IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 202 

Reaffirming the commitment of the United States to the North Atlantic 

Treaty Organization (NATO). 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2017 

Mr. DELANEY (for himself, Mr. COFFMAN, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mrs. 

WAGNER, Mr. COLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. YOHO, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. CARSON of 

Indiana, Mr. LANCE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mrs. TORRES, Mr. 

HARRIS, and Mr. PETERS) submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Reaffirming the commitment of the United States to the 

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 

Whereas, on April 4, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded with the ideals of democracy, individual liberty, and the desire for peaceful resolutions of disputes; 

Whereas for over six decades, NATO has been a successful 

intergovernmental political and military alliance; 

Whereas NATO’s collective defense acts as a deterrent to aggression where the alliance defends its Allied countries 

against external security threats; 


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•HRES 202 IH 

Whereas NATO strengthens the security of the United States 

by utilizing an integrated military coalition; 

Whereas Russia has continued to threaten the sovereignty of 

countries in Europe and exhibit threatening behavior toward our own military assets, NATO sends a clear collective message that the Alliance will not tolerate Russia’s 

provocation; 

Whereas in respect to the changing threats against Europe 

and the United States since the end of the Cold War, 

NATO has evolved to take on new dangers including terrorism, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and 

cyber attacks; 

Whereas after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on 

the United States, NATO invoked Article 5 of the North 

Atlantic Treaty for the first time in NATO’s history to 

deploy military resources to Afghanistan in support of 

the United States mission to combat a dangerous terrorist threat; 

Whereas NATO aided the United States military by leading 

the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan from August 2003 to 2014, working with Afghan 

authorities to respond to the terrorist insurgency and to 

provide effective security across the country; 

Whereas NATO continues a civilian-led presence in Afghanistan to strengthen Afghan security forces and institutions 

to ensure the country can rebuild its security operations 

and end safe haven for terrorists; 

Whereas in November 2002 at the Prague Summit, NATO 

leaders adopted a Prague package to adapt NATO to the 

challenge of combating terrorism which included a Military Concept for Defense against Terrorism, a PartnerVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Mar 17, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR202.IH HR202

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•HRES 202 IH 

ship Action Plan against Terrorism, missile defense, 

cyber defense, and enhanced intelligence sharing; 

Whereas in November 2006 at the Riga Summit, NATO declared that ‘‘terrorism, increasingly global in scope and 

lethal in results, and the spread of weapons of mass destruction are likely to be the principal threats to the Alliance over the next 10 to 15 years’’; 

Whereas in July 2016 at the Warsaw Summit, NATO leaders 

agreed to strengthen the Alliance’s military presence in 

Eastern Europe, declared Initial Operational Capability 

of NATO’s Ballistic Missile Defense to strengthen the defense of Allied countries against ballistic missiles, and 

recognized cyberspace as a new operational domain; and 

Whereas the attacks in Paris, France; Berlin, Germany; 

Istanbul, Turkey; and Brussels, Belgium, home of the 

NATO Headquarters, shows the importance of an international alliance to combat terrorist groups: Now, therefore, be it 

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

3 (1) the United States reaffirms its commitment 

4 to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 

5 as the foundation of transatlantic security and de6 fense; 

7 (2) NATO serves as a critical coalition in pre8 serving peace and stability in the transatlantic re9 gion; 

10 (3) NATO’s continued effort to develop new ca11 pabilities and technologies to combat terrorism and 


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1 a changing international security environment are 

2 crucial to enhancing national security and strength3 ening the United States ability to combat evolving 

4 security threats; and 

5 (4) the United States encourages each NATO 

6 member country to meet or exceed the commitment 

7 to spend two percent of its Gross Domestic Product 

8 (GDP) on defense. 

Æ 


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