[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5004-S5005]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2707. Mr. RISCH 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 F of title XII, add the following:
SEC. 1291. SENSE OF CONGRESS IN SUPPORT OF NATO.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was
founded on April 4, 1949, to ``safeguard the freedom, common
heritage and civilisation of [its] peoples, founded on the
principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of
law''.
(2) The United States Senate approved the North Atlantic
Treaty of 1949 on July 21, 1949, and the United States
Government acceded to membership in NATO on August 24, 1949.
(3) NATO was originally founded to ensure the collective
security of its members, and stand against the Soviet threat
to peace and acts collectively to promote freedom, stability,
and peace in the North Atlantic region.
(4) Since the formation of NATO, 10 rounds of enlargement
have grown the alliance from 12 members to 32.
(5) NATO is the most successful political-military alliance
in history and, guided by a set of common values, provides
collective defense to more than 950,000,000 people living in
its member nations.
(6) The sustained commitment of NATO to mutual defense has
contributed to the democratic and economic transformation of
Central and Eastern Europe.
(7) Enlargement has strengthened NATO, and the Alliance
remains open to additional enlargement for European states
that advance the principles of the North Atlantic Treaty and
contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area, in
line with Article 10 of the Treaty.
(8) The newest members of the alliance, Finland and Sweden,
contribute already interoperable militaries, including robust
navies, powerful air forces, strong cyber capabilities, and
large numbers of active military personnel and ready
reservists to the alliance.
(9) The allies invoked NATO's Article 5 collective defense
clause for the first and only time to offer political and
military assistance to the United States in responding to the
attacks of September 11, 2001.
(10) NATO serves as a force multiplier, whose command
structures, training institutions, and multilateral exercises
have generated multinational contributions to United States
national security priorities and enabled European and
Canadian soldiers to serve with members of the United States
Armed Forces in various missions.
(11) NATO is currently involved in several operations
benefitting United States national security, including NATO's
Kosovo Force (KFOR), Standing Naval Forces, Operation Sea
Guardian, NATO Mission Iraq, and air policing missions in
Eastern Europe.
(12) Through the Partnership for Peace and Enhanced Forward
Presence, NATO has extended opportunities for cooperation
with non-NATO nations.
(13) NATO members have stood against Russian aggression in
Eastern Europe, reinforced existing battlegroups and
established new ones, supported United States sanctions on
the Russian Federation, and imposed their own sanctions
measures in coordination with the United States and other
allies.
(14) The NATO Wales Summit Declaration of 2014 pledged,
``Allies currently meeting the NATO guideline to spend a
minimum of 2 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on
defence will aim to continue to do so . . . Allies whose
current proportion of GDP spent on defence is below this
level will: halt any decline in defence expenditure; aim to
increase defence expenditure in real terms as GDP grows; aim
to move towards the 2 percent guideline within a decade with
a view to meeting their NATO Capability Targets and filling
NATO's capability shortfalls.''
(15) 22 NATO nations have increased their military spending
since the Wales Declaration of 2014.
(16) At the NATO Vilnius Summit in 2023, member countries
affirmed their commitment to spend ``at least'' 2 percent of
GDP on defense, and noted that ``in many cases, expenditure
beyond 2 percent of GDP will be needed in order to remedy
existing shortfalls and meet the requirements across all
domains arising from a more contested security order''.
(17) 20 NATO members still fall short of meeting their 2
percent commitment.
(18) Collective security demands real and sustained burden
sharing.
(19) NATO members that do not meet their 2 percent goal
have a responsibility to the other member states and should
rapidly address their budget shortfalls and prioritize
defense spending.
(20) NATO updated its Strategic Concept planning document
in 2022 to recognize emerging threats to the alliance,
including from the People's Republic of China, and begin the
process of adapting our collective approach to face them in
the coming generation.
(21) At the NATO Vilnius Summit in 2023, NATO reaffirmed
its commitment to its core values and take decisive action to
defend them against threats across multiple domains.
(22) Nations must put defense spending in their base
budgets to provide long-term certainty to NATO planners and
their partners.
(23) The Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine marks the
largest military conflict in Europe since World War II,
representing a dramatic shift for European security and
requiring NATO to change its policies to increase, modernize,
and enhance its force posture and to create more strategic
depth to adequately confront new challenges.
(24) In adapting to growing aggression by the People's
Republic of China, NATO has deepened its partnerships with
Indo-Pacific allies, including South Korea, Japan, Australia,
and New Zealand.
[[Page S5005]]
(25) Section 1250A of the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (Public Law 118-31) requires the
advice and consent of the Senate for any President of the
United States to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw
the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty.
(b) Sense of Congress.--Congress--
(1) lauds NATO for its 75-year maintenance of the alliance
and recognizes its foundational contributions to maintaining
the safety, security, and democratic systems of its members;
(2) welcomes all NATO members and observers as the United
States hosts the 75th Annual Summit in July 2024, in
Washington, D.C.;
(3) recognizes the key role NATO has played in enabling the
most peaceful and prosperous period in history for the North
Atlantic area and also that NATO does not only benefit the
defense of its own member states, but enhances security and
stability beyond its borders;
(4) appreciates the burden and sacrifice made by each
member nation and each service member who has acted to
maintain the collective security of NATO;
(5) reaffirms that NATO members join by free choice, not by
compulsion or coercion, and that sovereign nations should be
free to choose with whom they associate and enter into
alliances without fear of violent reprisal;
(6) continues to affirm the importance of Article 5 of the
North Atlantic Treaty;
(7) reaffirms the importance of nuclear deterrence in NATO
planning and supports the modernization and development of
new systems while continuing risk-reduction discussions with
our adversaries;
(8) reaffirms that all NATO territory is equally under the
protection of its collective defense;
(9) strongly calls on all NATO member states to immediately
meet their pledges and raise their defense levels above the 2
percent GDP target, and to more fully share the security
burden by focusing on meeting capabilities targets, enhancing
interoperability, improving readiness, and modernization to
respond to the threats that face the alliance on each of its
flanks;
(10) urges all NATO member countries to meet their
commitments to the principles of democracy, individual
liberty, and the rule of law;
(11) stands in robust support of those NATO members who
spend 2 percent or more of their GDPs on defense and
acknowledges the 8 countries that have met that goal since
2014;
(12) welcomes the recent additions of Finland and Sweden to
the alliance;
(13) recognizes that NATO, in its planning processes, must
take into account security threats to the alliance from
around the world, including the People's Republic of China;
(14) encourages NATO to build closer ties with the Indo-
Pacific to confront the challenges posed by the deepening
partnership and alignment between the Russian Federation and
the People's Republic of China;
(15) urges all members to consider the value that Ukraine
will add to NATO's defense and stability for Europe ahead of
the Washington Summit in 2024; and
(16) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to
NATO's mission, and its belief that NATO is the most
successful security alliance in our Nation's history and one
that should continue to be a cornerstone of United States
national security.
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