[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 468 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 468

  Affirming the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
   (NATO), supporting continued United States participation in NATO, 
 ensuring that the enlargement of NATO proceeds in a manner consistent 
         with United States interests, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 27, 2002

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Affirming the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
   (NATO), supporting continued United States participation in NATO, 
 ensuring that the enlargement of NATO proceeds in a manner consistent 
         with United States interests, and for other purposes.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This resolution may be cited as the ``Transatlantic Security and 
NATO Enhancement Resolution of 2002''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The House of Representatives makes the following findings:
            (1) Since 1949 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
        (NATO) has played an essential role in guaranteeing the 
        security, freedom, and prosperity of the United States and its 
        partners in the Alliance.
            (2) NATO, founded on the principles of democracy, 
        individual liberty, and the rule of law, has proved to be 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.
            (3) NATO is the only institution that promotes a uniquely 
        transatlantic perspective and approach to issues concerning the 
        security of North America and Europe and remains the only 
        multilateral security organization demonstrably capable of 
        conducting effective military operations and preserving 
        security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic region.
            (4) The security, freedom, and prosperity of the United 
        States remain linked to the security of the countries of 
        Europe.
            (5) NATO remains the most visible and significant 
        embodiment of United States engagement in Europe and therefore 
        membership in NATO remains a vital national security interest 
        of the United States.
            (6) 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 members 
        which could impact the Alliance.
            (7) The security of NATO member countries is inseparably 
        linked to that of the whole of Europe, and the consolidation 
        and strengthening of democratic and free societies on the 
        entire continent is of direct and material importance to the 
        NATO Alliance and its partners.
            (8) The sustained commitment of the member countries of 
        NATO to a mutual defense has been a major contributing factor 
        in the democratic transformation of Central and Eastern Europe.
            (9) Members of the Alliance can and should play a critical 
        role in addressing the security challenges of the post-Cold War 
        era and in creating the stable environment needed for Central 
        and Eastern Europe to successfully complete political and 
        economic transformation.
            (10) NATO should remain the core security organization of 
        the evolving Euro-Atlantic architecture in which all countries 
        enjoy the same freedom, cooperation, and security.
            (11) NATO's military force structure, defense planning, 
        command structures, and force goals must be sufficient for the 
        collective self-defense of its members, and should be capable 
        of projecting power when the security of a NATO member is 
        threatened, and provide a basis for ad hoc coalitions of 
        willing partners among NATO members to defend common values and 
        interests.
            (12) NATO must act to address new post-Cold War risks 
        emerging from outside the treaty area in the interests of 
        preserving peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic area, 
        including--
                    (A) risks from rogue states and non-state actors 
                possessing nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons and 
                their means of delivery;
                    (B) transnational terrorism and disruption of the 
                flow of vital resources; and
                    (C) 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.
            (13) All NATO members should commit to improving their 
        respective defense capabilities so that NATO can project power 
        decisively and sustain operations over distance and time.
            (14) The requirements to provide collective defense, to 
        project power, and to sustain operations dictate that European 
        NATO members possess 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.
            (15) NATO's Defense Capabilities Initiative, which is 
        intended to improve the defense capabilities of the European 
        Allies, particularly the deployability, mobility, 
        sustainability, and interoperability of Alliance forces, must 
        continue to be pursued by all members of the Alliance in order 
        to develop balanced capabilities.
            (16) With a few exceptions, European members of NATO have 
        been deficient in maintaining required military capabilities 
        and providing defense spending at levels adequate to meet these 
        capability shortfalls. Failure of the European NATO members to 
achieve the goals established through the Defense Capabilities 
Initiative could weaken support for the Alliance in the United States 
over the long term.
            (17) Members of the Alliance must also recognize that the 
        campaign against new and emerging threats to the security of 
        the Alliance requires other non-military capabilities and 
        efforts to be effective. Thus, the need to enhance 
        intelligence-sharing and cooperation, both bilaterally between 
        Alliance members and partners and within the Alliance 
        collectively, the facilitation of enhanced coordination among 
        Alliance member's law enforcement agencies, and improved police 
        and judicial cooperation and information exchanges are critical 
        to the overall effort.
            (18) NATO has embarked upon an 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.
            (19) NATO has enlarged its membership on four different 
        occasions since 1949.
            (20) The NATO summit meeting to be held in the fall of 2002 
