H. Res. 59

In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

November 2, 1999.

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;

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 govern-
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ments 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, held

on April 24–25, 1999, in Washington, D.C., provided an

historic opportunity to chart a course for NATO in the

next millennium;

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;

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 the European members of NATO are today developing within the Alliance a European Security and Defense Identity (ESDI) in order to enhance their role

within the Alliance, while at the same time the European

Union (EU) is seeking to forge among its members a

Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP);

Whereas the Berlin decisions of 1996 provided the framework

for strengthening the European pillar in NATO;
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Whereas NATO should remain the core security organization

of the evolving Euro-Atlantic architecture in which all

states enjoy the same freedom, cooperation, and security;

Whereas NATO has embarked upon an 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 membership of the Czech Republic, Hungary,

and Poland has strengthened NATO’s ability to perform

the full range of NATO missions and bolstered its capability to integrate former communist adversary nations

into a community of democracies;

Whereas the organization of NATO national parliamentarians, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, 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 NATO Parliamentary Assembly 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—

3 (1) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

4 (hereafter in this resolution referred to as ‘‘NATO’’)
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1 is to be commended for its pivotal role in preserving

2 trans-Atlantic peace and stability;

3 (2) the new NATO strategic concept, adopted

4 by the Allies at the summit meeting held in Wash5 ington, D.C. in April of 1999, articulates a concrete

6 vision for the Alliance in the 21st century, clearly

7 setting out the continued importance of NATO for

8 the citizens of the Allied nations, and establishing

9 that defense of shared interests and values is as im10 portant for peace and stability as maintaining a vig11 orous capability to carry out collective defense;

12 (3) the Alliance, while maintaining collective de13 fense as its core function, should, as a fundamental

14 Alliance task, identify crisis management operations

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

16 consensual Alliance decisions;

17 (4) the Alliance must recognize and act upon

18 the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of

19 mass destruction and terrorism by intensifying con20 sultations among political and military leaders, and

21 deploying comprehensive capabilities to counter these

22 threats to the international community at the ear23 liest possible date;

24 (5) the Alliance should make clear commit25 ments to remedy shortfalls in areas such as logistics,
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1 command, control, communications, intelligence,

2 ground surveillance, readiness, deployability, mobil3 ity, sustainability, survivability, armaments coopera4 tion, and effective engagement, including early

5 progress in the NATO force structure review;

6 (6) the Alliance must ensure equitable sharing

7 of contributions to the NATO common budgets and

8 overall defense expenditure and capability-building;

9 (7) the Alliance should welcome efforts by mem10 bers of the European Union (EU) to strengthen

11 their military capabilities and enhance their role

12 within the Alliance through the European Security

13 and Defense Identity (ESDI);

14 (8) the key to a vibrant and more influential

15 ESDI is the improvement of European military ca16 pabilities that will strengthen the Alliance;

17 (9) in order to preserve the solidarity and effec18 tiveness that has been achieved within the Alliance

19 over the last 50 years, it is essential that security

20 arrangements elaborated under the EU’s Common

21 Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) complement,

22 rather than duplicate NATO efforts and institutions,

23 and be linked to, rather than decoupled from NATO

24 structures, and provide for full and active involve25 ment of all European Allies rather than discrimi-
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1 nating against European Allies that are not mem2 bers of the EU;

3 (10) the Alliance should remain prepared to ex4 tend invitations for accession negotiations to any ap5 propriate European democracy meeting the criteria

6 for NATO membership as established in the Alli7 ance’s 1995 Study on NATO Enlargement and sec8 tion 203(d)(3)(A) of the NATO Participation Act of

9 1994 (22 U.S.C. 1928 note), on the same conditions

10 as applied to the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Po11 land;

12 (11) while maintaining its unchallenged right to

13 make its own decisions, NATO should seek to

14 strengthen its relations with Russia and Ukraine as

15 essential partners in building long-term peace in the

16 Euro-Atlantic area; and

17 (12) the Alliance should fully support the

18 NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s activities in en19 hancing and stabilizing parliamentary democracy in

20 the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, ensuring

21 ratification of appropriate new NATO members,

22 continuing to deepen cooperation within the Alliance,
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1 and forging democratic links with the new European

2 democracies.

Attest:

Clerk.