[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 122 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 122

Reaffirming the importance of United States alliances and partnerships.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 18, 2021

   Mr. Risch (for himself and Mr. Menendez) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Reaffirming the importance of United States alliances and partnerships.

Whereas, from the American Revolution, through two World Wars, the Cold War, and 
        the fight against international terrorist organizations, the United 
        States has successfully relied on alliances and partnerships with like-
        minded countries to further our vital security, political, and economic 
        interests, starting with the Treaty of Alliance with France in 1778 and 
        continuing to the present day;
Whereas these treaty alliances provide a unique strategic advantage to the 
        United States and are among the Nation's most precious assets, enabling 
        the United States to advance its vital national interests, defend its 
        territory, expand its economy through international trade and commerce, 
        establish enduring cooperation among like-minded countries, prevent the 
        domination of Europe or the Indo-Pacific and its surrounding maritime 
        and air lanes by a hostile power or powers, and deter potential 
        aggressors;
Whereas United States treaty alliances advance critical shared interests, 
        including upholding regional stability and security, deterring 
        adversaries, maintaining maritime freedom of navigation, promoting 
        global economic prosperity, combating the proliferation of weapons of 
        mass destruction, supporting international institutions and 
        architecture, advancing democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, 
        upholding international law, and promoting shared values and norms;
Whereas the combined strength conferred by treaty alliances enables the United 
        States and its allies to leverage a multinational response to important 
        challenges and advance joint initiatives that tackle global problems 
        with a unity of purpose;
Whereas, after the end of the Second World War, the United States Government 
        strategically invested in building a global network of alliances and 
        partnerships, including through the Marshall Plan in Europe and with our 
        post-war partners in Asia, which helped these countries grow into 
        democratic, prosperous, peaceful nations with whom the United States 
        could effectively partner;
Whereas the United States-Japan, United States-Republic of Korea, United States-
        Australia, United States-Philippines, and United States-Thailand 
        alliances are the foundation of regional stability in the Indo-Pacific;
Whereas the United States greatly values other partnerships in the Indo-Pacific 
        region, including with India, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, New Zealand, 
        and Vietnam;
Whereas the United States maintains an unwavering commitment to the defense of 
        Japan under Article 5 of the United States-Japan security treaty, which 
        includes the Senkaku Islands, as recently reaffirmed by President Joseph 
        R. Biden;
Whereas the United States-Japan alliance is one of the most important political, 
        economic, and military alliances in the world, and is crucial to 
        maintaining a favorable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region and 
        advancing a free and open region characterized by a commitment to 
        democratic governance, the free flow of commerce, and shared rules and 
        norms;
Whereas the United States-Republic of Korea alliance is essential for peace and 
        prosperity in Northeast Asia and critical to closely coordinating to 
        face the challenges posed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea;
Whereas the United States-Australia alliance remains an anchor of stability in 
        the Indo-Pacific and the world, while Australia's 2020 Defense Strategic 
        Update and 2020 Force Structure Plan recognize and respond to 
        Australia's evolving strategic threat environment, including by 
        committing to boost its defense spending by 40 percent over the next 
        decade and to bolster its high-end military capabilities, which provides 
        further opportunities for the United States and Australia to boost 
        cooperation on defense and strategic and emerging technologies;
Whereas a strong United States-Philippine alliance is vital to a free and open 
        Indo-Pacific region, the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) is important for 
        the security of both nations, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken has 
        reaffirmed former Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo's March 2019 
        statement regarding the clear application of the MDT to armed attacks 
        against Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the 
        Pacific, which includes the South China Sea;
Whereas the Philippines is of unique geostrategic importance, is a crucial 
        partner in the areas of counterterrorism and maritime security, and 
        plays an important role in upholding regional security in the South and 
        West Pacific, including the First and Second Island Chains, and a strong 
        relationship between the United States military and the Armed Forces of 
        the Philippines, solidified through agreements such as the Enhanced 
        Defense Cooperation Agreement and the Visiting Forces Agreement, is in 
        the national interests of both the Philippines and the United States;
