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, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. ROMNEY, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. UDALL, Mr. 

COONS, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. 

MARKEY, Mr. KAINE, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. 

PORTMAN, Ms. ERNST, and Mr. CASEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

APRIL 3, 2019 

Reported by Mr. RISCH, without amendment 

APRIL 4, 2019 

Considered and agreed to 

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 ‘‘safeVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR123.ATS SR123

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1 guard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation 

2 of [its] peoples, founded on the principles of democ3 racy, individual liberty and the rule of law’’. 

4 (2) The United States Senate approved the 

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

6 and the United States Government acceded to mem7 bership in NATO on August 24, 1949. 

8 (3) NATO is a community of democracies that 

9 acts collectively to promote freedom, stability, and 

10 peace around the globe. 

11 (4) NATO has continued to welcome into its 

12 membership those nations that have evinced a desire 

13 to partake in the alliance’s commitment to settle 

14 international disputes peaceably, strengthen their 

15 free institutions, promote conditions of stability and 

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

17 international economic policies, and which are dedi18 cated to maintaining and developing their capacity 

19 to resist armed attack. 

20 (5) The sustained commitment of NATO to 

21 mutual defense has made possible the democratic 

22 and economic transformation of Central and Eastern 

23 Europe. 

24 (6) Lasting stability and security in Europe re25 quires the further military, economic, and political 


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1 integration of emerging democracies into existing 

2 European and transatlantic structures. 

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

4 command structures, training institutions, and mul5 tilateral exercises have generated unprecedented 

6 multinational contributions to United States na7 tional security priorities and enabled European and 

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

9 of the United States Armed Forces. 

10 (8) The allies invoked NATO’s Article 5 collec11 tive defense clause and offered military assistance to 

12 the United States in responding to the attacks of 

13 September 11, 2001. 

14 (9) NATO member nations stood in support of 

15 the United States after it was attacked on Sep16 tember 11, 2001, sending tens of thousands troops 

17 to fight alongside American soldiers in Afghanistan. 

18 (10) NATO is currently involved in several op19 erations benefiting United States national security, 

20 including Operation Resolute Support in Afghani21 stan, NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR), Operation 

22 Sea Guardian in the Mediterranean Sea (maritime 

23 situational awareness, counter-terrorism at sea, and 

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

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1 sions, and air policing missions in the member and 

2 nonmember nations of Eastern Europe. 

3 (11) NATO members have stood against Rus4 sian aggression in Eastern Europe, have supported 

5 United States sanctions on that country and im6 posed their own, have responded, as noted in the 

7 NATO Brussels Summit Declaration of 2018, ‘‘to 

8 the deteriorated security environment by enhancing 

9 our deterrence and defence posture, including by a 

10 forward presence in the eastern part of the Alli11 ance,’’ and have asserted that ‘‘there can be no re12 turn to ‘business as usual’ until there is a clear, con13 structive change in Russia’s actions that dem14 onstrates compliance with international law and its 

15 international obligations and responsibilities’’. 

16 (12) The NATO Wales Summit Declaration of 

17 2014 pledged, ‘‘Allies currently meeting the NATO 

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

19 Domestic Product (GDP) on defence will aim to con20 tinue to do so . . . Allies whose current proportion 

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

22 any decline in defence expenditure; aim to increase 

23 defence expenditure in real terms as GDP grows; 

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1 ade with a view to meeting their NATO Capability 

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

3 (13) Twenty-two NATO nations have increased 

4 their military spending since the Wales Declaration 

5 of 2014. 

6 (14) The NATO Brussels Summit Declaration 

7 of 2018 stated, ‘‘We reaffirm our unwavering com8 mitment to all aspects of the Defence Investment 

9 Pledge agreed at the 2014 Wales Summit, and to 

10 submit credible national plans on its implementation, 

11 including the spending guidelines for 2024, planned 

12 capabilities, and contributions. Fair burden sharing 

13 underpins the Alliance’s cohesion, solidarity, credi14 bility, and ability to fulfil our Article 3 and Article 

15 5 commitments. We welcome the considerable 

16 progress made since the Wales Summit with four 

17 consecutive years of real growth in non-US defence 

18 expenditure. All Allies have started to increase the 

19 amount they spend on defence in real terms and 

20 some two-thirds of Allies have national plans in 

21 place to spend 2% of their Gross Domestic Product 

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

23 spending more than 20% of their defence expendi24 tures on major equipment, including related research 

25 and development, and, according to their national 


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

2 2024. Allies are delivering more of the heavier, high3 end capabilities we require and are improving the 

4 readiness, deployability, sustainability, and inter5 operability of their forces.’’. 

6 (15) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg 

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

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

9 defense.’’. 

10 (16) Allies who have recently acceded to NATO 

11 are amongst the highest per capita contributors to 

12 NATO missions. 

13 (17) At the Bucharest Summit of the North At14 lantic Treaty Organization in April 2008, the Heads 

15 of State and Government of the member countries of 

16 NATO declared, ‘‘NATO’s ongoing enlargement 

17 process has been an historic success in advancing 

18 stability and cooperation and bringing us closer to 

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

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

21 door will remain open to European democracies will22 ing and able to assume the responsibilities and obli23 gations of membership, in accordance with Article 

24 10 of the Washington Treaty. We reiterate that deVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR123.ATS SR123

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1 cisions on enlargement are for NATO itself to 

2 make.’’. 

3 (18) Vice President Mike Pence in June 2017 

4 reiterated that the United States ‘‘commitment [to 

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

6 door must always remain so’’. 

7 (19) The governments, leaders, and parliaments 

8 of Greece and the Republic of North Macedonia have 

9 ended their dispute and ratified the Prespa Agree10 ment, resolving a long-standing bilateral dispute and 

11 establishing a strategic partnership between the two 

12 countries and clearing the way for North Macedo13 nia’s accession to NATO. 

14 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE. 

15 The Senate— 

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

17 the alliance and recognizes its singular contributions 

18 to maintaining the safety, security, and democratic 

19 systems of its members; 

20 (2) calls on NATO member states to continue 

21 to fully meet their Wales pledges, more fully share 

22 the security burden by increasing their defense 

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1 ness, and modernization to respond to the threats 

2 that face the alliance on each of its flanks; 

3 (3) stands in robust support of those NATO 

4 members who spend two percent or more of their 

5 GDPs on defense, acknowledges the four countries 

6 that have met that goal since 2014, and strongly en7 courages the remainder to strive to quickly reach 

8 that goal; 

9 (4) affirms that the Senate stands ready to con10 sider, if all applicable criteria are satisfied, the Re11 public of North Macedonia’s application to join 

12 NATO; 

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

14 that the United States ‘‘stand[s] firmly behind Arti15 cle 5’’ of the NATO Treaty; 

16 (6) welcomes former Secretary of Defense 

17 James Mattis’ efforts to encourage significant 

18 NATO reforms, especially regarding modernization, 

19 readiness, command structure adaptation, military 

20 mobility, and improving NATO’s speed of decision21 making to ensure the alliance remains fit for pur22 pose; and 

23 (7) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

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

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1 tion’s history and one that will continue to be a cor2 nerstone of United States security. 

Æ 


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