[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 54 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 54
Expressing the unwavering commitment of the United States to the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 7 (legislative day, February 6), 2017
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Rubio, and Mrs.
McCaskill) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the unwavering commitment of the United States to the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Whereas, following World War II, the United States rejected isolationism,
established its role as a world leader, and developed an international
alliance system that protected the United States while supporting
democracy, freedom, and economic prosperity with European nations;
Whereas, 70 years ago, the United States announced the Marshall Plan for Europe,
a strategic investment in Europe, as well as articulated the Truman
Doctrine, which sought to contain a growing Soviet threat in Southern
Europe;
Whereas, in 1949, the United States, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland,
Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United
Kingdom signed the North Atlantic Treaty that formed the basis of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (in this preamble referred to as
``NATO'');
Whereas NATO was created to protect countries from a growing Soviet threat,
promote international peace and stability, and defend freedom;
Whereas, to date, 28 countries have joined NATO;
Whereas, for more than 67 years, NATO has served as a central pillar of United
States national security and a deterrent against adversaries and
external threats;
Whereas NATO continues to improve its collective defense measures, enhance its
military capabilities to address a full spectrum of complex threats, and
partner with non-NATO countries to promote international stability;
Whereas Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is an integral part of NATO and
states that ``[t]he Parties agree that an armed attack against one or
more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack
against them all. . .'';
Whereas NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time less than 24 hours after the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States;
Whereas, in Afghanistan, NATO allies and partners have served alongside United
States forces since 2001, reaching a peak of more than 42,000 ally and
partner forces, 6,300 NATO forces continue to serve today alongside the
6,900 United States forces there, and more than 1,100 NATO ally and
partner forces have paid the ultimate price in service to the collective
defense of NATO;
Whereas NATO took the lead in helping combat the terrorist threat in Afghanistan
through the International Security Assistance Force and Operation
Resolute Support, contributing to the safety of the United States and
the international community;
Whereas all 28 NATO allies and many NATO partners are contributing to the Global
Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant;
Whereas approximately 18,000 military personnel are currently engaged in NATO
missions around the world, conducting operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo,
the Mediterranean, and off the Horn of Africa;
Whereas NATO conducts a range of maritime security operations in the
Mediterranean and is essential to establishing stability along the
borders of Europe and to responding to the ongoing refugee and migrant
crisis;
Whereas, for nearly 10 years, NATO has provided airlift support for the mission
of the African Union in Somalia, as well as assisted with training the
African Standby Force at the request of the African Union;
Whereas, for more than 17 years, NATO has led peace-support operations in Kosovo
to maintain safety and security in a volatile region;
Whereas NATO has three standing forces on active duty at all times to defend the
Alliance, air policing capability, maritime forces, and an integrated
air defense system;
Whereas NATO allies and the international community continue to look to NATO to
deter the increasingly revanchist activities of Russia;
Whereas Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, testified
before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate on July 19, 2015,
that Russia presents the ``greatest existential threat'' to the United
States;
Whereas the malign actions of Russia--its 2008 incursion into Georgia, its
illegal annexation of Crimea, its continued military action in Ukraine,
its targeting of civilians in Syria, its ongoing information war in
Europe, its continued violations of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces
Agreement, and its cyberattacks aimed at influencing United States
elections--have violated international laws and norms;
Whereas Russia continues to use disinformation campaigns and promote state
propaganda to discredit democracy and undermine NATO members;
Whereas, since the illegal annexation of Crimea and direct support to the
conflict in Eastern Ukraine by Russia in 2014, NATO members have
undertaken the biggest reinforcement of the collective defense of NATO
since the end of the Cold War, enhancing allied readiness and deterrence
measures in response to Russian aggression;
Whereas the efforts of NATO to confront and deter Russian aggression in Eastern
Europe have included a three-fold increase in the size of the NATO
Response Force (NRF) to 40,000 troops; the creation of a Spearhead Force
of 5,000 troops capable of deploying within a few days to respond to any
threat against an ally, particularly on the eastern flank of NATO; the
forward deployment of up to 4,000 troops to Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and
Lithuania; an increase in the air policing and maritime missions of NATO
in Eastern Europe; and a significant increase in NATO training and
military exercises in Eastern Europe;
Whereas, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2014, the United States
established Operation Atlantic Resolve and the European Reassurance
Initiative to reassure NATO allies that the United States would uphold
its global security commitments and work in coordination with European
partners to deter Russian aggression;
Whereas, since 2014, Operation Atlantic Resolve and the European Reassurance
Initiative have demonstrated the continued commitment of the United
States to its NATO allies and partners by engaging in deterrence and
security measures against potential Russian aggression in the region;
Whereas the United States is further strengthening its force presence in Europe
through the continuous deployment of an armored brigade combat team to
Poland on a rotating basis;
Whereas, on January 6, 2017, as a part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, 3,500
United States troops from the 4th Infantry Division in Fort Carson,
Colorado, along with more than 2,500 military vehicles, were deployed to
Eastern Europe to deter regional aggression;
Whereas continued United States leadership in NATO is critical to ensuring that
NATO remains the greatest military alliance in history;
Whereas all NATO members have recommitted themselves to sharing the security
burden of NATO at the 2014 NATO Wales Summit by pledging to meet the
defense spending target for NATO members of 2 percent of gross domestic
product within 10 years;
Whereas the United States, Greece, Poland, Estonia, and the United Kingdom all
have exceeded that defense spending target;
Whereas, since the Wales Summit, Latvia, Lithuania, and many other allies have
increased defense spending in an effort to meet that defense spending
target;
Whereas NATO remains committed to its open door policy on enlargement, working
with countries in the Euro-Atlantic region that aspire to join NATO to
help meet the requirements for membership;
Whereas, at the 2016 NATO Warsaw Summit, NATO Heads of State and Government
formally invited Montenegro to become the 29th member of NATO;
Whereas General James Jones, United States Marine Corps (retired), former
National Security Advisor, testified before the Committee on Armed
Services of the Senate in July 2016 that ``[o]ur 27 NATO allies offer
America forward basing, which allows us to better fight enemies like
ISIS and deter adversaries like the new Russia and to meet shared
challenges. Twenty-eight countries acting as one is a powerful
alliance'';
Whereas Secretary of Defense James Mattis testified before the Committee on
Armed Services of the Senate, during his hearing as nominee for
Secretary of Defense, that ``[w]e must also embrace our international
alliances and security partnerships. History is clear: Nations with
strong allies thrive and those without them wither'';
Whereas there is a long tradition of strong bipartisan agreement that
participation in NATO strengthens the security of the United States;
Whereas NATO is the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered
into outside the Western Hemisphere and today remains the largest
peacetime military alliance in the world;
Whereas a fractured NATO alliance would harm the interests of the United States
and embolden adversaries of the United States; and
Whereas a strong and united Europe is important to United States strategic
interests: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) pledges that the United States will continue to
maintain strong leadership and strengthen its commitments to
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (in this resolution
referred to as ``NATO'');
(2) strongly encourages NATO members to fulfill their
pledge to invest at least 2 percent of gross domestic product
on defense spending, invest at least 20 percent of such
spending on major equipment (including research and
development), and shoulder appropriate responsibility within
NATO;
(3) recognizes the historic contribution and sacrifice NATO
member countries have made while combating terrorism in
Afghanistan through the International Security Assistance Force
and Operation Resolute Support; and
(4) honors the men and women who served under NATO and gave
their lives to promote peace, security, and international
cooperation since 1949.
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