III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 123 

Supporting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and recognizing its 70 

years of accomplishments. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 27, 2019 

Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. TILLIS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. 

JOHNSON, and Mr. MURPHY) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and 

recognizing its 70 years of accomplishments. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

3 The Senate makes the following findings: 

4 (1) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization 

5 (NATO) was founded on April 4, 1949, to ‘‘safe6 guard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation 

7 of [its] peoples, founded on the principles of democ8 racy, individual liberty and the rule of law’’. 

9 (2) The United States Senate approved the 

10 North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on July 21, 1949, 


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1 and the United States Government acceded to mem2 bership in NATO on August 24, 1949. 

3 (3) NATO is a community of democracies that 

4 acts collectively to promote freedom, stability, and 

5 peace around the globe. 

6 (4) NATO has continued to welcome into its 

7 membership those nations that have evinced a desire 

8 to partake in the alliance’s commitment to settle 

9 international disputes peaceably, strengthen their 

10 free institutions, promote conditions of stability and 

11 well-being, and seek to eliminate conflict in their 

12 international economic policies, and which are dedi13 cated to maintaining and developing their capacity 

14 to resist armed attack. 

15 (5) The sustained commitment of NATO to 

16 mutual defense has made possible the democratic 

17 and economic transformation of Central and Eastern 

18 Europe. 

19 (6) Lasting stability and security in Europe re20 quires the further military, economic, and political 

21 integration of emerging democracies into existing 

22 European and transatlantic structures. 

23 (7) NATO serves as a force multiplier, whose 

24 command structures, training institutions, and mul25 tilateral exercises have generated unprecedented 


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1 multinational contributions to United States na2 tional security priorities and enabled European and 

3 Canadian soldiers to fight side-by-side with members 

4 of the United States Armed Forces. 

5 (8) The allies invoked NATO’s Article 5 collec6 tive defense clause and offered military assistance to 

7 the United States in responding to the attacks of 

8 September 11, 2001. 

9 (9) NATO member nations stood in support of 

10 the United States after it was attacked on Sep11 tember 11, 2001, sending tens of thousands troops 

12 to fight alongside American soldiers in Afghanistan. 

13 (10) NATO is currently involved in several op14 erations benefiting United States national security, 

15 including Operation Resolute Support in Afghani16 stan, NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR), Operation 

17 Sea Guardian in the Mediterranean Sea (maritime 

18 situational awareness, counter-terrorism at sea, and 

19 support to capacity-building), the capacity-building 

20 NATO Mission Iraq, support for African Union mis21 sions, and air policing missions in the member and 

22 nonmember nations of Eastern Europe. 

23 (11) NATO members have stood against Rus24 sian aggression in Eastern Europe, have supported 

25 United States sanctions on that country and imVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR123.IS SR123

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1 posed their own, have responded, as noted in the 

2 NATO Brussels Summit Declaration of 2018, ‘‘to 

3 the deteriorated security environment by enhancing 

4 our deterrence and defence posture, including by a 

5 forward presence in the eastern part of the Alli6 ance,’’ and have asserted that ‘‘there can be no re7 turn to ‘business as usual’ until there is a clear, con8 structive change in Russia’s actions that dem9 onstrates compliance with international law and its 

10 international obligations and responsibilities’’. 

11 (12) The NATO Wales Summit Declaration of 

12 2014 pledged, ‘‘Allies currently meeting the NATO 

13 guideline to spend a minimum of 2% of their Gross 

14 Domestic Product (GDP) on defence will aim to con15 tinue to do so . . . Allies whose current proportion 

16 of GDP spent on defence is below this level will: halt 

17 any decline in defence expenditure; aim to increase 

18 defence expenditure in real terms as GDP grows; 

19 aim to move towards the 2% guideline within a dec20 ade with a view to meeting their NATO Capability 

21 Targets and filling NATO’s capability shortfalls.’’. 

22 (13) Twenty-two NATO nations have increased 

23 their military spending since the Wales Declaration 

24 of 2014. 


