[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 156 (Monday, November 8, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14334-S14335]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD NATO AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar No. 377, S. Res. 
208.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 208) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate regarding United States policy toward the North 
     Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Union, in light of 
     the Alliance's April 1999 Washington Summit and the European 
     Union's June 1999 Cologne Summit.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.


                           Amendment No. 2776

       (Purpose: To make technical amendments)
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk and ask 
for its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative assistant read as follows:

       The Senator from Iowa [Mr. Grassley], for Mr. Levin, 
     proposes an amendment numbered 2776.

  The amendment is as follows:
       In section 1(b), strike paragraph (1) and insert the 
     following:
       (1) on matters of trans-Atlantic concern, the European 
     Union should make clear that it would undertake an autonomous 
     mission through the European Security and Defense Identity 
     only after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had 
     declined to undertake that mission;
       In section 1(b)(5), strike ``must'' and insert ``should''.

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I wish to explain my amendment to S. Res. 
208 expressing the sense of the Senate on United States policy toward 
NATO and the European Union and my own personal view regarding the 
desirability of our European Allies conducting operations in their own 
backyard.
  My amendment makes three important changes to the language of the 
resolution as reported out by the Foreign Relations Committee.
  First of all, the amendment substitutes ``the'' for ``its'' before 
``European Security and Defense Identity'' to make the point that the 
European Security and Defense Identity, or ESDI, is being developed 
within, not outside, the NATO Alliance. This simple fact is enshrined 
in a number of North Atlantic Council communiques and declarations, 
starting with the Declaration of Heads of State and Government issued 
at the Council meeting in Brussels on June 11, 1994. This is important 
because the development of the ESDI within the Alliance means that, as 
the 1994 Brussels Declaration stated, ``NATO will remain the essential 
forum for consultation among its members and the venue for agreement on 
policies bearing on security and defense commitments of Allies under 
the Washington Treaty.''
  Next, my amendment deletes the references to NATO being ``offered the 
opportunity to undertake the mission'' and then that NATO ``referred it 
to the European Union for action.'' The first point here is that on one 
has to offer a mission to NATO; the North Atlantic Council is in 
permanent session so that it can continuously review events that could 
impact on stability in the Euro-Atlantic area and can react to them, if 
necessary. Consequently, it doesn't have to be offered an opportunity 
to undertake a mission; it has that responsibility and the means to 
effect it on a continuing basis. The next point is that NATO doesn't 
refer a mission to the European Union; the EU will undoubtedly have 
been following such an

[[Page S14335]]

event on its own and won't need a referral from NATO to do so. And the 
final and perhaps most important point is that this change removes the 
connotation that somehow the European Union is subservient to NATO.
  The last change is to simply substitute ``should'' for ``must'' in 
the subparagraph relating to the implementation of the European Union's 
Common Foreign and Security Policy. This will avoid the connotation 
that the United States is dictating to an organization of sovereign 
states.
  Finally, Mr. President, I want to express my own personal view 
concerning the desirability of our European Allies conducting 
operations in their own backyard. I have long been a supporter of the 
ESDI and I am a supporter of the U.S.-sponsored Defense Capabilities 
Initiative that was recently adopted by NATO. NATO's Operation Allied 
Force demonstrated a capabilities gap between the United States and our 
NATO Allies. I welcome the stated determination of our European Allies 
to develop the capability to act on their own. I welcome the fact that 
they are providing more than 80 percent of the forces participating in 
the NATO-led Kosovo Force. I would welcome it if our European Allies 
would handle the next crisis that develops in Europe. I would be happy 
if the United States' contribution was limited, for instance, to 
providing such things as command and control, communications, and 
intelligence support and I would be even more pleased if the United 
States didn't have to provide any support and our European Allies were 
capable of handling a crisis on their own.
  I have characterized the United States as being a junior partner and 
the European Allies being the senior partner in the KFOR peacekeeping 
mission. I know that there are many people, including some within the 
Administration who don't like that characterization, but I see nothing 
wrong with it.
  Mr. President, the United States Congress for years has urged Europe 
to play a greater role in its own defense and to bear more of the 
collective security burden in NATO. I, for one, can take yes for an 
answer.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
amendment be agreed to, the resolution and preamble be agreed to en 
bloc, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, that any 
statements relating thereto be placed in the Record as if read in the 
appropriate place.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 2776) was agreed to.
  The resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
  [The resolution was not available for printing. It will appear in a 
future edition of the Record.]

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