[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 20 (Monday, February 6, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S869-S870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 54--EXPRESSING THE UNWAVERING COMMITMENT OF THE 
        UNITED STATES TO THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Rubio, and Mrs. 
McCaskill) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                               S. Res. 54

       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,

[[Page S870]]

     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 of 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 importing 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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