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1 (14) The NATO Brussels Summit Declaration 

2 of 2018 stated, ‘‘We reaffirm our unwavering com3 mitment to all aspects of the Defence Investment 

4 Pledge agreed at the 2014 Wales Summit, and to 

5 submit credible national plans on its implementation, 

6 including the spending guidelines for 2024, planned 

7 capabilities, and contributions. Fair burden sharing 

8 underpins the Alliance’s cohesion, solidarity, credi9 bility, and ability to fulfil our Article 3 and Article 

10 5 commitments. We welcome the considerable 

11 progress made since the Wales Summit with four 

12 consecutive years of real growth in non-US defence 

13 expenditure. All Allies have started to increase the 

14 amount they spend on defence in real terms and 

15 some two-thirds of Allies have national plans in 

16 place to spend 2% of their Gross Domestic Product 

17 on defence by 2024. More than half of Allies are 

18 spending more than 20% of their defence expendi19 tures on major equipment, including related research 

20 and development, and, according to their national 

21 plans, 24 Allies will meet the 20% guideline by 

22 2024. Allies are delivering more of the heavier, high23 end capabilities we require and are improving the 

24 readiness, deployability, sustainability, and inter25 operability of their forces.’’. 


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1 (15) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg 

2 has stated, ‘‘By the end of next year, NATO allies 

3 will add . . . 100 billion extra U.S. dollars toward 

4 defense.’’. 

5 (16) Allies who have recently acceded to NATO 

6 are amongst the highest per capita contributors to 

7 NATO missions. 

8 (17) At the Bucharest Summit of the North At9 lantic Treaty Organization in April 2008, the Heads 

10 of State and Government of the member countries of 

11 NATO declared, ‘‘NATO’s ongoing enlargement 

12 process has been an historic success in advancing 

13 stability and cooperation and bringing us closer to 

14 our common goal of a Europe whole and free, united 

15 in peace, democracy and common values. NATO’s 

16 door will remain open to European democracies will17 ing and able to assume the responsibilities and obli18 gations of membership, in accordance with Article 

19 10 of the Washington Treaty. We reiterate that de20 cisions on enlargement are for NATO itself to 

21 make.’’. 

22 (18) Vice President Mike Pence in June 2017 

23 reiterated that the United States ‘‘commitment [to 

24 NATO] is unwavering’’ and that ‘‘NATO’s open 

25 door must always remain so’’. 


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1 (19) The governments, leaders, and parliaments 

2 of Greece and the Republic of North Macedonia have 

3 ended their dispute and ratified the Prespa Agree4 ment, resolving a long-standing bilateral dispute and 

5 establishing a strategic partnership between the two 

6 countries and clearing the way for North Macedo7 nia’s accession to NATO. 

8 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE. 

9 The Senate— 

10 (1) lauds NATO for its 70-year maintenance of 

11 the alliance and recognizes its singular contributions 

12 to maintaining the safety, security, and democratic 

13 systems of its members; 

14 (2) calls on NATO member states to continue 

15 to fully meet their Wales pledges, more fully share 

16 the security burden by increasing their defense 

17 spending with a focus on meeting capabilities tar18 gets, enhancing interoperability, improving readi19 ness, and modernization to respond to the threats 

20 that face the alliance on each of its flanks; 

21 (3) stands in robust support of those NATO 

22 members who spend two percent or more of their 

23 GDPs on defense, acknowledges the four countries 

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1 courages the remainder to strive to quickly reach 

2 that goal; 

3 (4) affirms that the Senate stands ready to con4 sider, if all applicable criteria are satisfied, the Re5 public of North Macedonia’s application to join 

6 NATO; 

7 (5) backs the White House’s 2017 affirmation 

8 that the United States ‘‘stand[s] firmly behind Arti9 cle 5’’ of the NATO Treaty; 

10 (6) welcomes former Secretary of Defense 

11 James Mattis’ efforts to encourage significant 

12 NATO reforms, especially regarding modernization, 

13 readiness, command structure adaptation, military 

14 mobility, and improving NATO’s speed of decision15 making to ensure the alliance remains fit for pur16 pose; and 

17 (7) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

18 States to NATO’s mission, and its belief that NATO 

19 is the most successful security alliance in our Na20 tion’s history and one that will continue to be a cor21 nerstone of United States security. 

Æ 


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