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; 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 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 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 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 (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 That the House of Representatives— (1) recognizes that the 2014 Wales Summit Defense Spending Benchmark ensures the NATO Alliance can maintain the best common defense to safeguard its members in the event a mutual military response is warranted; (2) asserts that for far too long the majority of NATO member countries have relied on the financial contributions and military capabilities of the United States and have failed to fully invest in their own defense; (3) praises Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the United Kingdom for meeting the minimum 2-percent GDP defense spending obligations in 2022; (4) denounces 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’s failure to meet the minimum 2-percent GDP defense spending obligation in 2022 and strongly urges these nations to fulfill the commitment they pledged to meet; (5) maintains that European countries in NATO should be chiefly responsible for safeguarding the European continent and should not delay in meeting the 2-percent defense spending obligations; (6) expresses that the United States should not continue subsidizing NATO member countries who choose not to invest in their own defense by meeting the 2014 Wales Summit Defense Spending Benchmark; and (7) calls on NATO leaders to make the 2-percent defense spending pledge binding for all NATO member countries.

Summary: This resolution denounces NATO member countries that have not met their obligations under the 2014 Wales Summit Defense Spending Benchmark, a pledge by member countries to spend a minimum of 2% of their nation's gross domestic product on their defense. The resolution affirms that the benchmark is the best common defense to safeguard members in the event a mutual military response is warranted.