IV

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 59

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States

remains committed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 11, 1999

Mr. BEREUTER (for himself, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. BOEHLERT, and Mr. LANTOS)

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee

on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that

the United States remains committed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Whereas for 50 years the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(hereafter in this preamble referred to as ‘‘NATO’’) has

served as the preeminent organization to defend the territories of its member states against all external threats;

Whereas NATO, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law, has proved an indispensable instrument for forging a trans-Atlantic community of nations working together to safeguard the freedom and common heritage of its peoples, and promoting

stability in the North Atlantic area;
2

•HRES 59 IH

Whereas NATO has acted to address new risks emerging

from outside the treaty area in the interests of preserving

peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic area, and maintains a unique collective capability to address these new

challenges which may affect Allied interests and values;

Whereas such challenges to NATO Allied interests and values

include the potential for the re-emergence of a hegemonic

power confronting Europe; rogue states and non-state actors possessing nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons

and their means of delivery; transnational terrorism and

disruption of the flow of vital resources; and conflicts

outside the treaty area stemming from unresolved historical disputes and the actions of undemocratic governments

and sub-state actors who reject the peaceful settlement of

disputes;

Whereas the security of NATO member states is inseparably

linked to that of the whole of Europe, and the consolidation and strengthening of democratic and free societies

on the entire continent, in accordance with the principles

and commitments of the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe, is of direct and material concern

to the NATO Alliance and its partners;

Whereas the 50th anniversary NATO summit meeting, to be

held on April 24–25, 1999, in Washington, D.C., offers

the historic opportunity to chart a course for NATO in

the next millenium;

Whereas NATO enhances the security of the United States

by providing an integrated military structure and a

framework for consultations on political and security concerns of any member state;
3

•HRES 59 IH

Whereas NATO remains the embodiment of United States

engagement in Europe and therefore membership in

NATO remains a vital national security interest of the

United States;

Whereas NATO should become the core security organization

of a future Euro-Atlantic architecture in which all states

enjoy the same freedom, cooperation, and security;

Whereas NATO has embarked upon a historic mission to

share its benefits and patterns of consultation and cooperation with other nations in the Euro-Atlantic area

through both enlargement and active partnership;

Whereas the impending membership of the Czech Republic,

Hungary, and Poland will strengthen NATO’s ability to

perform the full range of NATO missions and bolster its

capability to integrate former communist adversary nations into a community of democracies;

Whereas the organization of NATO national parliamentarians, the North Atlantic Assembly (NAA), serves as a

unique transatlantic forum for generating and maintaining legislative and public support for the Alliance, and

has played a key role in initiating constructive dialogue

between NATO parliamentarians and parliamentarians in

Central and Eastern Europe; and

Whereas NAA activities, such as the Rose-Roth program to

engage and educate Central and Eastern European parliamentarians, have played a pioneering role in familiarizing the new democracies with democratic institutions and

a civil society: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that—
4

•HRES 59 IH

1 (1) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

2 (hereafter in this resolution referred to as ‘‘NATO’’)

3 is to be commended for its pivotal role in preserving

4 trans-Atlantic peace and stability;

5 (2) the NATO allies, at the Summit meeting to

6 be held in Washington, D.C. in April of 1999,

7 should articulate a concrete vision for the Alliance in

8 the 21st century, clearly setting out the continued

9 importance of NATO for the citizens of the Allied

10 nations;

11 (3) the Alliance should adopt a strategic con12 cept clearly establishing that defense of shared inter13 ests and values are as important for peace and sta14 bility as maintaining a vigorous capability to carry

15 out collective defense;

16 (4) the Alliance, while maintaining collective de17 fense as its core function, should, as a fundamental

18 Alliance task, identify crisis management operations

19 outside the NATO treaty area, based on case-by-case

20 consensual Alliance decision;

21 (5) the Alliance should make clear commit22 ments to remedy shortfalls in areas such as logistics,

23 command, control, communications, intelligence,

24 ground surveillance, readiness, deployability, mobil25 ity, sustainability, survivability, armaments coopera-
5

•HRES 59 IH

1 tion, and effective engagement, including early

2 progress in the NATO force structure review;

3 (6) the Alliance must ensure equitable sharing

4 of contributions to the NATO common budgets and

5 overall defense expenditure and capability-building;

6 (7) the Alliance must recognize and act upon

7 the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of

8 mass destruction and terrorism by intensifying con9 sultations among political and military leaders, and

10 deploying comprehensive capabilities to counter these

11 threats to the international community at the earli12 est possible date;

13 (8) the Alliance should pace, not pause, the

14 process of NATO enlargement and remain prepared

15 to extend invitations for accession negotiations to

16 any appropriate European democracy meeting the

17 criteria for NATO membership as established in the

18 Alliance’s 1995 Study on NATO Enlargement, re19 gardless of geographic location and on the same con20 ditions applied to the Czech Republic, Hungary, and

21 Poland;

22 (9) while maintaining its unchallenged right to

23 make its own decisions, NATO should seek to

24 strengthen its relations with Russia and Ukraine as
6

•HRES 59 IH

1 essential partners in building long-term peace in the

2 Euro-Atlantic area; and

3 (10) the Alliance should fully support the

4 NAA’s activities in enhancing and stabilizing par5 liamentary democracy in the nations of Central and

6 Eastern Europe, ensuring ratification of appropriate

7 new NATO members, continuing to deepen coopera8 tion within the Alliance, and forging democratic

9 links with the new European democracies.

Æ