[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 93 (Wednesday, June 6, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3037-S3038]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 535--REAFFIRMING THE UNITED STATES COMMITMENT TO THE 
                   NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION

  Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Van Hollen, Mrs. 
Feinstein, Mr. Brown, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Markey) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                              S. Res. 535

       Whereas the United States, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, 
     France, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, 
     Portugal, and the United Kingdom in 1949 signed the North 
     Atlantic Treaty, which led to the foundation of the North 
     Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO);
       Whereas NATO was created to deter Soviet expansionism, 
     promote international peace, stability, and security, and 
     prevent the reemergence of nationalist militarism in Europe 
     through a strong North American presence and a closer trans-
     Atlantic alliance;
       Whereas, since the formation of NATO, the alliance has 
     expanded to 29 members, with others still aspiring to join;
       Whereas NATO is a vital component of the United States-led 
     post-World War II international order that has made the world 
     safer and more prosperous;
       Whereas the aid and security umbrella the United States 
     provided through NATO after World War II helped restore 
     political stability and enabled an economic resurgence in 
     Western Europe;
       Whereas, during the Cold War, NATO helped unify the Western 
     alliance and successfully deter Soviet threats;
       Whereas NATO conducted its first major crisis response 
     operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, resulting in the Dayton 
     Peace Accords and facilitating the country's reconstruction 
     in the wake of the 1992-1995 war;
       Whereas NATO contributed to the cessation of the 1998-1999 
     Kosovo conflict through security, stabilization, and 
     humanitarian efforts;
       Whereas NATO has served as an essential element of United 
     States national security and a deterrent against external 
     threats for 69 years;

[[Page S3038]]

