[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 607 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 607

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the majority 
  of NATO member countries have failed to meet their defense spending 
commitment and that the United States should not continue to subsidize 
   the security of countries that choose not to invest in their own 
                                defense.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 20, 2023

    Mr. Roy (for himself and Mr. Davidson) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the majority 
  of NATO member countries have failed to meet their defense spending 
commitment and that the United States should not continue to subsidize 
   the security of countries that choose not to invest in their own 
                                defense.

Whereas, on April 4, 1949, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, 
        Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and 
        the United States signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, DC, 
        and established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to 
        safeguard the Allies' freedom and security by political and military 
        means;
Whereas Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that an armed attack 
        against a member country shall be considered an attack against all;
Whereas, in the Report of the Secretary of State to the President on North 
        Atlantic Treaty on April 7, 1949, Secretary of State Dean Acheson 
        stated, ``that no party can rely on others for its defense unless it 
        does its utmost to defend itself and contribute toward the defense of 
        the others'';
Whereas, in 2006, NATO Defense Ministers agreed to annually commit a minimum of 
        2 percent of their nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on their 
        defense;
Whereas, according to NATO, the 2-percent GDP defense spending threshold 
        ``serves as an indicator of a country's political will to contribute to 
        NATO's common defense'';
Whereas, in 2014, in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea, the NATO 
        alliance adopted the ``Defence Investment Pledge'' and at that time only 
        three of the 28 NATO member countries were meeting their 2-percent 
        defense spending commitment;
Whereas the Wales Summit Declaration issued by the NATO alliance stated, ``We 
        agree to reverse the trend of declining defence budgets, to make the 
        most effective use of our funds and to further a more balanced sharing 
        of costs and responsibilities. Our overall security and defence depend 
        both on how much we spend and how we spend it.'';
Whereas the ``Defence Investment Pledge'' recommitted NATO member countries to 
        meeting the minimum 2-percent GDP defense spending target by 2024;
Whereas the Senate supported the 2014 Wales Summit Defense Spending Benchmark on 
        March 28, 2017, by ratifying the ``Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty 
        of 1949 on the Accession of Montenegro'' on a vote of 97-2;
Whereas, according to the 2022 Secretary General's Annual Report, only seven of 
        the 30 NATO member countries met the 2-percent GDP defense spending 
        obligations in 2022;
Whereas Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the United Kingdom all 
        successfully joined the United States in meeting the minimum 2-percent 
        GDP defense spending obligations in 2022;
Whereas Croatia, France, Slovakia, Romania, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, 
        Norway, Albania, Bulgaria, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Denmark, Portugal, 
        Turkey, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Canada, Slovenia, Belgium, 
        Spain, and Luxembourg failed to meet the GDP defense spending 
        obligations in 2022;
Whereas numerous NATO member countries use the United States security umbrella 
        to evade the financial commitment needed to maintain the military 
        strength of the NATO alliance;
Whereas the 2022 Secretary General's Annual Report revealed--

    (1) the United States accounted for 54 percent of the Allies' combined 
GDP and 70 percent of combined defense expenditure;

    (2) Canada's defense spending amounted to 1.29 percent of its GDP, 
making it the fifth-lowest-spending NATO member country as a percentage of 
GDP; and

    (3) Germany's defense spending amounted to 1.49 percent of its GDP on 
national defense, despite having Europe's largest economy;

Whereas Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 represents the largest 
        armed conflict in Europe since the end of World War II;
Whereas the United States is the largest contributor to Ukraine, despite this 
        conflict taking place on the European continent, and has appropriated 
        over $113,000,000,000 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine;
Whereas the European Union (EU) and its member states have collectively pledged 
        an estimated $76,000,000,000 in assistance to Ukraine, as well as 
        additional expenditures related to the support of refugees and NATO 
        deterrence deployments to central and eastern Europe; and
Whereas European countries in NATO should be leading the effort to advance the 
        security of their continent and should not delay any longer in meeting 
        the 2-percent defense spending obligations: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes that the 2014 Wales Summit Defense Spending 
        Benchmark ensures the NATO Alliance can maintain the best 
        common defense to safeguard its members in the event a mutual 
        military response is warranted;
            (2) asserts that for far too long the majority of NATO 
        member countries have relied on the financial contributions and 
        military capabilities of the United States and have failed to 
        fully invest in their own defense;
            (3) praises Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and 
        the United Kingdom for meeting the minimum 2-percent GDP 
        defense spending obligations in 2022;
            (4) denounces Croatia, France, Slovakia, Romania, the 
        Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Albania, Bulgaria, Italy, 
        Germany, Hungary, Denmark, Portugal, Turkey, Montenegro, the 
        Czech Republic, Canada, Slovenia, Belgium, Spain, and 
        Luxembourg's failure to meet the minimum 2-percent GDP defense 
        spending obligation in 2022 and strongly urges these nations to 
        fulfill the commitment they pledged to meet;
            (5) maintains that European countries in NATO should be 
        chiefly responsible for safeguarding the European continent and 
        should not delay in meeting the 2-percent defense spending 
        obligations;
            (6) expresses that the United States should not continue 
        subsidizing NATO member countries who choose not to invest in 
        their own defense by meeting the 2014 Wales Summit Defense 
        Spending Benchmark; and
            (7) calls on NATO leaders to make the 2-percent defense 
        spending pledge binding for all NATO member countries.
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