[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8787-8788]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           TEXT OF AMENDMENTS

  SA 220. Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself and Mr. Portman) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 722, to impose 
sanctions with respect to Iran in relation to Iran's ballistic missile 
program, support for acts of international terrorism, and violations of 
human rights, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the 
table; as follows:

       At the end, add the following:

     SEC. 13. SENSE OF SENATE ON THE UNWAVERING COMMITMENT OF THE 
                   UNITED STATES TO THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY 
                   ORGANIZATION.

       (a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings:
       (1) Following World War II, the United States rejected 
     isolationism, established its role as a world leader, and 
     developed an international alliance system that protected the 
     United States while supporting democracy, freedom, and 
     economic prosperity with European nations.
       (2) 70 years ago, the United States announced the Marshall 
     Plan for Europe, a strategic investment in Europe, as well as 
     articulated the Truman Doctrine, which sought to contain a 
     growing Soviet threat in Southern Europe.
       (3) In 1949, the United States, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, 
     France, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, 
     Portugal, and the United Kingdom signed the North Atlantic 
     Treaty that formed the basis of the North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization (in this section referred to as ``NATO'').
       (4) NATO was created to protect countries from a growing 
     Soviet threat, promote international peace and stability, and 
     defend freedom.
       (5) To date, 29 countries have joined NATO.
       (6) For more than 67 years, NATO has served as a central 
     pillar of United States national security and a deterrent 
     against adversaries and external threats.
       (7) NATO continues to improve its collective defense 
     measures, enhance its military capabilities to address a full 
     spectrum of complex threats, and partner with non-NATO 
     countries to promote international stability.
       (8) 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 . . 
     .''.
       (9) NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time less than 24 
     hours after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against 
     the United States.
       (10) In Afghanistan, NATO allies and partners have served 
     alongside United States forces since 2001, reaching a peak of 
     more than 42,000 ally and partner forces, 6,300 NATO forces 
     continue to serve today alongside the 6,900 United States 
     forces there, and more than 1,100 NATO ally and partner 
     forces have paid the ultimate price in service to the 
     collective defense of NATO.
       (11) NATO took the lead in helping combat the terrorist 
     threat in Afghanistan through the International Security 
     Assistance Force and Operation Resolute Support, contributing 
     to the safety of the United States and the international 
     community.
       (12) All 29 NATO allies and many NATO partners are 
     contributing to the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic 
     State of Iraq and the Levant.
       (13) Approximately 18,000 military personnel are currently 
     engaged in NATO missions around the world, conducting 
     operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo, the Mediterranean, and off 
     the Horn of Africa.
       (14) NATO conducts a range of maritime security operations 
     in the Mediterranean and is essential to establishing 
     stability along the borders of Europe and to responding to 
     the ongoing refugee and migrant crisis.
       (15) For nearly 10 years, NATO has provided airlift support 
     for the mission of the African Union in Somalia, as well as 
     assisted with training the African Standby Force at the 
     request of the African Union.
       (16) For more than 17 years, NATO has led peace-support 
     operations in Kosovo to maintain safety and security in a 
     volatile region.
       (17) NATO has three standing forces on active duty at all 
     times to defend the Alliance, air policing capability, 
     maritime forces, and an integrated air defense system.
       (18) Whereas NATO allies and the international community 
     continue to look to NATO to deter the increasingly revanchist 
     activities of Russia.
       (19) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph 
     Dunford, testified before the Committee on Armed Services of 
     the Senate on July 19, 2015, that Russia presents the 
     ``greatest existential threat'' to the United States.
       (20) The malign actions of Russia--its 2008 incursion into 
     Georgia, its illegal annexation of Crimea, its continued 
     military action in Ukraine, its targeting of civilians in 
     Syria, its ongoing information war in Europe, its continued 
     violations of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Agreement, and 
     its cyberattacks aimed at influencing United States 
     elections--have violated international laws and norms.
       (21) Russia continues to use disinformation campaigns and 
     promote state propaganda to discredit democracy and undermine 
     NATO members.
       (22) Since the illegal annexation of Crimea and direct 
     support to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine by Russia in 2014, 
     NATO members have undertaken the biggest reinforcement of the 
     collective defense of NATO since the end of the Cold War, 
     enhancing allied readiness and deterrence measures in 
     response to Russian aggression.
       (23) The efforts of NATO to confront and deter Russian 
     aggression in Eastern Europe have included a three-fold 
     increase in the size of the NATO Response Force (NRF) to 
     40,000 troops; the creation of a Spearhead Force of 5,000 
     troops capable of deploying within a few days to respond to 
     any threat against an ally, particularly on the eastern flank 
     of NATO; the forward deployment of up to 4,000 troops to 
     Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania; an increase in the 
     air policing and maritime missions of NATO in Eastern Europe; 
     and a significant increase in NATO training and military 
     exercises in Eastern Europe.
       (24) Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2014, 
     the United States established Operation Atlantic Resolve and 
     the European Reassurance Initiative to reassure NATO allies 
     that the United States would uphold its global security 
     commitments and work in coordination with European partners 
     to deter Russian aggression.
       (25) Since 2014, Operation Atlantic Resolve and the 
     European Reassurance Initiative have demonstrated the 
     continued commitment of the United States to its NATO allies 
     and partners by engaging in deterrence and security measures 
     against potential Russian aggression in the region.
       (26) Whereas the United States is further strengthening its 
     force presence in Europe through the continuous deployment of 
     an armored brigade combat team to Poland on a rotating basis.
       (27) On January 6, 2017, as a part of Operation Atlantic 
     Resolve, 3,500 United States troops from the 4th Infantry 
     Division in Fort Carson, Colorado, along with more than 2,500 
     military vehicles, were deployed to Eastern Europe to deter 
     regional aggression.
       (28) Continued United States leadership in NATO is critical 
     to ensuring that NATO remains the greatest military alliance 
     in history.
       (29) All NATO members have recommitted themselves to 
     sharing the security burden of NATO at the 2014 NATO Wales 
     Summit by pledging to meet the defense spending target for 
     NATO members of 2 percent of gross domestic product within 10 
     years.
       (30) The United States, Greece, Poland, Estonia, and the 
     United Kingdom all have exceeded that defense spending 
     target.
       (31) Since the Wales Summit, Latvia, Lithuania, and many 
     other allies have increased defense spending in an effort to 
     meet that defense spending target.
       (32) NATO remains committed to its open door policy on 
     enlargement, working with countries in the Euro-Atlantic 
     region that aspire to join NATO to help meet the requirements 
     for membership.
       (33) General James Jones, United States Marine Corps 
     (retired), former National Security Advisor, testified before 
     the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate in July 2016 
     that ``[o]ur 27 NATO allies offer America forward basing, 
     which allows us to better fight enemies like ISIS and deter 
     adversaries like the new Russia and to meet shared 
     challenges. Twenty-eight countries acting as one is a 
     powerful alliance''.
       (34) Secretary of Defense James Mattis testified before the 
     Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, during his hearing 
     as nominee for Secretary of Defense, that ``[w]e must also 
     embrace our international alliances and security 
     partnerships. History is clear: Nations with strong allies 
     thrive and those without them wither''.

