II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1830

To amend the NATO Participation Act of 1994 to expedite the transition

to full membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 4, 1996

Mr. BROWN for Mr. DOLE (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. ROTH, Mr. HELMS,

Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. MCCONNELL, and Mr.

GORTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To amend the NATO Participation Act of 1994 to expedite

the transition to full membership in the North Atlantic

Treaty Organization of emerging democracies in Central

and Eastern Europe.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NATO Enlargement

5 Facilitation Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) Since 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Or2 ganization (NATO) has played an essential role in

3 guaranteeing the security, freedom, and prosperity

4 of the United States and its partners in the Alliance.

5 (2) The NATO Alliance is, and has been since

6 its inception, purely defensive in character, and it

7 poses no threat to any nation. The enlargement of

8 the NATO Alliance to include as full and equal

9 members emerging democracies in Central and East10 ern Europe does not threaten any nation. America’s

11 security, freedom, and prosperity remain linked to

12 the security of the countries of Europe.

13 (3) The sustained commitment of the member

14 countries of NATO to a mutual defense has made

15 possible the democratic transformation of Eastern

16 Europe. Members of the Alliance can and should

17 play a critical role in addressing the security chal18 lenges of the post-Cold War era and in creating the

19 stable environment needed for those emerging de20 mocracies in Central and Eastern Europe to success21 fully complete political and economic transformation.

22 (4) NATO has enlarged its membership on 3

23 different occasions since 1949.

24 (5) Congress has sought to facilitate the further

25 enlargement of NATO at an early date by enacting
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1 the NATO Participation Act of 1994 (title II of

2 Public Law 103–447; 22 U.S.C. 1928 note) and the

3 NATO Participation Act Amendments of 1995 (sec4 tion 585 of Public Law 104–107).

5 (6) As new members of NATO assume the re6 sponsibilities of Alliance membership, the costs of

7 maintaining stability in Europe will be shared more

8 widely. Facilitation of the enlargement process will

9 require current members of NATO, and the United

10 States in particular, to demonstrate the political will

11 needed to build on successful ongoing programs such

12 as the Warsaw Initiative and the Partnership for

13 Peace by making available the resources necessary to

14 supplement efforts prospective new members are

15 themselves undertaking.

16 (7) New members will be full members of the

17 Alliance, enjoying all rights and assuming all the ob18 ligations under the Washington Treaty.

19 (8) Cooperative regional peacekeeping initiatives

20 involving emerging democracies in Central and East21 ern Europe that have expressed interest in joining

22 NATO, such as the Baltic Peacekeeping Battalion,

23 the Polish-Lithuanian Joint Peacekeeping Force,

24 and the Polish-Ukrainian Peacekeeping Force, can

25 make an important contribution to European peace
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1 and security and international peacekeeping efforts,

2 assist those countries preparing to assume the re3 sponsibilities of possible NATO membership, and ac4 cordingly should receive appropriate support from

5 the United States.

6 (9) The United States continues to regard the

7 political independence and territorial integrity of all

8 emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Eu9 rope as vital to European peace and security.

10 (10) NATO remains the only multilateral secu11 rity organization capable of conducting effective

12 military operations and preserving security and sta13 bility of the Euro-Atlantic region.

14 (11) NATO is an important diplomatic forum

15 and has played a positive role in defusing tensions

16 between members of the Alliance and, as a result, no

17 military action has occurred between two Alliance

18 member states since the inception of NATO in 1949.

19 (12) The admission to NATO of emerging de20 mocracies in Central and Eastern Europe that meet

21 specific criteria for NATO membership would con22 tribute to international peace and enhance the secu23 rity of the region.

24 (13) A number of Eastern European countries

25 have expressed interest in NATO membership, and
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1 have taken concrete steps to demonstrate this com2 mitment; including their participation in Partnership

3 for Peace activities.

4 (14) In recognition that not all countries which

5 have requested membership in NATO will nec6 essarily qualify at the same pace, the accession date

7 for each new member will vary.

8 (15) The eventual membership of Austria, Fin9 land, and Sweden is fully expected and is not pre10 cluded by this Act.

11 (16) The provision of additional NATO transi12 tion assistance should include those emerging de13 mocracies most ready for closer ties with NATO and

14 should be designed to assist other countries meeting

15 specified criteria of eligibility to move forward to16 ward eventual NATO membership.

17 (17) The Congress of the United States finds

18 that Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic have

19 made the most progress toward achieving the stated

20 criteria and should be eligible for the additional as21 sistance described in this bill.

