IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 607 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the majority 

of NATO member countries have failed to meet their defense spending 

commitment and that the United States should not continue to subsidize 

the security of countries that choose not to invest in their own defense. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 20, 2023 

Mr. ROY (for himself and Mr. DAVIDSON) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the majority of NATO member countries have failed 

to meet their defense spending commitment and that 

the United States should not continue to subsidize the 

security of countries that choose not to invest in their 

own defense. 

Whereas, on April 4, 1949, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, 

France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, 

Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United 

States signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, 

DC, and established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to safeguard the Allies’ freedom and security by political and military means; 


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•HRES 607 IH 

Whereas Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that 

an armed attack against a member country shall be considered an attack against all; 

Whereas, in the Report of the Secretary of State to the President on North Atlantic Treaty on April 7, 1949, Secretary of State Dean Acheson stated, ‘‘that no party can 

rely on others for its defense unless it does its utmost to 

defend itself and contribute toward the defense of the 

others’’; 

Whereas, in 2006, NATO Defense Ministers agreed to annually commit a minimum of 2 percent of their nation’s 

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on their defense; 

Whereas, according to NATO, the 2-percent GDP defense 

spending threshold ‘‘serves as an indicator of a country’s 

political will to contribute to NATO’s common defense’’; 

Whereas, in 2014, in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the NATO alliance adopted the ‘‘Defence Investment Pledge’’ and at that time only three of the 28 

NATO member countries were meeting their 2-percent 

defense spending commitment; 

Whereas the Wales Summit Declaration issued by the NATO 

alliance stated, ‘‘We agree to reverse the trend of declining defence budgets, to make the most effective use of 

our funds and to further a more balanced sharing of 

costs and responsibilities. Our overall security and 

defence depend both on how much we spend and how we 

spend it.’’; 

Whereas the ‘‘Defence Investment Pledge’’ recommitted 

NATO member countries to meeting the minimum 2-percent GDP defense spending target by 2024; 


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•HRES 607 IH 

Whereas the Senate supported the 2014 Wales Summit Defense Spending Benchmark on March 28, 2017, by ratifying the ‘‘Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 

on the Accession of Montenegro’’ on a vote of 97–2; 

Whereas, according to the 2022 Secretary General’s Annual 

Report, only seven of the 30 NATO member countries 

met the 2-percent GDP defense spending obligations in 

2022; 

Whereas Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the 

United Kingdom all successfully joined the United States 

in meeting the minimum 2-percent GDP defense spending obligations in 2022; 

Whereas Croatia, France, Slovakia, Romania, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Albania, Bulgaria, 

Italy, Germany, Hungary, Denmark, Portugal, Turkey, 

Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Canada, Slovenia, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg failed to meet the GDP 

defense spending obligations in 2022; 

Whereas numerous NATO member countries use the United 

States security umbrella to evade the financial commitment needed to maintain the military strength of the 

NATO alliance; 

Whereas the 2022 Secretary General’s Annual Report revealed— 

(1) the United States accounted for 54 percent of 

the Allies’ combined GDP and 70 percent of combined 

defense expenditure; 

(2) Canada’s defense spending amounted to 1.29 

percent of its GDP, making it the fifth-lowest-spending 

NATO member country as a percentage of GDP; and 


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•HRES 607 IH 

(3) Germany’s defense spending amounted to 1.49 

percent of its GDP on national defense, despite having 

Europe’s largest economy; 

Whereas Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 represents the largest armed conflict in Europe since the 

end of World War II; 

Whereas the United States is the largest contributor to 

Ukraine, despite this conflict taking place on the European continent, and has appropriated over 

$113,000,000,000 in response to Russia’s invasion of 

Ukraine; 

Whereas the European Union (EU) and its member states 

have collectively pledged an estimated $76,000,000,000 

in assistance to Ukraine, as well as additional expenditures related to the support of refugees and NATO deterrence deployments to central and eastern Europe; and 

Whereas European countries in NATO should be leading the 

effort to advance the security of their continent and 

should not delay any longer in meeting the 2-percent defense spending obligations: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes that the 2014 Wales Summit De3 fense Spending Benchmark ensures the NATO Alli4 ance can maintain the best common defense to safe5 guard its members in the event a mutual military re6 sponse is warranted; 

7 (2) asserts that for far too long the majority of 

8 NATO member countries have relied on the financial 

9 contributions and military capabilities of the United 


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•HRES 607 IH 

1 States and have failed to fully invest in their own 

2 defense; 

3 (3) praises Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, 

4 Poland, and the United Kingdom for meeting the 

5 minimum 2-percent GDP defense spending obliga6 tions in 2022; 

7 (4) denounces Croatia, France, Slovakia, Roma8 nia, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Al9 bania, Bulgaria, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Den10 mark, Portugal, Turkey, Montenegro, the Czech Re11 public, Canada, Slovenia, Belgium, Spain, and 

12 Luxembourg’s failure to meet the minimum 2-per13 cent GDP defense spending obligation in 2022 and 

14 strongly urges these nations to fulfill the commit15 ment they pledged to meet; 

16 (5) maintains that European countries in 

17 NATO should be chiefly responsible for safeguarding 

18 the European continent and should not delay in 

19 meeting the 2-percent defense spending obligations; 

20 (6) expresses that the United States should not 

21 continue subsidizing NATO member countries who 

22 choose not to invest in their own defense by meeting 

23 the 2014 Wales Summit Defense Spending Bench24 mark; and 


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•HRES 607 IH 

1 (7) calls on NATO leaders to make the 2-per2 cent defense spending pledge binding for all NATO 

3 member countries. 

Æ 


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