[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4986-S4987]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2680. Mr. LEE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2025 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:
At the end of subtitle C of title XII, add the following:
SEC. 1239. REPORT ON ALLIED CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE COMMON
DEFENSE.
(a) Finding.--Congress finds that section 1003 of the
Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1985 (Public Law 98-
525; 63 Stat. 2241)--
(1) expresses the sense of Congress that, due to threats
that are ever-changing, Congress must be informed with
respect to allied contributions to the common defense to
properly assess the readiness of the United States and the
countries described in subsection (c)(2) for threats; and
(2) requires the Secretary of Defense to submit to Congress
an annual report on the contributions of allies to the common
defense.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the threats facing the United States--
(A) include near-peer threats; and
(B) require the United States to prioritize military assets
and resources in accordance with the most recent National
Defense Strategy;
(2) the United States should not continue to shoulder a
disproportionate share of the burden for European security
while current and prospective members of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization neglect to meet defense spending
guidelines; and
(3) the President should seek from each member country of
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization acceptance of
international security responsibilities and agreements to
make contributions to the common defense in accordance with
the collective defense treaty to which such country is a
party.
(c) Reports on Allied Contributions to the Common
Defense.--
(1) In general.--Not later than March 1 each year, the
Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the heads of other
Federal agencies, as the Secretary determines to be
necessary, shall submit to the appropriate committees of
Congress a report containing a description of--
(A) the annual defense spending by each country described
in paragraph (2), including available data on nominal budget
figures and defense spending as a percentage of the gross
domestic products of each such country for the fiscal year
immediately preceding the fiscal year in which the report is
submitted;
(B) the activities of each such country to contribute to
military or stability operations in which the Armed Forces of
the United States are a participant or may be called upon in
accordance with a cooperative defense agreement to which the
United States is a party;
(C) any limitations placed by any such country on the use
of such contributions;
(D) any actions undertaken by the United States or by other
countries to minimize such limitations; and
(E) with respect to each such country--
(i) the contributions made by the country to Ukraine,
including an indication of whether such contributions relate
to hard or soft power;
(ii) an assessment of the health of the defense industrial
base of the country;
(iii) the comparative advantages of the defense industrial
base of the country;
(iv) the size and structure of the military forces of the
country, including an estimate of the amount of time required
for such forces to achieve full military mobilization;
(v) any area in which the country would be fully dependent
on allied military assets;
(vi) any delivery received or contract entered into by the
country through the Foreign Military Sales or the Foreign
Military Financing program during the preceding year;
(vii) any change in defense spending during the preceding
year; and
(viii) the amount defense spending anticipated in the
subsequent year.
[[Page S4987]]
(2) Countries described.--The countries described in this
paragraph are the following:
(A) Each member country of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization.
(B) Each country participating in a North Atlantic Treaty
Organization Membership Action Plan.
(3) Form.--Each report under paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified
annex.
(4) Availability.--A report submitted under paragraph (1)
shall be made available on request to any Member of Congress.
(d) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--
(1) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on
Foreign Relations, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on
Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives.
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