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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 491 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

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 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 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
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports the implementation of regional defense plans 
        adopted at the 2023 Vilnius Summit to align forces and 
        resources with NATO's Strategic Concept adopted at the 2022 
        Madrid Summit;
            (2) urges swift implementation and resourcing of these 
        plans in support of the collective defense of Europe and 
        encourages NATO allies to align defense spending and resource 
        allocation in accordance with these plans;
            (3) supports the commitment of NATO for members to meet or 
        exceed 2 percent gross domestic product defense spending in 
        support of collective defense of Europe and North America;
            (4) commends those allies that have reached the 2 percent 
        gross domestic product defense spending and encourages all 
        members of NATO to maintain progress to meet this commitment;
            (5) recommends the next Secretary General of NATO be 
        selected from a member country that has met, or has a robust 
        plan to meet, the 2 percent defense spending commitment;
            (6) commends NATO allies for harboring and caring for 
        millions of refugees fleeing Russian President Putin's 
        aggression;
            (7) welcomes Finland's accession to the NATO alliance; and
            (8) urges Turkiye and Hungary to swiftly ratify Sweden as a 
        full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
                                 <all>
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