I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2797 

To strengthen the United States commitment to transatlantic security by 

implementing the principles outlined in the Declaration on Alliance Security signed by the heads of state and governments of the North Atlantic 

Treaty Organization in Strasbourg and Kehl on the occasion of the 

60th anniversary of the Alliance. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 10, 2009 

Mr. TURNER (for himself and Mr. MARSHALL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To strengthen the United States commitment to transatlantic 

security by implementing the principles outlined in the 

Declaration on Alliance Security signed by the heads 

of state and governments of the North Atlantic Treaty 

Organization in Strasbourg and Kehl on the occasion 

of the 60th anniversary of the Alliance. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘NATO First Act’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Limitations on closure of United States military installations and alteration of basing arrangements in European Command theater 

of operations. 

Sec. 3. Authority to build the capacity of national military forces of certain 

NATO allies and partners. 

Sec. 4. Authority to support the NATO Special Operations Coordination Center. 

Sec. 5. Extended deterrence commitment to Europe. 

Sec. 6. Availability of funds for a long–range missile defense system in Europe. 

Sec. 7. Short-range air and missile defense capability in Poland. 

Sec. 8. Limitation on funds to reduce certain strategic forces pursuant to treaty 

or other agreement with the Russian Federation. 

Sec. 9. Expansion of United States-Russian Federation joint center to include 

exchange of data on missile defense. 

6 SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON CLOSURE OF UNITED STATES 

7 MILITARY INSTALLATIONS AND ALTERATION 

8 OF BASING ARRANGEMENTS IN EUROPEAN 

9 COMMAND THEATER OF OPERATIONS. 

10 (a) POLICY ON CURRENT FORCE STRUCTURE IN EU11 ROPE.—It is the policy of the United States that the cur12 rent deployment of units of the United States Armed 

13 Forces at military installations in European member na14 tions of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a force15 structure arrangement and set of military capabilities to 

16 permit the United States— 

17 (1) to satisfy the commitments undertaken by 

18 United States pursuant to Article 5 of the North AtVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:28 Jun 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2797.IH H2797

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1 lantic Treaty, signed at Washington, District of Co2 lumbia, on April 4, 1949, and entered into force on 

3 August 24, 1949 (63 Stat. 2241; TIAS 1964); 

4 (2) to address the current security environment 

5 in Europe, including United States participation in 

6 theater cooperation activities; and 

7 (3) to contribute to peace and stability in Eu8 rope. 

9 (b) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR EUROPEAN BASE

10 CLOSURES AND BASING CHANGES.— 

11 (1) CERTIFICATION.—In light of the policy ex12 pressed in subsection (a), no action may be taken to 

13 effect or implement the closure of any military in14 stallation in a European member nation of the 

15 North Atlantic Treaty Organization at which a unit 

16 of the United States Armed Forces is based or to 

17 alter the permanent basing arrangement of a unit of 

18 the Armed Forces at the installation unless— 

19 (A) the closure of the installation is re20 quested by the government of the host nation in 

21 the manner provided in the agreement between 

22 the United States and the host nation regard23 ing the installation; or 

24 (B) the Secretary of Defense certifies 

25 that— 


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1 (i) the current number or arrange2 ment of United States military installa3 tions in European member nations of the 

4 North Atlantic Treaty Organization or the 

5 permanent basing of units at these instal6 lations is no longer the force-structure ar7 rangement and set of military capabilities 

8 necessary to achieve the policy objectives 

9 specified in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of 

10 subsection (a); and 

11 (ii) the closure of an installation or al12 teration of the permanent basing arrange13 ment at the installation will not impair the 

14 ability of the United States to achieve the 

15 policy objectives specified in such para16 graphs. 

17 (2) NOTICE AND WAIT REQUIREMENT.—The 

18 Secretary of Defense may not commence the closure 

19 of a military installation or the alteration of the per20 manent basing arrangement of a unit at the installa21 tion for which the certification required by para22 graph (1)(B) is made until the expiration of a 180- 

23 day period beginning on the date on which the Sec24 retary submits a report containing the certification 


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1 to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate 

2 and House of Representatives. 

