III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 122 

Reaffirming the importance of United States alliances and partnerships. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 18, 2021 

Mr. RISCH (for himself and Mr. MENENDEZ) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Reaffirming the importance of United States alliances and 

partnerships. 

Whereas, from the American Revolution, through two World 

Wars, the Cold War, and the fight against international 

terrorist organizations, the United States has successfully 

relied on alliances and partnerships with like-minded 

countries to further our vital security, political, and economic interests, starting with the Treaty of Alliance with 

France in 1778 and continuing to the present day; 

Whereas these treaty alliances provide a unique strategic advantage to the United States and are among the Nation’s 

most precious assets, enabling the United States to advance its vital national interests, defend its territory, expand its economy through international trade and commerce, establish enduring cooperation among like-minded 

countries, prevent the domination of Europe or the IndoVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR122.IS SR122

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Pacific and its surrounding maritime and air lanes by a 

hostile power or powers, and deter potential aggressors; 

Whereas United States treaty alliances advance critical 

shared interests, including upholding regional stability 

and security, deterring adversaries, maintaining maritime 

freedom of navigation, promoting global economic prosperity, combating the proliferation of weapons of mass 

destruction, supporting international institutions and architecture, advancing democracy, human rights, and the 

rule of law, upholding international law, and promoting 

shared values and norms; 

Whereas the combined strength conferred by treaty alliances 

enables the United States and its allies to leverage a multinational response to important challenges and advance 

joint initiatives that tackle global problems with a unity 

of purpose; 

Whereas, after the end of the Second World War, the United 

States Government strategically invested in building a 

global network of alliances and partnerships, including 

through the Marshall Plan in Europe and with our postwar partners in Asia, which helped these countries grow 

into democratic, prosperous, peaceful nations with whom 

the United States could effectively partner; 

Whereas the United States-Japan, United States-Republic of 

Korea, United States-Australia, United States-Philippines, and United States-Thailand alliances are the 

foundation of regional stability in the Indo-Pacific; 

Whereas the United States greatly values other partnerships 

in the Indo-Pacific region, including with India, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, New Zealand, and Vietnam; 


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Whereas the United States maintains an unwavering commitment to the defense of Japan under Article 5 of the 

United States-Japan security treaty, which includes the 

Senkaku Islands, as recently reaffirmed by President Joseph R. Biden; 

Whereas the United States-Japan alliance is one of the most 

important political, economic, and military alliances in 

the world, and is crucial to maintaining a favorable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region and advancing 

a free and open region characterized by a commitment to 

democratic governance, the free flow of commerce, and 

shared rules and norms; 

Whereas the United States-Republic of Korea alliance is essential for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia and 

critical to closely coordinating to face the challenges 

posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; 

Whereas the United States-Australia alliance remains an anchor of stability in the Indo-Pacific and the world, while 

Australia’s 2020 Defense Strategic Update and 2020 

Force Structure Plan recognize and respond to Australia’s evolving strategic threat environment, including 

by committing to boost its defense spending by 40 percent over the next decade and to bolster its high-end military capabilities, which provides further opportunities for 

the United States and Australia to boost cooperation on 

defense and strategic and emerging technologies; 

Whereas a strong United States-Philippine alliance is vital to 

a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the Mutual Defense 

Treaty (MDT) is important for the security of both nations, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reaffirmed former Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo’s 

March 2019 statement regarding the clear application of 


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the MDT to armed attacks against Philippine armed 

forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the Pacific, which includes the South China Sea; 

Whereas the Philippines is of unique geostrategic importance, 

is a crucial partner in the areas of counterterrorism and 

maritime security, and plays an important role in upholding regional security in the South and West Pacific, including the First and Second Island Chains, and a strong 

relationship between the United States military and the 

Armed Forces of the Philippines, solidified through 

agreements such as the Enhanced Defense Cooperation 

Agreement and the Visiting Forces Agreement, is in the 

national interests of both the Philippines and the United 

States; 

Whereas the United States and Thailand are increasing their 

defense cooperation to advance shared interests in the 

Indo-Pacific; 

