
        to participate;
Whereas NATO's continued success requires a credible military capability to 
        deter and respond to common threats;
Whereas, building on its core capabilities for collective self-defense of its 
        members, NATO will ensure that its military force structure, defense 
        planning, command structures, and force goals promote NATO's capacity to 
        project power when the security of a NATO member is threatened, and 
        provide a basis for ad hoc coalitions of willing partners among NATO 
        members;
Whereas the members of NATO face new threats, including conflict in the North 
        Atlantic area stemming from historic, ethnic, and religious enmities, 
        the potential for the reemergence of a hegemonic power confronting 
        Europe, rogue states and nonstate actors possessing weapons of mass 
        destruction, and threats to the wider interests of the NATO members 
        (including the disruption of the flow of vital resources);
Whereas this will require that NATO members possess national military 
        capabilities to rapidly deploy forces over long distances, sustain 
        operations for extended periods of time, and operate jointly with the 
        United States in high intensity conflicts; and
Whereas the principal effect of upgraded capabilities for NATO members 
        to operate ``out of area'' with force improvements for power 
        projection will be to make NATO members more effective American 
        partners in supporting mutual interests around the globe: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That (a) Congress--
            (1) regards the political independence and territorial 
        integrity of the emerging democracies in Central and Eastern 
        Europe as vital to European peace and security and, thus, to 
        the interests of the United States;
            (2) endorses the commitment of the North Atlantic Council 
        that NATO will remain open to the accession of further members 
        in accordance with Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty;
            (3) believes all NATO members should commit to improving 
        their respective defense capabilities so that NATO can project 
        power decisively within and outside NATO borders in a manner 
        that achieves transatlantic parity in power projection 
        capabilities and facilitates equitable burdensharing among NATO 
        members; and
            (4) believes that NATO should prepare more vigorously to 
        defend itself against future threats and to expand its primary 
        defensive focus beyond its previous concentration on threats to 
        the east.
    (b) It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the North Atlantic Council should pace, not pause, the 
        process of NATO enlargement by extending the invitation of 
        membership to those states able to meet the guidelines 
        established by the 1995 NATO Study on Enlargement and should do 
        so on a country-by-country basis;
            (2) the North Atlantic Council in the course of the 1999 
        Washington Summit should initiate a formal review of all 
        pending applications for NATO membership in order to establish 
        the degree to which such applications conform to the guidelines 
        for membership established by the 1995 NATO Study on 
        Enlargement;
            (3) the results of this formal review should be presented 
        to the membership of the North Atlantic Council in May 2000 
        with recommendations concerning enlargement;
            (4) NATO should continue to assess potential applicants for 
        NATO membership on a continuous basis; and
            (5) the President, the Secretary of State, and the 
        Secretary of Defense should fully use their offices to 
        encourage the NATO allies of the United States to commit the 
        resources necessary to upgrade their capabilities to rapidly 
        deploy forces over long distances, sustain operations for 
        extended periods of time, and operate jointly with the United 
        States in high intensity conflicts, thus making them effective 
        American partners in supporting mutual interests.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this concurrent resolution:
            (1) Democracies of central and eastern europe.--The term 
        ``democracies of Central and Eastern Europe'' means those 
        nations that have applied or have registered their intent to 
        apply for membership in NATO, including Albania, Bulgaria, 
        Estonia, Macedonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and 
        Slovenia.
            (2) NATO.--The term ``NATO'' means those nations that are 
        parties to the North Atlantic Treaty.
            (3) NATO member.--The term ``NATO member'' means any 
        country that is a party to the North Atlantic Treaty.
            (4) North atlantic treaty.--The term ``North Atlantic 
        Treaty'' means the North Atlantic Treaty, signed at Washington 
        on April 4, 1949 (63 Stat. 2241; TIAS 1964).
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