Whereas the United States and Thailand are increasing their defense cooperation 
        to advance shared interests in the Indo-Pacific;
Whereas the United States has an opportunity to strengthen its relationships, 
        including defense relationships, with treaty allies and other partners 
        in Southeast Asia, especially through cooperation that enables these 
        partners to better contend with infringements on their sovereignty, 
        including by encouraging allies to make specific investments to enhance 
        their area denial and mobile defense-in-depth capabilities;
Whereas, in 1949, the United States joined with several European countries to 
        conclude the North Atlantic Treaty, which formed a basis for the North 
        Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in order ``to safeguard the 
        freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on 
        the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law'' 
        and to ``promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area'';
Whereas 30 European and North American nations are members of NATO, and all 
        signatories to the North Atlantic Treaty have ``resolved to unite their 
        efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and 
        security'';
Whereas, following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the NATO 
        alliance invoked Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty for the first 
        and only time, reaffirming that an armed attack against one member of 
        the alliance shall be considered an attack against all;
Whereas NATO serves as a force multiplier, reducing the burden borne by the 
        United States, has command structures, training institutions, and 
        multilateral exercises that have generated unprecedented contributions 
        to United States national security priorities and enabled NATO soldiers 
        to serve alongside members of the United States Armed Forces, including 
        through NATO's ongoing support of Operation Resolute Support in 
        Afghanistan, NATO's Kosovo Force, Operation Sea Guardian in the 
        Mediterranean Sea, the capacity-building NATO Mission Iraq, support for 
        African Union missions, and air policing missions in member and 
        nonmember nations of Eastern Europe, and has taken a strong stand 
        against Russian aggression in Eastern Europe;
Whereas, in his February 19, 2021, speech to the Munich Security Conference, 
        President Biden reaffirmed, ``The transatlantic alliance is . . . the 
        strong foundation on which our collective security and our shared 
        prosperity are built. The partnership between Europe and the United 
        States, in my view, is and must remain the cornerstone of all that we 
        hope to accomplish in the 21st century, just as we did in the 20th 
        century. . . . The United States is fully committed to our NATO 
        Alliance, and I welcome Europe's growing investment in the military 
        capabilities that enable our shared defense.'';
Whereas previous Democratic and Republican Administrations alike have recognized 
        that strong, healthy, and politically sustainable alliances require 
        equitable, fair, reasonable, and mutually beneficial burden-sharing 
        arrangements, and that the key to alliance success is a diplomatic and 
        security posture characterized by the effective marshaling of resources 
        and acquisition and deployment of complementary capabilities, such as 
        the increase in defense spending by all NATO nations since the Wales 
        Declaration of 2014, with 11 members now spending 2 percent of their GDP 
        on defense and several more on track to meet that benchmark by 2024;
Whereas the United States extended nuclear deterrence commitments to NATO and 
        Indo-Pacific allies are foundational to the health, strength, and 
        effectiveness of these alliances and to continued international security 
        and stability;
Whereas maintaining robust United States diplomatic, economic, and defense 
        budgets are critical to advancing cooperation with allies and partners 
        on shared challenges, and deep and precipitous cuts in United States 
        diplomatic, economic, and defense budgets would damage the health, 
        robustness, and effectiveness of United States alliances;
Whereas, in a sign of our shared security objectives and cooperation, our allies 
        and partners have hosted United States military installations and 
        welcomed members of the United States Armed Forces;
Whereas citizens of our allies and partners have sacrificed their lives in 
        support of efforts to combat terrorism and promote security in 
        Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, and have contributed significant 
        forces to our military endeavors, placing more combat power on the 
        battlefield, while reducing the burden borne by the United States;
Whereas the United States has worked with our allies and partners to mitigate 
        conflict and humanitarian crises around the world, and United States 
        allies have made significant contributions to address humanitarian, food 
        security, health, climate-related, and other pressing challenges around 
        the world;
Whereas the United States and its allies face an increasingly challenging 
        security environment in the 21st century, characterized by strategic 
        competition with revisionist powers such as the People's Republic of 
        China and the Russian Federation, which seek to destabilize the 
        international system;
Whereas this security environment demands United States and allied commitment to 
        strengthening and advancing our alliances so that they are postured to 