[[Page 8788]]

       (35) There is a long tradition of strong bipartisan 
     agreement that participation in NATO strengthens the security 
     of the United States.
       (36) NATO is the first peacetime military alliance the 
     United States entered into outside the Western Hemisphere and 
     today remains the largest peacetime military alliance in the 
     world.
       (37) A fractured NATO alliance would harm the interests of 
     the United States and embolden adversaries of the United 
     States.
       (38) A strong and united Europe is important to United 
     States strategic interests.
       (b) Sense of Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate--
       (1) to pledge that the United States will continue to 
     maintain strong leadership and strengthen its commitments to 
     NATO;
       (2) to strongly encourage NATO members to fulfill their 
     pledge to invest at least 2 percent of gross domestic product 
     on defense spending, invest at least 20 percent of such 
     spending on major equipment (including research and 
     development), and shoulder appropriate responsibility within 
     NATO;
       (3) to welcome Montenegro as the newest member of NATO;
       (4) to recognize the historic contribution and sacrifice 
     NATO member countries have made while combating terrorism in 
     Afghanistan through the International Security Assistance 
     Force and Operation Resolute Support; and
       (5) to honor the men and women who served under NATO and 
     gave their lives to promote peace, security, and 
     international cooperation since 1949.
                                 ______
                                 
  SA 221. Mr. BARRASSO (for himself and Mr. Markey) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 722, to impose 
sanctions with respect to Iran in relation to Iran's ballistic missile 
program, support for acts of international terrorism, and violations of 
human rights, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the 
table; as follows:

       Add at the end the following new section:

     SEC. 13. UKRANIAN ENERGY SECURITY.

