[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 198 (Monday, November 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S8163]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 4643. Mr. RISCH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 3867 submitted by Mr. Reed and intended to be proposed to
the bill H.R. 4350, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2022
for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
Beginning on page 566, strike line 10 and all that follows
through page 570, line 6, and insert the following:
(2) NATO remains the strongest and most successful
political-military alliance in the world, founded on a
commitment by its members to uphold the principles of
democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law;
(3) NATO's contributions to collective defense are
indispensable to the security, prosperity, and freedom of its
members;
(4) the United States reaffirms its ironclad commitment to
NATO as the foundation of transatlantic security and to
upholding its obligations under the North Atlantic Treaty,
including Article 5;
(5) NATO is meant to be an alliance of countries with
shared democratic values and the United States reaffirms its
commitment to Article 2 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which
states the following: ``The Parties will contribute toward
the further development of peaceful and friendly
international relations by strengthening their free
institutions, by bringing about a better understanding of the
principles upon which these institutions are founded, and by
promoting conditions of stability and well-being. They will
seek to eliminate conflict in their international economic
policies and will encourage economic collaboration between
any or all of them.'';
(6) the commitment of NATO allies during 18 years of
security, humanitarian, and stabilization operations in
Afghanistan has been invaluable, and the sacrifices of NATO
allies deserve the highest order of respect and gratitude;
(7) the United States remains focused on long-term
strategic competition with Russia, and a strong NATO alliance
plays an essential role in addressing such competition and
mitigating shared security concerns;
(8) the United States should--
(A) deepen defense cooperation with non-NATO European
partners, bilaterally and as part of the NATO alliance; and
(B) encourage security sector cooperation between NATO and
non-NATO defense partners that complements and strengthens
collective defense, interoperability, and allies' commitment
to Article 3 of the North Atlantic Treaty;
(9) bolstering NATO cooperation and enhancing security
relationships with non-NATO European partners to counter
Russian aggression, including Russia's use of hybrid warfare
tactics and its willingness to use military power to alter
the status quo, strengthens the United States security
interests for long-term strategic competition;
(10) the European Deterrence Initiative, through
investments to increase United States military presence,
bolster exercises and training, enhance pre-positioning of
equipment, improve infrastructure, and build partner
capacity, and investments toward such efforts by NATO allies
and other allies and partners, remain critical to ensuring
collective defense in the future;
(11) the United States should--
(A) continue to support efforts by NATO allies to replace
Soviet-era military systems and equipment with systems that
are interoperable among NATO members; and
(B) work with NATO allies and other allies and partners to
build permanent mechanisms to strengthen supply chains,
enhance supply chain security, and fill supply chain gaps,
including in critical sectors such as defense, energy, and
health;
(12) the United States and NATO allies should--
(A) continue--
(i) to carry out key initiatives to enhance readiness,
military mobility, and national resilience in support of
NATO's ongoing COVID-19 pandemic response efforts;
(ii) to collaborate on ways to enhance collective security,
with a focus on emerging and revolutionary technologies such
as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, fifth
generation telecommunications networks, and machine learning;
and
(iii) to build on recent progress in achieving defense
spending goals agreed to at the 2014 Wales Summit and
reaffirmed at the 2016 Warsaw Summit and the 2021 Brussels
Summit, and to build consensus to invest in the full range of
defense capabilities necessary to deter and defend against
potential adversaries; and
(B) expand cooperation efforts on cybersecurity issues to
prevent adversaries and criminals from compromising critical
systems and infrastructure; and
(13) [the United States should] encourage the development
of a new NATO strategic concept that addresses the threats to
NATO that have emerged since NATO's last strategic concept
was published in 2010, including--
(A) a militarily resurgent Russia Federation, which is
engaged in conflicts in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the
Middle East;
(B) the expansionist ambitions of the People's Republic of
China, which increasingly threaten the economic and political
integrity and physical security of NATO members; and
(C) transnational threats from rogue entities, such as
extremist terrorist groups and criminal hacker groups.
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