[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5182 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5182
To prohibit the Department of Defense from deploying strategic assets
of the United States in the Republic of Turkey.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 19, 2019
Ms. Meng (for herself, Mr. Bilirakis, Ms. Speier, and Mr. Soto)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the Department of Defense from deploying strategic assets
of the United States in the Republic of Turkey.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) As part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's
(NATO) nuclear sharing policy, non-nuclear NATO members have
hosted United States nuclear weapons and associated forces
within their respective territories since the 1960s.
(2) NATO's nuclear sharing policy was enacted during the
Cold War as a means to enhance deterrence of the Soviet Union
by involving non-nuclear NATO allies alongside the United
States, the United Kingdom, and France.
(3) Turkey has been a member of NATO since the
organization's first enlargement in 1952.
(4) Turkey's current president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
altered many long-standing Turkish policies and institutions,
making the Government of Turkey more authoritarian and
Islamist.
(5) The failed coup attempt of July 2016 and the subsequent
reprisals against suspected participants raise concerns about
the stability of the Turkish government and the discipline of
its military.
(6) Turkey continues to develop stronger relations with
geopolitical adversaries to NATO such as Russia, China, and
Iran.
(7) In October 2019, in response to questions about the
security of United States strategic assets in Turkey, the
President of the United States noted ``we're confident, and we
have a great--a great air base there, a very powerful air
base.''.
(8) The Incirlik Air Base website states, ``The 39
Operations Support Squadron leads world-class airfield &
support operations to orchestrate and control U.S., Turkish,
and coalition forces operating at Incirlik Airbase in the
execution of full-spectrum airpower and nuclear deterrent
operations.''.
(9) Turkey denied the United States access to Incirlik Air
Base during the Iraq War in 2003 and refused to allow coalition
jets to use Incirlik when ISIS gained ground in Kobani, Syria,
in 2014.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR CERTAIN DEPLOYMENT OF
STRATEGIC ASSETS.
None of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made
available for fiscal year 2020 or any fiscal year thereafter for the
Department of Defense may be obligated or expended for the future
deployment of any strategic assets of the United States in the Republic
of Turkey.
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