        in Prague will provide an historic opportunity to chart a 
        course for NATO in the new millennium by reaffirming the 
        importance of NATO to the collective security of the Euro-
        Atlantic region, by addressing new threats, developing new 
        capabilities, and by extending invitations to additional 
        countries of Europe to become members of the Alliance.
            (21) The governments of NATO member countries have stated 
        that enlargement of the Alliance is a further step toward the 
        Alliance's basic goal of enhancing security and extending 
        stability throughout the Euro-Atlantic region.
            (22) The enlargement process of NATO helps to avert 
        conflict, because the very prospect of membership serves as an 
        incentive for aspiring members to resolve disputes with their 
        neighbors and to push ahead with reform and democratization.
            (23) The Partnership for Peace, created in 1994 under 
        United States leadership, has fostered cooperation between NATO 
        and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and offers a 
        path to future membership in the Alliance.
            (24) At the Washington Summit of the NATO Alliance in April 
        1999, the NATO heads of state and government issued a 
        communique declaring ``[we] pledge that NATO will continue to 
        welcome new members in a position to further the principles of 
        the [North Atlantic] Treaty and contribute to peace and 
        security in the Euro-Atlantic area''.
            (25) In 1999 NATO launched a Membership Action Plan 
        designed to help interested Partnership for Peace countries 
        prepare for membership by offering advice and assistance on 
        programs and membership-related issues.
            (26) The Membership Action Plan establishes certain 
        political, economic, social, and military-related goals that 
        aspiring candidate nations are expected to meet, including the 
        peaceful resolution of territorial disputes, respect for 
        democratic procedures and the rule of law, human rights, 
        democratic control of the military and other military reforms, 
        and a commitment to stability and well-being through economic 
        liberty and social justice.
            (27) In May 2000 in Vilnius, Lithuania, nine nations of 
        Europe issued a statement (later joined by a tenth) declaring 
        that their countries will cooperate in jointly seeking NATO 
        membership in the next round of NATO enlargement and since then 
        have taken concrete steps to demonstrate this commitment, 
        including their participation in Partnership for Peace 
        activities and their commitment to the concept of the 
        Membership Action Plan.
            (28) On June 15, 2001, in a speech in Warsaw, Poland, 
        President George W. Bush stated ``[all] of Europe's new 
        democracies, from the Baltic to the Black Sea and all that lie 
        between, should have the same chance for security and freedom--
        and the same chance to join the institutions of Europe''.
            (29) The enlargement of the NATO Alliance to include as 
        full and equal members additional democracies in Europe will 
        serve to reinforce stability and security in Europe by 
        fostering their integration into the structures which have 
        created and sustained peace in Europe since 1945.
            (30) As new members of NATO assume the responsibilities of 
        Alliance membership, the costs of maintaining stability in 
        Europe will be shared more widely. The concurrent assumption of 
        greater responsibility and development of greater capabilities 
        by new members of NATO will further reinforce burdensharing.
            (31) The membership of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and 
        Poland has strengthened NATO's ability to perform the full 
        range of NATO missions by providing bases, airfields, and 
        transit rights for NATO forces during Operation Allied Force in 
        the Balkans, by their contributions of military forces to NATO 
        missions in Bosnia and Kosovo, and by their support for 
        Operation Enduring Freedom.
            (32) The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland, due to their 
        similar recent history, have bolstered NATO's capability to 
        integrate former communist nations into a community of 
        democracies and have served as mentors to other countries that 
        aspire to join NATO.
            (33) In supporting NATO enlargement all candidate countries 
        must be fully aware of the costs and responsibilities of NATO 
        membership, including the obligation set forth in Article X of 
        the North Atlantic Treaty that new members be able to 
        contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area, and 
        further to ensure that all countries admitted to NATO are 
        capable of assuming those costs and responsibilities.
            (34) For those candidate countries that receive an 
        invitation to join NATO at the Prague Summit, the process of 
        joining NATO does not end with the invitation but rather with 
        meeting the full responsibilities of a NATO member, including 
        the completion of issues identified by the Membership Action 
        Plan, which will continue beyond Prague.
            (35) In considering the enlargement of NATO at Prague and 
        in issuing invitations to the candidate countries who have made 
        significant progress toward achieving their objectives in the 
        Membership Action Plan established by NATO, there is a 
        recognition that each country invited to join NATO should 
        accede on a common date but before the date on which the next 
        announced NATO summit is to take place.
            (36) The countries that will be invited to begin accession 
        negotiations with NATO at the NATO summit in Prague should not 
        be the last such countries invited to join NATO and there 
        should be a continuing process and progress toward the 
        admission of additional democracies in Europe beyond 2002 
        depending on the degree to which those countries meet the 
        criteria set forth in NATO's Membership Action Plan.
            (37) The process of NATO enlargement entails the consensus 
        agreement of the governments of all 19 NATO member countries 
        and ratification in accordance with their constitutional 
        procedures.