        meet these challenges, and will require sustained political will, 
        concrete partnerships, economic, commercial, and technological 
        cooperation, consistent and tangible commitments, high-level and 
        extensive consultations on matters of mutual interest, mutual and shared 
        cooperation in the acquisition of key capabilities important to allied 
        defenses, and unified mutual support in the face of political, economic, 
        or military coercion; and
Whereas successive generations of leaders of the United States and its allies 
        have successfully managed the challenges and constraints inherent in 
        alliances, thus ensuring that the benefits of alliances outweigh the 
        costs: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) reaffirms the enduring commitment of the United States 
        to our treaty allies in the Indo-Pacific region and NATO, as 
        well as to other partners, including our treaty obligations for 
        mutual defense;
            (2) emphasizes the primary importance of the United States 
        relationships, alliances, and partnerships to global peace and 
        prosperity;
            (3) recognizes the many contributions that alliances and 
        partnerships have made to advance the interests of the United 
        States and to promote shared interests;
            (4) underscores that alliances have enhanced mutual 
        security by jointly sharing in common defense, including the 
        defense of the United States, and that strong alliances and 
        partnerships generate decisive and sustained United States 
        military advantages;
            (5) encourages dealing constructively with significant 
        tensions in the United States alliance relationships to ensure 
        they do not create fissures that adversaries can exploit;
            (6) welcomes and seeks to advance the continued 
        collaboration of the United States and our allies and partners 
        to respect and defend the rules-based international order and 
        the values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law that 
        undergird our common security and prosperity;
            (7) reaffirms bipartisan support for equitable and mutually 
        beneficial burden-sharing arrangements, including fair and 
        additional substantive contributions by United States allies, 
        and acknowledges the special measures agreements (SMA) reached 
        by the Biden Administration with Japan and the Republic of 
        Korea, and urges ongoing consultations to consider additional 
        allied contributions beyond the traditional SMA categories and 
        to use these consultations as an opportunity to strengthen our 
        alliances with these two partners;
            (8) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to 
        strengthening and boosting our alliances and partnerships in 
        the Indo-Pacific, including to contend with China's growing 
        power projection capabilities and use of coercive and grey-zone 
        tactics, and to jointly develop, regulate, and monitor the 
        production, use, and protection of strategic and emerging 
        technologies;
            (9) encourages the Biden Administration to focus 
        significantly on growing defense cooperation with Australia, 
        especially in light of the country's 2020 Defense Strategic 
        Update, and to build on United States-Japan initiatives that 
        advance alliance defense cooperation that contributes to a free 
        and open Indo-Pacific, and to further boost cooperation with 
        both allies on the research, development, and regulation of 
        strategic and emerging technologies, including defense 
        technologies;
            (10) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to the 
        NATO alliance and to NATO efforts to counter Kremlin 
        aggression, including military aggression and attempts to erode 
        democratic institutions in the United States and other NATO 
        member states;
            (11) urges the Biden Administration to work with its NATO 
        partners to advance the efforts currently underway within NATO 
        to better prepare the alliance to confront future and emerging 
        challenges, and to continue to encourage NATO nations to 
        contribute more to the alliance and improve their capabilities;
            (12) calls upon Indo-Pacific and NATO allies to collaborate 
        with the United States in developing the next generation of 
        defense technologies, including disruptive and emerging 
        technologies, while working together to improve multilateral 
        export controls, common standards for technology security, and 
        norms and standards for new and emerging technologies;
            (13) asks all members of NATO, including the United States, 
        to devote significant energy to the development of a new, 
        forward-looking strategy to replace the 2010 Strategic Concept 
        and focus on the many emerging challenges that face the 
        alliance, including China, Russia, and instability on Europe's 
        southern border;
            (14) calls on the Biden Administration to ensure United 
        States policy and posture reflects the requirements of extended 
        deterrence to preserve nonproliferation benefits, assure 
        allies, and to deter, and if necessary, respond, across the 
        spectrum of nuclear and nonnuclear scenarios in defense of 
        allies and partners; and
            (15) supports maintaining robust diplomatic, economic, and 
        defense budgets as critical to advancing cooperation with 
        allies and partners on shared challenges.
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