3 (3) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—The report 

4 under paragraph (2) shall also include the following: 

5 (A) The rationale of the Secretary of De6 fense for the certification. 

7 (B) The proposals of the Secretary regard8 ing closure of United States military installa9 tions in European member nations of the North 

10 Atlantic Treaty Organization and the alteration 

11 of the permanent basing arrangements of units 

12 at the installations so as not to impair the pol13 icy objectives specified in paragraphs (1), (2), 

14 and (3) of subsection (a). 

15 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO BUILD THE CAPACITY OF NATIONAL 

16 MILITARY FORCES OF CERTAIN NATO ALLIES 

17 AND PARTNERS. 

18 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Defense, with the 

19 concurrence of the Secretary of State, is authorized to con20 duct or support programs to build the capacity of the na21 tional military forces of foreign countries described in sub22 section (b) to support the theater priorities of the Com23 mander of the United States European Command. 

24 (b) FOREIGN COUNTRIES DESCRIBED.—The foreign 

25 countries described in this subsection are— 


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1 (1) member states of the North Atlantic Treaty 

2 Organization (NATO), and 

3 (2) countries participating in NATO’s Partner4 ship for Peace program, 

5 that are eligible for assistance under section 23 of the 

6 Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763; relating to the 

7 Foreign Military Financing program). 

8 (c) TYPES OF CAPACITY BUILDING.— 

9 (1) AUTHORIZED ELEMENTS.—Programs au10 thorized under subsection (a) may include the provi11 sion of equipment, supplies, and training. 

12 (2) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—Programs author13 ized under subsection (a) shall be provided in a 

14 manner that promotes observance of and respect for 

15 human rights and fundamental freedoms. 

16 (d) LIMITATIONS.— 

17 (1) FUNDING LIMITATION.—The Secretary of 

18 Defense may use up to $200,000,000 of funds made 

19 available to the Department of Defense for operation 

20 and maintenance for fiscal years 2011 and 2012 to 

21 conduct or support programs authorized under sub22 section (a). Subject to subsection (i), amounts au23 thorized to be used by the Secretary of Defense pur24 suant to the authority of this paragraph are author25 ized to remain available until September 30, 2015. 


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1 (2) ASSISTANCE OTHERWISE PROHIBITED BY

2 LAW.—The Secretary of Defense may not use the 

3 authority in subsection (a) to provide any type of as4 sistance described in subsection (c) that is otherwise 

5 prohibited by any provision of law. 

6 (3) LIMITATION ON ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES.— 

7 The Secretary of Defense may not use the authority 

8 in subsection (a) to provide assistance described in 

9 subsection (c) to any foreign country that is other10 wise prohibited from receiving such type of assist11 ance under any other provision of law. 

12 (e) RELATION TO OTHER AUTHORITIES.—The au13 thority in subsection (a) to provide assistance described 

14 in subsection (c) is in addition to the authority under sec15 tion 1206 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 

16 Fiscal Year 2006 (Public Law 109–163; 119 Stat. 3456; 

17 relating to authority to build the capacity of foreign mili18 tary forces) and the authority under any other similar pro19 vision of law. 

20 (f) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.— 

21 (1) SUBMISSION REQUIRED.—The Secretary of 

22 Defense shall submit to the congressional commit23 tees specified in subsection (h) a plan for the imple24 mentation of programs under subsection (a) and the 

25 allocation of funds under programs under subsection 


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1 (a) for each of the fiscal years 2011 and 2012. Such 

2 plans shall be submitted in conjunction with the 

3 budget submitted to Congress by the President pur4 suant to section 1105(a) of title 31, United States 

5 Code, for each of the fiscal years 2011 and 2012. 

6 (2) ELEMENTS OF PLAN.—In the plan required 

7 by subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall 

8 identify how the programs to be conducted or sup9 ported to build the capacity of the foreign military 

10 forces will— 

11 (A) permit the United States to satisfy the 

12 commitments undertaken by United States pur13 suant to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, 

14 signed at Washington, District of Columbia, on 

15 April 4, 1949, and entered into force on August 

16 24, 1949 (63 Stat. 2241; TIAS 1964); 

17 (B) address the current security environ18 ment in Europe, including United States par19 ticipation in theater cooperation activities; and 

20 (C) contribute to peace and stability in Eu21 rope. 

