III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 491 

Commending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s adoption of regional 

plans and encouraging allies to align resources. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 7, 2023 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. COONS, Mr. 

KING, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. ROUNDS, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. 

RICKETTS, and Mr. BOOKER) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Commending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s adoption of regional plans and encouraging allies to align 

resources. 

Whereas the 31-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization 

(NATO) is the world’s preeminent military alliance, accounting for more than half of global defense expenditure 

and deploying the world’s most advanced military capabilities; 

Whereas, at the 2014 NATO Summit in Wales, NATO allies 

adopted the Wales Defense Investment Pledge, agreeing 

to halt any decline in defense expenditure and move toward committing a minimum of 2 percent of their GDP 

on annual defense spending and allocating at least 20 


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•SRES 491 IS 

percent of defense budgets on major equipment, including 

related research and development, within a decade; 

Whereas, following the 2014 NATO Summit in Wales, defense spending within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has increased for nine consecutive years, resulting 

in additional defense expenditures of approximately 

$450,000,000,000 in real terms since 2014; 

Whereas, while three members of NATO met the 2 percent 

of GDP defense spending target in 2014, NATO reports 

that as of July 2023, 11 allies met the 2 percent target, 

and all 31 allies met the goal to allocate at least 20 percent of defense expenditure to major new equipment; 

Whereas 19 NATO allies have a plan to meet or exceed 

NATO’s 2 percent of GDP defense spending target by 

2024, and an additional seven members reportedly have 

plans in place to meet the target between 2025 and 

2030; 

Whereas, at the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, allies unanimously adopted new regional defense plans and force 

structure requirements, which NATO military authorities 

characterize as the Alliance’s most comprehensive since 

the end of the Cold War; 

Whereas NATO allies, in order to resource those plans and 

requirements, reaffirmed the commitment to invest at 

least 2 percent of GDP annually on defense, affirming 

that in many cases, expenditure beyond 2 percent of 

GDP will be needed in order to remedy existing shortfalls 

and meet requirements across all domains; 

Whereas allies have committed to further enhance NATO’s 

defense and deterrence posture by aligning defense 


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•SRES 491 IS 

spending increases with NATO’s new defense plans and 

force structure requirements; 

Whereas NATO allies have made these additional contributions to collective security despite sharp inflation and 

record-high energy costs; 

Whereas European countries have taken in over 4,000,000 

Ukrainian refugees as a direct result of the Russian Federation’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the 

European Union has designated $18,000,000,000 in support for refugees, and European NATO members collectively have additionally allocated $4,600,000,000 to support refugees; 

Whereas NATO’s defense posture and military capabilities 

were enhanced with the April 2023 accession of Finland, 

which exceeds 2 percent of GDP defense spending and 

possesses one of Europe’s largest and most capable 

armed forces; and 

Whereas the ratification of Sweden as the newest member of 

the NATO alliance would add critical air and maritime 

capabilities to the collective security of Europe and North 

America, bring almost the entire Baltic coastline into the 

alliance, and expand the alliance’s expertise in the Arctic 

and undersea environments: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the implementation of regional de3 fense plans adopted at the 2023 Vilnius Summit to 

4 align forces and resources with NATO’s Strategic 

5 Concept adopted at the 2022 Madrid Summit; 

6 (2) urges swift implementation and resourcing 

7 of these plans in support of the collective defense of 


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•SRES 491 IS 

1 Europe and encourages NATO allies to align defense 

2 spending and resource allocation in accordance with 

3 these plans; 

4 (3) supports the commitment of NATO for 

5 members to meet or exceed 2 percent gross domestic 

6 product defense spending in support of collective de7 fense of Europe and North America; 

8 (4) commends those allies that have reached the 

9 2 percent gross domestic product defense spending 

10 and encourages all members of NATO to maintain 

11 progress to meet this commitment; 

12 (5) recommends the next Secretary General of 

13 NATO be selected from a member country that has 

14 met, or has a robust plan to meet, the 2 percent de15 fense spending commitment; 

16 (6) commends NATO allies for harboring and 

17 caring for millions of refugees fleeing Russian Presi18 dent Putin’s aggression; 

19 (7) welcomes Finland’s accession to the NATO 

20 alliance; and 

21 (8) urges Turkiye and Hungary to swiftly ratify 

22 Sweden as a full member of the North Atlantic 

23 Treaty Organization. 

Æ 


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