22 (18) The evaluation of future membership in

23 NATO for emerging democracies in Central and

24 Eastern Europe should be based on the progress of

25 those nations in meeting criteria for NATO member-
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1 ship, which require enhancement of NATO’s security

2 and the approval of all NATO members.

3 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES POLICY.

4 It should be the policy of the United States—

5 (1) to join with the NATO allies of the United

6 States to redefine the role of the NATO Alliance in

7 the post-Cold War world;

8 (2) to actively assist the emerging democracies

9 in Central and Eastern Europe in their transition so

10 that such countries may eventually qualify for

11 NATO membership; and

12 (3) to work to define a constructive and cooper13 ative political and security relationship between an

14 enlarged NATO and the Russian Federation.

15 SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

16 It is the sense of the Congress that in order to pro17 mote economic stability and security in Estonia, Latvia,

18 Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Alba19 nia, Moldova, and Ukraine—

20 (1) the United States should support the full

21 and active participation of these countries in activi22 ties appropriate for qualifying for NATO member23 ship;

24 (2) the United States Government should use

25 all diplomatic means available to press the European
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1 Union to admit as soon as possible any country

2 which qualifies for membership; and

3 (3) the United States Government and the

4 North Atlantic Treaty Organization should support

5 military exercises and peacekeeping initiatives be6 tween and among these nations, nations of the

7 North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and Russia.

8 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF COUNTRIES ELIGIBLE FOR NATO

9 ENLARGEMENT ASSISTANCE.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The following countries are des11 ignated as eligible to receive assistance under the program

12 established under section 203(a) of the NATO Participa13 tion Act of 1994: Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Repub14 lic.

15 (b) DESIGNATION OF OTHER COUNTRIES.—The

16 President shall designate other emerging democracies in

17 Central and Eastern Europe as eligible to receive assist18 ance under the program established under section 203(a)

19 of such Act if such countries—

20 (1) have expressed a clear desire to join NATO;

21 (2) have begun an individualized dialogue with

22 NATO in preparation for accession;

23 (3) are strategically significant to an effective

24 NATO defense; and
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1 (4) have met the other criteria outlined in sec2 tion 203(d) of the NATO Participation Act of 1994

3 (title II of Public Law 103–447; 22 U.S.C. 1928

4 note).

5 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Subsection (a) does

6 not preclude the designation by the President of Slovakia,

7 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, or any

8 other emerging democracy in Central and Eastern Europe

9 pursuant to section 203(d) of the NATO Participation Act

10 of 1994 as eligible to receive assistance under the program

11 established under section 203(a) of such Act.

12 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR NATO

13 ENLARGEMENT ASSISTANCE.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro15 priated $60,000,000 for fiscal year 1997 for the program

16 established under section 203(a) of the NATO Participa17 tion Act of 1994.

18 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Of the funds authorized to be

19 appropriated by subsection (a)—

20 (1) $20,000,000 shall be available for the sub21 sidy cost, as defined in section 502(5) of the Credit

22 Reform Act of 1990, of direct loans pursuant to the

23 authority of section 203(c)(4) of the NATO Partici24 pation Act of 1994 and section 23 of the Arms Ex-
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1 port Control Act (relating to the ‘‘Foreign Military

2 Financing Program’’);

3 (2) $30,000,000 shall be available for assist4 ance on a grant basis pursuant to the authority of

5 section 203(c)(4) of the NATO Participation Act of

6 1994 and section 23 of the Arms Export Control

7 Act (relating to the ‘‘Foreign Military Financing

8 Program’’); and

9 (3) $10,000,000 shall be available for assist10 ance pursuant to the authority of section 203(c)(3)

11 of the NATO Participation Act of 1994 and chapter

12 5 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

13 (relating to international military education and

14 training).

15 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Amounts authorized

16 to be appropriated under this section are authorized to

17 be appropriated in addition to such amounts as otherwise

18 may be available for such purposes.

19 SEC. 7. EXCESS DEFENSE ARTICLES.

20 (a) PRIORITY DELIVERY.—Notwithstanding any

21 other provision of law, the provision and delivery of excess

22 defense articles under the authority of section 203(c) (1)

23 and (2) of the NATO Participation Act of 1994 and sec24 tion 516 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 shall be

25 given priority to the maximum extent feasible over the pro-
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1 vision and delivery of such excess defense articles to all

2 other countries except those countries referred to in sec3 tion 541 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing,

4 and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1995 (Public

5 Law 103–306; 108 Stat. 1640).

6 (b) COOPERATIVE REGIONAL PEACEKEEPING INITIA7 TIVES.—The Congress encourages the President to pro8 vide excess defense articles and other appropriate assist9 ance to cooperative regional peacekeeping initiatives in10 volving emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Eu11 rope that have expressed an interest in joining NATO in

12 order to enhance their ability to contribute to European

13 peace and security and international peacekeeping efforts.