22 (g) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not less than 

23 15 days before initiating activities for any foreign country 

24 under a program under subsection (a), the Secretary of 


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1 Defense shall submit to the congressional committees 

2 specified in subsection (h) a notice of the following: 

3 (1) The foreign country whose capacity to en4 gage in activities described in subsection (a) will be 

5 built. 

6 (2) The budget, types of assistance, and com7 pletion date for the program. 

8 (3) The source and planned expenditure of 

9 funds for the program. 

10 (h) SPECIFIED CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The 

11 congressional committees specified in this subsection are 

12 the following: 

13 (1) The Committee on Armed Services, the 

14 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee 

15 on Appropriations of the House of Representatives. 

16 (2) The Committee on Armed Services, the 

17 Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee 

18 on Appropriations of the Senate. 

19 (i) TERMINATION.—The authority provided under 

20 subsection (a) terminates at the close of September 30, 

21 2013. Any program established before that date may be 

22 completed after that date, but only using funds authorized 

23 to be used by the Secretary of Defense pursuant to the 

24 authority of subsection (d)(1). 


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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO SUPPORT THE NATO SPECIAL OPER2 ATIONS COORDINATION CENTER. 

3 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Defense is au4 thorized to provide assistance to the North Atlantic Treaty 

5 Organization (NATO) Special Operations Coordination 

6 Center (NSCC) to support the activities described in sub7 section (b). 

8 (b) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Activities that may be 

9 supported by assistance under subsection (a) include— 

10 (1) improving coordination and cooperation be11 tween the special operations forces of NATO mem12 ber states; 

13 (2) facilitating joint operations by such special 

14 operations forces; 

15 (3) supporting command, control, and commu16 nications capabilities of such special operations 

17 forces; 

18 (4) promoting intelligence and informational re19 quirements of such special operations forces within 

20 the NATO structure; 

21 (5) promoting interoperability of such special 

22 operations forces through the development of com23 mon equipment standards and tactics, techniques, 

24 and procedures and through execution of a multi25 national education and training program; and 

26 (6) constructing NSCC-related facilities. 


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1 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

3 shall certify to the congressional committees specified in 

4 subsection (d) that the Department of Defense has as5 signed executive agent responsibility for the NSCC to an 

6 appropriate organization within the Department of De7 fense and detail the steps being undertaken by the United 

8 States to strengthen the role of the NSCC in fostering 

9 special operations capabilities within NATO. 

10 (d) SPECIFIED CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The 

11 congressional committees specified in this subsection are 

12 the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Rep13 resentatives and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

14 Senate. 

15 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

17 appropriated to the Secretary of Defense 

18 $45,000,000 for fiscal year 2011 to carry out this 

19 section. 

20 (2) LIMITATION.—The total amount of funds 

21 that may be obligated and expended under sub22 section (b)(6) may not exceed $20,000,000. 


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1 SEC. 5. EXTENDED DETERRENCE COMMITMENT TO EU2 ROPE. 

3 (a) POLICY ON EXTENDED DETERRENCE COMMIT4 MENT TO EUROPE.—It is the policy of the United States 

5 that— 

6 (1) it maintain its commitment to extended de7 terrence, specifically the nuclear alliance of the 

8 North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as an impor9 tant component of ensuring and linking the national 

10 security interests of the United States and the secu11 rity of its European allies; and 

12 (2) forward-deployed nuclear forces of the 

13 United States shall remain based in Europe in sup14 port of the nuclear policy and posture of NATO. 

15 (b) LIMITATION ON REDUCTIONS IN NUCLEAR

16 FORCES BASED IN EUROPE.—In light of the policy ex17 pressed in subsection (a), no action may be taken to effect 

18 or implement the reduction of nuclear forces of the United 

19 States that are based in Europe unless— 

20 (1) the reduction in such nuclear forces is re21 quested by the government of the host nation in the 