SEC. 3. COOPERATION BETWEEN NATO AND THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

    The House of Representatives makes the following findings:
            (1) The admission into the North Atlantic Treaty 
        Organization (NATO) of new members from countries in Eastern 
        and Central Europe, such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, and 
        Poland, will not threaten any other country.
            (2) Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has attached 
        particular importance to the development of constructive and 
        cooperative relations with the Russian Federation in order to 
        overcome remaining vestiges of confrontation and competition in 
        order to strengthen mutual trust and cooperation between NATO 
        and the Russian Federation.
            (3) In 1994, building on previous efforts at cooperation, 
        Russia joined the Partnership for Peace Program, further 
        enhancing the emerging NATO-Russian Federation dialogue.
            (4) On May 27, 1997, in an expression of strong commitment 
        to work together to build a lasting and inclusive peace in the 
        Euro-Atlantic area, the heads of state and government of NATO 
        and the Russian Federation signed the ground-breaking 
        ``Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security 
        Between NATO and the Russian Federation''.
            (5) On March 18, 1998, the Russian Federation formally 
        established its mission to NATO and appointed a senior military 
        representative to facilitate military and defense-related 
        cooperation between NATO and the Russian Federation.
            (6) Since 1998, NATO and the Russian Federation have worked 
        cooperatively with each other in the Balkans and elsewhere 
        setting the stage for the ability of an enlarged NATO to 
        continue the cooperative spirit embodied in the Founding Act.
            (7) On May 28, 2002, in an historic step toward the 
        Alliance's long-standing goal of building a secure, 
        cooperative, and democratic Euro-Atlantic area, NATO took the 
        decisive and substantial step of deepening the NATO-Russian 
        Federation relationship by establishing the new NATO-Russia 
        Council.

SEC. 4. UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD NATO.

    The House of Representatives declares the following to be the 
policy of the United States:
            (1) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should 
        remain the primary institution through which European and North 
        American allies address security issues of transatlantic 
        concern.
            (2) The member states of NATO should reaffirm, at the 
        Prague Summit in the fall of 2002, the continued importance of 
        NATO, renew their commitment to strengthen the transatlantic 
        partnership, reinforce unity within NATO, maintain a vigorous 
        capability to carry out collective defense, and harmonize 
        security policies and strategies for transatlantic affairs.
            (3) At the Prague Summit, the Alliance, while maintaining 
        collective defense as its core function, should as a 
        fundamental Alliance task, continue to strengthen national and 
        collective capacities to respond to new threats wherever such 
        threats occur, including from abroad.
            (4) The Alliance, in addition to the strategic concept 
        adopted by the Allies at the summit meeting held in Washington 
        in 1999, must recognize the need to develop new capabilities, 
        and agree to consider acting upon the threats posed by the 
        proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism by 
        intensifying consultations among political and military 
        leaders, and by developing comprehensive capabilities to 
        counter these threats to the international community.
            (5) The Alliance should make clear commitments to remedy 
        shortfalls in areas such as logistics, strategic airlift, 
        command and control, modern strike capabilities, adequate 
        shared intelligence, and the other requirements identified by 
        NATO's Defense Capabilities Initiative necessary to provide the 
        ability to carry out the full range of NATO's missions.
            (6) The Alliance must ensure a more equitable sharing of 
        contributions to the NATO common budgets and to overall 
        national defense expenditures and capability-building.
            (7) The President, the Secretary of State, and the 
        Secretary of Defense should fully use their offices to 
        encourage the NATO allies 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 such NATO allies more effective 
        partners.
            (8) The member states of NATO should commit to enhanced 
        intelligence-sharing, law enforcement, police, and judicial 
        cooperation, and expanded information exchanges within and 
        among Alliance members in order to meet the challenges of new 
and emerging threats.