       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 the first and only time to date NATO invoked 
     Article 5 was less than 24 hours after the terrorist attacks 
     against the United States on September 11, 2001;
       Whereas NATO allies and partners, including NATO aspirant 
     countries Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia, and 
     Ukraine, joined in assuring the security of the United States 
     and the international community by serving alongside United 
     States forces in Afghanistan since 2001;
       Whereas more than 1,100 NATO ally and partner military 
     personnel in Afghanistan have lost their lives, and thousands 
     have been injured in service to the collective defense 
     guarantee of NATO;
       Whereas multiple NATO members participated in the coalition 
     against ISIS by providing either military or humanitarian 
     assistance;
       Whereas, in the face of a burgeoning vacuum in global 
     leadership, Russia is aggressively testing Western 
     democracies, including through ongoing malicious cyber war 
     capabilities;
       Whereas Russia continues to challenge NATO, including by--
       (1) deploying cruise missiles, violating the Intermediate-
     Range Nuclear Forces treaty;
       (2) executing a suspected poisonous gas attack against 
     Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia within the borders of 
     the United Kingdom;
       (3) occupying with military forces the sovereign territory 
     of the European nations of Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova;
       (4) waging cyberattacks against the United States and 
     Europe, especially the Baltics, in an effort to undermine 
     democracy and defraud national elections;
       (5) conducting the largest iteration ever of the Zapad, an 
     annual military exercise, in Belarus with an estimated 60,000 
     to 70,000 troops in an excessive show of military force close 
     to NATO borders and in violation of the 2011 Vienna Document;
       (6) forcing Latvia, a NATO member, to close down its 
     commercial airspace due to ongoing Russian military drills in 
     the Baltic Sea;
       (7) flying two Russian bombers within 30 miles of United 
     Kingdom airspace; and
       (8) flying Russian aircraft more than 110 times above or 
     near the Baltic Sea in a marked increase since its annexation 
     of Crimea, including flying a Russian jet within five feet of 
     a United States reconnaissance plane flying in international 
     airspace;
       Whereas the Government of Russia has continuously propped 
     up President of Syria Bashar al-Assad and supported 
     atrocities in Syria, including the use of violence and 
     illegal chemical weapons against civilians, resulting in the 
     deaths of more than 400,000 Syrians and the displacement of 
     10,000,000 others during Syria's seven year civil war;
       Whereas the displacement of millions of Syrians has 
     contributed to the worst migrant and refugee crisis since 
     World War II, with many Syrian refugees undertaking perilous 
     journeys to escape war and resettle in territories of NATO 
     allies;
       Whereas, during the presidency of Barack Obama, NATO 
     deployed greater resources and personnel to its eastern 
     members in response to and to deter further Russian 
     aggression;
       Whereas President Donald J. Trump has caused disquieting 
     fissures in the trans-Atlantic alliance, undermining faith in 
     institutions and policies that comprise the post-World War II 
     international order;
       Whereas President Trump's wavering and inconsistent 
     statements about NATO have resulted in alliance members 
     questioning the commitment of the United States to the 
     alliance rather than focusing on the multitude of threats 
     NATO faces on both sides of the Atlantic;
       Whereas, during the campaign for the United States 
     presidency, then-candidate Trump repeatedly referred to the 
     NATO alliance as ``obsolete'';
       Whereas candidate Trump on July 20, 2016, also said if 
     Russia attacked Baltic NATO members, he would only offer 
     support--a key tenet of the NATO charter--after reviewing if 
     those nations had ``fulfilled their obligations to us'';
       Whereas, the next day, John Bolton said of the jarring 
     comment, ``I hope that Donald Trump retracts it.'';
       Whereas President Trump subverted allied interests and 
     flouted intelligence norms by reportedly revealing highly 
     classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei 
     Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on May 10, 2017, in the 
     Oval Office of the White House;
       Whereas, during the 2017 NATO summit, President Trump 
     alarmed allies by failing to commit publicly to honoring 
     Article 5 if a United States ally is attacked;
       Whereas President Trump's misguided withdrawal from the 
     Paris Climate Agreement puts the United States at odds with 
     every other country on earth and ignores the climate change-
     related national security risks highlighted in a 2017 NATO 
     report;
       Whereas President Trump imposed unilateral import tariffs 
     on European steel and aluminum, further straining trans-
     Atlantic trade relations while possibly placing the United 
     States in violation of World Trade Organization rules;
       Whereas President Trump has acted antithetically to the 
     NATO alliance by seemingly ignoring and dismissing malign 
     Russian actions against the United States and its allies;
       Whereas the United States, the United Kingdom, France, 
     Russia, China, Germany, and Iran finalized the Joint 
     Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on July 14, 2015, to end 
     Iran's nuclear weapons program;
       Whereas Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph 
     Dunford stated on September 26, 2017, that the United States 
     intelligence community assessment was that Iran was in 
     compliance with the agreement;
       Whereas Secretary of Defense James Mattis stated, under 
     oath before Congress on October 3, 2017, that the JCPOA is in 
     America's national security interest and the United States 
     should consider remaining party to the agreement;
       Whereas the head of United States Central Command, Joseph 
     Votel, stated on March 13, 2018, that the JCPOA addresses one 
     of the principal threats we face from Iran and it is in 
     America's best interest to remain a party to the agreement;
       Whereas the then-Central Intelligence Agency Director and 
     Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo stated on April 12, 
     2018, that there was no evidence of Iranian noncompliance 
     with the agreement;
       Whereas, despite these statements, overwhelming evidence, 
     and the appeals from several NATO allies, President Trump 
     reinstated sanctions on the Government of Iran and 
     unilaterally withdrew the United States from the JCPOA on May 
     8, 2018;
       Whereas the ill-advised withdrawal of the United States 
     from the JCPOA and ensuing threats of related sanctions 
     against its NATO allies immediately sowed further discord in 
     the trans-Atlantic relationship and created an exploitable 
     crack in the armor of the greatest military alliance in the 
     world by eroding the trust of NATO member countries in the 
     United States;
       Whereas the leaders of France, Germany, and the United 
     Kingdom issued a joint statement on May 8, 2018, expressing 
     regret about the United States decision, further damaging the 
     alliance and plunging the global order into crisis;
       Whereas European Council President Donald Tusk on May 16, 
     2018, rebuked President Trump for deteriorating relations 
     between the United States and European allies, stating the 
     European Union is no longer under any illusions that the 
     United States is a trustworthy friend;
       Whereas hostile nations will seek to exploit the strained 
     relationship between the United States and its NATO allies, 
     specifically bolstering Russia's multifaceted strategy of 
     fraying the relationships between NATO allies for its own 
     benefit; and
       Whereas alliance leaders will come together July 11-12, 
     2018, in Brussels for a summit to further strengthen trans-
     Atlantic unity and delineate strategies to respond to 
     evolving Russian threats: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) reaffirms the long-standing and steadfast commitment of 
     the United States to the NATO alliance, including Article V 
     of the North Atlantic Treaty;
       (2) recognizes that NATO continues to meet emerging and 
     contemporary threats to the United States and its allies, and 
     serves as a critical deterrent to Russia's destabilizing 
     activities, including through innovation such as the creation 
     of a Cyber Operations Center and collective action such as 
     the Enhanced Forward Presence mission;
       (3) encourages the United States Government to accept the 
     recommendation of our NATO allies to combat jointly Russian 
     cyber warfare;
       (4) honors the men and women who have served under NATO and 
     promoted peace, security, and international cooperation since 
     1949;
       (5) encourages Congress to promote the NATO alliance and 
     trans-Atlantic ties whenever possible;
       (6) urges President Trump to unequivocally and definitively 
     reaffirm the United States' commitment to the trans-Atlantic 
     alliance and to counter Russian aggression, especially at the 
     July NATO summit in Brussels; and
       (7) reaffirms the critical importance and security mission 
     of NATO to the United States, its allies, and the trans-
     Atlantic partnership.

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