22 manner provided in the agreement between the 

23 United States and the host nation regarding the 

24 forces; or 

25 (2) the President certifies that— 


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1 (A) the nuclear policy and nuclear posture 

2 of NATO has changed, reducing the need for 

3 such nuclear forces to be based in Europe; 

4 (B) NATO member states have considered 

5 the reduction in the High Level Group and 

6 NATO has decided to support such reduction; 

7 (C) the remaining nuclear forces of the 

8 United States that are based in Europe after 

9 such reduction provide a commensurate or bet10 ter level of safety, security, reliability, and 

11 credibility as before such reduction; and 

12 (D) such reduction is compensated by 

13 other measures (such as nuclear modernization, 

14 conventional forces, and missile defense) which 

15 together provide a commensurate or better de16 terrence capability and assurance of NATO 

17 member states in a manner consistent with the 

18 NATO Strategic Concept. 

19 (c) REPORT.—Upon any decision to reduce the nu20 clear forces of the United States that are based in Europe, 

21 the President shall submit to the Committees on Armed 

22 Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a re23 port containing— 

24 (1) the certification required by subsection 

25 (b)(2); 


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1 (2) justification for such reduction; and 

2 (3) an assessment of how NATO member 

3 states, in light of such reduction, assess the credi4 bility of the deterrence capability of the United 

5 States in support of its commitments undertaken 

6 pursuant to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, 

7 signed at Washington, District of Columbia, on April 

8 4, 1949, and entered into force on August 24, 1949 

9 (63 Stat. 2241; TIAS 1964). 

10 (d) NOTICE AND WAIT REQUIREMENT.—The Presi11 dent may not commence a reduction in the nuclear forces 

12 of the United States that are based in Europe for which 

13 the certification required by subsection (b)(2) is made 

14 until the expiration of a 180-day period beginning on the 

15 date on which the President submits the report under sub16 section (c) containing the certification. 

17 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Defense 

19 a total of $50,000,000 for fiscal years 2011 and 2012 for 

20 upgrading the safety, security, and reliability of the nu21 clear forces of the United States that are based in Europe. 

22 SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR A LONG–RANGE MIS23 SILE DEFENSE SYSTEM IN EUROPE. 

24 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Missile defense promotes the collective secu2 rity of the United States and NATO and improves 

3 linkages among member nations of NATO by de4 fending all members of NATO against the full range 

5 of missile threats. 

6 (2) The proposed European locations of the 

7 long-range missile defense system allow for the de8 fense of both Europe and the United States against 

9 long-range threats launched from the Middle East. 

10 (b) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Of the funds appro11 priated pursuant to an authorization of appropriations 

12 made available for fiscal years 2011 and 2012 for the Mis13 sile Defense Agency, $500,000,000 shall be available only 

14 for a long-range missile defense system in Europe as de15 scribed in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (c). 

16 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds reserved under sub17 section (b) may be obligated and expended by the Sec18 retary of Defense— 

19 (1) on the research, development, test, and eval20 uation, procurement, site activation, construction, 

21 preparation of, equipment for, or deployment of— 

22 (A) the proposed midcourse radar element 

23 of the ground-based midcourse defense system 

24 in the Czech Republic; and 


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1 (B) the proposed long-range missile de2 fense interceptor site element of such defense 

3 system in Poland; or 

4 (2) on the research, development, test, and eval5 uation, procurement, site activation, construction, 

6 preparation of, equipment for, or deployment of an 

7 alternative missile defense system (such as the Aegis 

8 ballistic missile defense system), if the Secretary 

9 submits to the congressional defense committees a 

10 report certifying that the alternative missile defense 

11 system is expected to be— 

12 (A) at least as cost-effective, technically re13 liable, and operationally available in protecting 

14 Europe and the United States from long-range 

15 missile threats as the ground-based midcourse 

16 defense system; 

17 (B) deployable in a sufficient amount of 

18 time based on the amount of time the intel19 ligence community determines that ballistic mis20 siles launched from the Middle East could reach 

21 Europe and the United States; and 

22 (C) interoperable with other components of 

23 missile defense and compliments NATO’s mis24 sile defense strategy. 