SEC. 5. POLICY WITH RESPECT TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

    It is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
            (1) while maintaining its essential and inherent right to 
        make its own decisions, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
        (NATO) should seek to strengthen its relations with the Russian 
        Federation as an essential partner in building long-term peace 
        in Europe, and to that end, the new NATO-Russia Council, in 
        which member states and the Russian Federation will work as 
        equal partners on mutually-agreed matters, should be welcomed 
        and supported;
            (2) while retaining its primary commitment to collective 
        defense, NATO enlargement should be carried out in such a 
        manner as to underscore to the Russian Federation that NATO 
        enlargement will enhance the security of all countries in 
        Europe, including the Russian Federation; and
            (3) in seeking to demonstrate NATO's defensive and 
        security-enhancing intentions to the Russian Federation, it is 
        essential that neither fundamental United States security 
        interests in Europe nor the effectiveness and flexibility of 
        NATO as a defensive alliance be jeopardized.

SEC. 6. POLICY WITH RESPECT TO NATO ENLARGEMENT AND DESIGNATION OF 
              COUNTRIES ELIGIBLE FOR NATO.

    It is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
            (1) at the Summit to be held in Prague in the fall of 2002, 
        the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should extend 
        invitations for accession negotiations to any appropriate 
        candidate country that meets the objectives and targets for 
        NATO membership as outlined in the Membership Action Plan 
        process established by NATO in 1999, including--
                    (A) a commitment to the basic principles and values 
                set out in the Washington Treaty;
                    (B) the capability to contribute to collective 
                defense and the Alliance's full range of missions; and
                    (C) a firm commitment to contribute to stability 
                and security, especially in regions of crisis and 
                conflict, and to be willing and able to assume the 
                responsibilities of NATO membership;
            (2) the candidate countries of Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, 
        Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of 
        Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia should be commended 
        on the significant progress such countries have made thus far 
        in political and economic liberty and military reform necessary 
        for meeting the objectives for prospective members of NATO as 
        set out in their own Membership Action Plans;
            (3) each candidate country, despite recognized Membership 
        Action Plan deficiencies requiring further refinement, could in 
        its own way contribute to stability, freedom, and peace in 
        Europe as a whole, as many of such countries have done thus far 
        in the Balkans and in Afghanistan, and would make a positive 
        contribution toward furthering the goals of NATO should it 
        become a NATO member country;
            (4) having made significant progress in reforming their 
        societies and their military forces, and having developed 
        reasonable, affordable, and sustainable plans to be able to 
        work within the Alliance structure and to contribute positively 
        to the collective defense of the Alliance and other NATO 
        missions, the most qualified candidate countries, as 
        recommended by the Committee on International Relations of the 
        House of Representatives, should be invited to begin the 
        accession process to join the Alliance at the Prague summit;
            (5) with respect to candidate countries invited to join 
        NATO, such countries should accede on a common date before the 
        next announced NATO summit is to take place;
            (6) after the Prague summit those candidate countries 
        invited to join the Alliance should continue to participate in 
        the Membership Action Plan until accession, and the accession 
        process should take into account work conducted under the 
        Membership Action Plan; and
            (7) the process of NATO enlargement should continue beyond 
        the inclusion of such candidate countries invited to join NATO 
        at Prague, to include those candidate countries not so invited 
        at Prague as well as other democratic European countries which 
        may express interest in joining the Alliance, and which agree 
        to utilize the Membership Action Plan to facilitate such NATO 
        enlargement.
                                 <all>