       (a) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United 
     States--
       (1) to support the Government of Ukraine in restoring its 
     sovereign and territorial integrity;
       (2) to condemn and oppose all of the destabilizing efforts 
     by the Government of the Russian Federation in Ukraine in 
     violation of its obligations and international commitments;
       (3) to never recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea by 
     the Government of the Russian Federation or the separation of 
     any portion of Ukrainian territory through the use of 
     military force;
       (4) to deter the Government of the Russian Federation from 
     further destabilizing and invading Ukraine and other 
     independent countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the 
     Caucuses;
       (5) to assist in promoting reform in regulatory oversight 
     and operations in Ukraine's energy sector, including the 
     establishment and empowerment of an independent regulatory 
     organization;
       (6) to encourage and support fair competition, market 
     liberalization, and reliability in Ukraine's energy sector;
       (7) to help Ukraine and United States allies and partners 
     in Europe reduce their dependence on Russian energy 
     resources, especially natural gas, which the Government of 
     the Russian Federation uses as a weapon to coerce, 
     intimidate, and influence other countries;
       (8) to work with European Union member states and European 
     Union institutions to promote energy security through 
     developing diversified and liberalized energy markets that 
     provide diversified sources, suppliers, and routes;
       (9) to continue to oppose the NordStream 2 pipeline given 
     its detrimental impacts on the European Union's energy 
     security, gas market development in Central and Eastern 
     Europe, and energy reforms in Ukraine; and
       (10) that the United States Government should prioritize 
     the export of United States energy resources in order to 
     create American jobs, help United States allies and partners, 
     and strengthen United States foreign policy.
       (b) Plan to Promote Energy Security in Ukraine.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary of State, in coordination 
     with the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
     International Development and the Secretary of Energy, shall 
     work with the Government of Ukraine to develop a plan to 
     increase energy security in Ukraine, increase the amount of 
     energy produced in Ukraine, and reduce Ukraine's reliance on 
     energy imports from the Russian Federation.
       (2) Elements.--The plan developed under paragraph (1) shall 
     include strategies for market liberalization, effective 
     regulation and oversight, supply diversification, energy 
     reliability, and energy efficiency, such as through 
     supporting--
       (A) the promotion of advanced technology and modern 
     operating practices in Ukraine's oil and gas sector;
       (B) modern geophysical and meteorological work followed by 
     international tenders to help attract qualified investment 
     into exploration and development of areas with untapped 
     resources in Ukraine;
       (C) a broadening of Ukraine's electric power transmission 
     interconnection with Europe;
       (D) the strengthening of Ukraine's capability to maintain 
     electric power grid stability and reliability;
       (E) independent regulatory oversight and operations of 
     Ukraine's gas market and electricity sector;
       (F) the implementation of primary gas law including 
     pricing, tariff structure, and legal regulatory 
     implementation;
       (G) privatization of government owned energy companies 
     through credible legal frameworks and a transparent process 
     compliant with international best practices;
       (H) procurement and transport of emergency fuel supplies, 
     including reverse pipeline flows from Europe;
       (I) provision of technical assistance for crisis planning, 
     crisis response, and public outreach;
       (J) repair of infrastructure to enable the transport of 
     fuel supplies;
       (K) repair of power generating or power transmission 
     equipment or facilities; and
       (L) improved building energy efficiency and other measures 
     designed to reduce energy demand in Ukraine.
       (3) Reports.--
       (A) Implementation of ukraine freedom support act of 2014 
     provisions.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to 
     the appropriate committees of Congress a report detailing the 
     status of implementing the provisions required under section 
     7(c) of the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 (Public Law 
     113-272), including detailing the plans required under that 
     section, the level of funding that has been allocated to and 
     expended for the strategies set forth under that section, and 
     progress that has been made in implementing the strategies 
     developed pursuant to that section.
       (B) Reports on implementation of new requirements.--Not 
     later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
     Act, and every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of State 
     shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 
     report detailing the plan developed under paragraph (1), the 
     level of funding that has been allocated to and expended for 
     the strategies set forth in paragraph (2), and progress that 
     has been made in implementing the strategies.
       (C) Briefings.--The Secretary of State, or a designee of 
     the Secretary, shall brief the appropriate committees of 
     Congress not later than 30 days after the submission of each 
     report under subparagraph (A). In addition, the Department of 
     State shall make relevant officials available upon request to 
     brief the appropriate committees of Congress on all available 
     information that relates directly or indirectly to Ukraine or 
     energy security in Eastern Europe.
       (D) Appropriate committees of congress defined.--In this 
     paragraph, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' 
     means--
       (i) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the Senate; and
       (ii) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
       (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated for the Department of State a total of 
     $30,000,000 for fiscal years 2018 through 2019 to carry out 
     the strategies set forth in subsection (b)(2) and other 
     activities under this section related to the promotion of 
     energy security in Ukraine.
       (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
     construed as affecting the responsibilities required and 
     authorities provided under section 7 of the Ukraine Freedom 
     Support Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-272).
                                 ______
                                 
  SA 222. Mr. TILLIS (for Mr. Moran) proposed an amendment to the 
resolution S. Res. 174, recognizing the 100th anniversary of Lions 
Clubs International and celebrating the Lions Clubs International for a 
long history of humanitarian service; as follows:

       On page 6, strike the fourth whereas clause.
       On page 6, in the seventh whereas clause, strike ``the 
     United Kingdom and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation'' and 
     insert ``partner organizations''.

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