Whereas the United States has an opportunity to strengthen 

its relationships, including defense relationships, with 

treaty allies and other partners in Southeast Asia, especially through cooperation that enables these partners to 

better contend with infringements on their sovereignty, 

including by encouraging allies to make specific investments to enhance their area denial and mobile defensein-depth capabilities; 

Whereas, in 1949, the United States joined with several European countries to conclude the North Atlantic Treaty, 

which formed a basis for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in order ‘‘to safeguard the freedom, 

common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and 


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the rule of law’’ and to ‘‘promote stability and well-being 

in the North Atlantic area’’; 

Whereas 30 European and North American nations are members of NATO, and all signatories to the North Atlantic 

Treaty have ‘‘resolved to unite their efforts for collective 

defence and for the preservation of peace and security’’; 

Whereas, following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 

2001, the NATO alliance invoked Article 5 of the North 

Atlantic Treaty for the first and only time, reaffirming 

that an armed attack against one member of the alliance 

shall be considered an attack against all; 

Whereas NATO serves as a force multiplier, reducing the 

burden borne by the United States, has command structures, training institutions, and multilateral exercises 

that have generated unprecedented contributions to 

United States national security priorities and enabled 

NATO soldiers to serve alongside members of the United 

States Armed Forces, including through NATO’s ongoing 

support of Operation Resolute Support in Afghanistan, 

NATO’s Kosovo Force, Operation Sea Guardian in the 

Mediterranean Sea, the capacity-building NATO Mission 

Iraq, support for African Union missions, and air policing missions in member and nonmember nations of Eastern Europe, and has taken a strong stand against Russian aggression in Eastern Europe; 

Whereas, in his February 19, 2021, speech to the Munich Security Conference, President Biden reaffirmed, ‘‘The 

transatlantic alliance is . . . the strong foundation on 

which our collective security and our shared prosperity 

are built. The partnership between Europe and the 

United States, in my view, is and must remain the cornerstone of all that we hope to accomplish in the 21st 


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century, just as we did in the 20th century. . . . The 

United States is fully committed to our NATO Alliance, 

and I welcome Europe’s growing investment in the military capabilities that enable our shared defense.’’; 

Whereas previous Democratic and Republican Administrations alike have recognized that strong, healthy, and politically sustainable alliances require equitable, fair, reasonable, and mutually beneficial burden-sharing arrangements, and that the key to alliance success is a diplomatic and security posture characterized by the effective 

marshaling of resources and acquisition and deployment 

of complementary capabilities, such as the increase in defense spending by all NATO nations since the Wales Declaration of 2014, with 11 members now spending 2 percent of their GDP on defense and several more on track 

to meet that benchmark by 2024; 

Whereas the United States extended nuclear deterrence commitments to NATO and Indo-Pacific allies are 

foundational to the health, strength, and effectiveness of 

these alliances and to continued international security 

and stability; 

Whereas maintaining robust United States diplomatic, economic, and defense budgets are critical to advancing cooperation with allies and partners on shared challenges, 

and deep and precipitous cuts in United States diplomatic, economic, and defense budgets would damage the 

health, robustness, and effectiveness of United States alliances; 

Whereas, in a sign of our shared security objectives and cooperation, our allies and partners have hosted United 

States military installations and welcomed members of 

the United States Armed Forces; 


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Whereas citizens of our allies and partners have sacrificed 

their lives in support of efforts to combat terrorism and 

promote security in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, 

and have contributed significant forces to our military 

endeavors, placing more combat power on the battlefield, 

while reducing the burden borne by the United States; 

Whereas the United States has worked with our allies and 

partners to mitigate conflict and humanitarian crises 

around the world, and United States allies have made 

significant contributions to address humanitarian, food 

security, health, climate-related, and other pressing challenges around the world; 

Whereas the United States and its allies face an increasingly 

challenging security environment in the 21st century, 

characterized by strategic competition with revisionist 

powers such as the People’s Republic of China and the 

Russian Federation, which seek to destabilize the international system; 

Whereas this security environment demands United States 

and allied commitment to strengthening and advancing 

our alliances so that they are postured to meet these 

challenges, and will require sustained political will, concrete partnerships, economic, commercial, and technological cooperation, consistent and tangible commitments, 

high-level and extensive consultations on matters of mutual interest, mutual and shared cooperation in the acquisition of key capabilities important to allied defenses, and 

unified mutual support in the face of political, economic, 

or military coercion; and 

Whereas successive generations of leaders of the United 

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ing that the benefits of alliances outweigh the costs: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) reaffirms the enduring commitment of the 