14 SEC. 8. MODERNIZATION OF DEFENSE CAPABILITY.

15 The Congress endorses efforts by the United States

16 to modernize the defense capability of Poland, Hungary,

17 the Czech Republic, and any other countries designed by

18 the President pursuant to section 203(d) of the NATO

19 Participation Act of 1994, by exploring with such coun20 tries options for the sale or lease to such countries of

21 weapons systems compatible with those used by NATO

22 members, including air defense systems, advanced fighter

23 aircraft, and telecommunications infrastructure.
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1 SEC. 9. TERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 203(f) of the NATO Par3 ticipation Act of 1994 (title II of Public Law 103–447;

4 22 U.S.C. 1928 note) is amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘(f) TERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—(1) The eligi6 bility of a country designated under subsection (d) for the

7 program established in subsection (a) shall terminate 60

8 days after the President makes a certification under para9 graph (2) unless, within the 60-day period, the Congress

10 enacts a joint resolution disapproving the termination of

11 eligibility.

12 ‘‘(2) Whenever the President determines that the gov13 ernment of a country designated under subsection (d)—

14 ‘‘(A) no longer meets the criteria set forth in

15 subsection (d)(2)(A);

16 ‘‘(B) is hostile to the NATO Alliance; or

17 ‘‘(C) poses a national security threat to the

18 United States,

19 then the President shall so certify to the appropriate con20 gressional committees.

21 ‘‘(3) Nothing in this Act affects the eligibility of

22 countries to participate under other provisions of law in

23 programs described in this Act.’’.

24 (b) CONGRESSIONAL PRIORITY PROCEDURES.—Sec25 tion 203 of such Act is amended by adding at the end

26 the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(g) CONGRESSIONAL PRIORITY PROCEDURES.—

2 ‘‘(1) APPLICABLE PROCEDURES.—A joint reso3 lution described in paragraph (2) which is intro4 duced in a House of Congress shall be considered in

5 accordance with the procedures set forth in para6 graphs (3) through (7) of section 8066(c) of the De7 partment of Defense Appropriations Act, 1985 (as

8 contained in Public Law 98–473; 98 Stat. 1936), ex9 cept that—

10 ‘‘(A) references to the ‘resolution described

11 in paragraph (1)’ shall be deemed to be ref12 erences to the joint resolution; and

13 ‘‘(B) references to the Committee on Ap14 propriations of the House of Representatives

15 and the Committee on Appropriations of the

16 Senate shall be deemed to be references to the

17 Committee on International Relations of the

18 House of Representatives and the Committee

19 on Foreign Relations of the Senate, respec20 tively.

21 ‘‘(2) TEXT OF JOINT RESOLUTION.—A joint

22 resolution under this paragraph is a joint resolution

23 the matter after the resolving clause of which is as

24 follows: ‘That the Congress disapproves the certifi25 cation submitted by the President on lllll
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1 pursuant to section 203(f) of the NATO Participa2 tion Act of 1994.’.’’.

3 SEC. 10. AMENDMENTS TO THE NATO PARTICIPATION ACT.

4 (a) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The NATO Par5 ticipation Act of 1994 (title II of Public Law 103–447;

6 22 U.S.C. 1928 note) is amended in sections 203(a),

7 203(d)(1), and 203(d)(2) by striking ‘‘countries emerging

8 from communist domination’’ each place it appears and

9 inserting ‘‘emerging democracies in Central and Eastern

10 Europe’’.

11 (b) DEFINITIONS.—The NATO Participation Act of

12 1994 (title II of Public Law 103–446; 22 U.S.C. 1928

13 note) is amended by adding at the end the following new

14 section:

15 ‘‘SEC. 206. DEFINITIONS.

16 ‘‘The term ‘emerging democracies in Central and

17 Eastern Europe’ includes, but is not limited to, Albania,

18 Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,

19 Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,

20 and Ukraine.’’.

21 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS.

22 As used in this Act:

23 (1) EMERGING DEMOCRACIES IN CENTRAL AND

24 EASTERN EUROPE.—The term ‘‘emerging democ25 racies in Central and Eastern Europe’’ includes, but
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1 is not limited to, Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Re2 public, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,

3 Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and

4 Ukraine.

5 (2) NATO.—The term ‘‘NATO’’ means the

6 North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

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