[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 9 (Monday, March 1, 2004)]
[Pages 285-286]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Senate Reporting a Certification Regarding NATO Invitees 
Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia

February 25, 2004

To the Senate of the United States:

    Consistent with Condition (l)(A) of the resolution of advice and 
consent to the ratification of the Protocols to the North Atlantic 
Treaty of 1949 on the Accession of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, 
Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, adopted by the United States Senate on 
May 8, 2003, and based on the recommendation of the Department of State, 
I hereby certify to the Senate that:
     (i) the inclusion of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, 
      Slovakia, and Slovenia in NATO will not have the effect of 
      increasing the overall percentage share of the United States in 
      the common budgets of NATO; and (ii) the inclusion of Bulgaria, 
      Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia in 
      NATO does not detract from the ability of the United States to 
      meet

[[Page 286]]

      or to fund its military requirements outside the North Atlantic 
      area.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 February 25, 2004.

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
February 26.