3 United States to our treaty allies in the Indo-Pacific 

4 region and NATO, as well as to other partners, in5 cluding our treaty obligations for mutual defense; 

6 (2) emphasizes the primary importance of the 

7 United States relationships, alliances, and partner8 ships to global peace and prosperity; 

9 (3) recognizes the many contributions that alli10 ances and partnerships have made to advance the in11 terests of the United States and to promote shared 

12 interests; 

13 (4) underscores that alliances have enhanced 

14 mutual security by jointly sharing in common de15 fense, including the defense of the United States, 

16 and that strong alliances and partnerships generate 

17 decisive and sustained United States military advan18 tages; 

19 (5) encourages dealing constructively with sig20 nificant tensions in the United States alliance rela21 tionships to ensure they do not create fissures that 

22 adversaries can exploit; 

23 (6) welcomes and seeks to advance the contin24 ued collaboration of the United States and our allies 


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1 and partners to respect and defend the rules-based 

2 international order and the values of democracy, 

3 human rights, and the rule of law that undergird 

4 our common security and prosperity; 

5 (7) reaffirms bipartisan support for equitable 

6 and mutually beneficial burden-sharing arrange7 ments, including fair and additional substantive con8 tributions by United States allies, and acknowledges 

9 the special measures agreements (SMA) reached by 

10 the Biden Administration with Japan and the Re11 public of Korea, and urges ongoing consultations to 

12 consider additional allied contributions beyond the 

13 traditional SMA categories and to use these con14 sultations as an opportunity to strengthen our alli15 ances with these two partners; 

16 (8) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

17 States to strengthening and boosting our alliances 

18 and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, including to 

19 contend with China’s growing power projection capa20 bilities and use of coercive and grey-zone tactics, and 

21 to jointly develop, regulate, and monitor the produc22 tion, use, and protection of strategic and emerging 

23 technologies; 

24 (9) encourages the Biden Administration to 

25 focus significantly on growing defense cooperation 


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1 with Australia, especially in light of the country’s 

2 2020 Defense Strategic Update, and to build on 

3 United States-Japan initiatives that advance alliance 

4 defense cooperation that contributes to a free and 

5 open Indo-Pacific, and to further boost cooperation 

6 with both allies on the research, development, and 

7 regulation of strategic and emerging technologies, 

8 including defense technologies; 

9 (10) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

10 States to the NATO alliance and to NATO efforts 

11 to counter Kremlin aggression, including military 

12 aggression and attempts to erode democratic institu13 tions in the United States and other NATO member 

14 states; 

15 (11) urges the Biden Administration to work 

16 with its NATO partners to advance the efforts cur17 rently underway within NATO to better prepare the 

18 alliance to confront future and emerging challenges, 

19 and to continue to encourage NATO nations to con20 tribute more to the alliance and improve their capa21 bilities; 

22 (12) calls upon Indo-Pacific and NATO allies to 

23 collaborate with the United States in developing the 

24 next generation of defense technologies, including 

25 disruptive and emerging technologies, while working 


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1 together to improve multilateral export controls, 

2 common standards for technology security, and 

3 norms and standards for new and emerging tech4 nologies; 

5 (13) asks all members of NATO, including the 

6 United States, to devote significant energy to the de7 velopment of a new, forward-looking strategy to re8 place the 2010 Strategic Concept and focus on the 

9 many emerging challenges that face the alliance, in10 cluding China, Russia, and instability on Europe’s 

11 southern border; 

12 (14) calls on the Biden Administration to en13 sure United States policy and posture reflects the 

14 requirements of extended deterrence to preserve non15 proliferation benefits, assure allies, and to deter, and 

16 if necessary, respond, across the spectrum of nuclear 

17 and nonnuclear scenarios in defense of allies and 

18 partners; and 

19 (15) supports maintaining robust diplomatic, 

20 economic, and defense budgets as critical to advanc21 ing cooperation with allies and partners on shared 

22 challenges. 

Æ 


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