[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 51 (Thursday, March 18, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1651-S1653]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 122--REAFFIRMING THE IMPORTANCE OF UNITED STATES 
                       ALLIANCES AND PARTNERSHIPS

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

                              S. Res. 122

       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

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     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

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     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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