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1 (d) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES DE2 FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘congres3 sional defense committees’’ has the meaning given that 

4 term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code. 

5 SEC. 7. SHORT-RANGE AIR AND MISSILE DEFENSE CAPA6 BILITY IN POLAND. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2012, and pursu8 ant to an agreement between the United States and the 

9 Government of Poland, the Secretary of Defense shall de10 ploy a system providing a short-range air and missile de11 fense capability and the personnel required to operate and 

12 maintain such system to Poland. 

13 (b) PROHIBITION ON REMOVAL.—No action may be 

14 taken to effect or implement the removal of the system 

15 providing a short-range air and missile defense capability 

16 or the personnel required to operate and maintain such 

17 system under subsection (a) unless— 

18 (1) at least 30 days before the removal, the 

19 Secretary of Defense notifies Congress that such re20 moval is temporary and in the national security in21 terests of the United States; or 

22 (2) the removal is requested by the Government 

23 of Poland in the manner provided in the agreement 

24 between the United States and the Government of 

25 Poland regarding the system and personnel. 


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1 SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON FUNDS TO REDUCE CERTAIN STRA2 TEGIC FORCES PURSUANT TO TREATY OR 

3 OTHER AGREEMENT WITH THE RUSSIAN FED4 ERATION. 

5 (a) LIMITATION.—Funds made available to the De6 partment of Defense may be used to implement reductions 

7 in the strategic nuclear forces of the United States pursu8 ant to any treaty or other agreement entered into between 

9 the United States and the Russian Federation after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act only if the President certifies 

11 to Congress that— 

12 (1) the treaty or other agreement provides for 

13 significant reductions in the non-strategic nuclear 

14 weapons capability of the Russian Federation; 

15 (2) the treaty or other agreement provides for 

16 sufficient mechanisms to verify compliance with the 

17 treaty or agreement, including the commitments de18 scribed in paragraph (1); 

19 (3) the treaty or other agreement does not 

20 place reductions or limitations on the ballistic missile 

21 defense, space, or advanced conventional weapon ca22 pabilities of the United States; and 

23 (4) a program is established and sufficiently 

24 funded to— 


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1 (A) increase the reliability, safety, and

2 security of the remaining strategic nuclear 

3 forces of the United States; and 

4 (B) modernize the nuclear weapons com5 plex. 

6 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit 

8 to the congressional committees specified in subsection (c) 

9 a report on the stockpiles of strategic and tactical weapons 

10 of the United States and the Russian Federation. 

11 (c) SPECIFIED CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The 

12 congressional committees specified in this subsection are 

13 the following: 

14 (1) The Committee on Armed Services and the 

15 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep16 resentatives. 

17 (2) The Committee on Armed Services and the 

18 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

19 SEC. 9. EXPANSION OF UNITED STATES-RUSSIAN FEDERA20 TION JOINT CENTER TO INCLUDE EXCHANGE 

21 OF DATA ON MISSILE DEFENSE. 

22 (a) EXPANSION AUTHORIZED.—In conjunction with 

23 the Government of the Russian Federation, the Secretary 

24 of Defense may expand the United States-Russian Fed25 eration joint center for the exchange of data from early 


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1 warning systems for launches of ballistic missiles, as es2 tablished pursuant to section 1231 of the Floyd D. Spence 

3 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 

4 (as enacted into law by Public Law 106–398; 114 Stat. 

5 1654A–329), to include the exchange of data on missile 

6 defense-related activities. 

7 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 30 days 

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

9 of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Serv10 ices of the Senate and House of Representatives a report 

11 on plans for expansion of the joint data exchange center. 

12 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

13 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Defense 

14 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2011 to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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