H. Res. 59
In the House of Representatives, U.S.,
November 2, 1999.
Whereas for 50 years the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(hereafter in this preamble referred to as ‘‘NATO’’) has
served as the preeminent organization to defend the terri-
tories of its member states against all external threats;
Whereas NATO, founded on the principles of democracy, in-
dividual liberty, and the rule of law, has proved an indis-
pensable instrument for forging a trans-Atlantic commu-
nity of nations working together to safeguard the free-
dom and common heritage of its peoples, and promoting
stability in the North Atlantic area;
Whereas NATO has acted to address new risks emerging
from outside the treaty area in the interests of preserving
peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic area, and main-
tains a unique collective capability to address these new
challenges which may affect Allied interests and values;
Whereas such challenges to NATO Allied interests and values
include the potential for the re-emergence of a hegemonic
power confronting Europe; rogue states and non-state ac-
tors possessing nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons
and their means of delivery; transnational terrorism and
disruption of the flow of vital resources; and conflicts
outside the treaty area stemming from unresolved histor-
ical disputes and the actions of undemocratic govern-
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Whereas NATO should remain the core security organization
of the evolving Euro-Atlantic architecture in which all
states enjoy the same freedom, cooperation, and security;
Whereas NATO has embarked upon an historic mission to
share its benefits and patterns of consultation and co-
operation with other nations in the Euro-Atlantic area
through both enlargement and active partnership;
Whereas the membership of the Czech Republic, Hungary,
and Poland has strengthened NATO’s ability to perform
the full range of NATO missions and bolstered its capa-
bility to integrate former communist adversary nations
into a community of democracies;
Whereas the organization of NATO national parliamentar-
ians, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, serves as a
unique transatlantic forum for generating and maintain-
ing legislative and public support for the Alliance, and
has played a key role in initiating constructive dialogue
between NATO parliamentarians and parliamentarians in
Central and Eastern Europe; and
Whereas NATO Parliamentary Assembly activities, such as
the Rose-Roth program to engage and educate Central
and Eastern European parliamentarians, have played a
pioneering role in familiarizing the new democracies with
democratic institutions and a civil society: Now, there-
fore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that—
(1) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(hereafter in this resolution referred to as ‘‘NATO’’)
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is to be commended for its pivotal role in preserving
trans-Atlantic peace and stability;
(2) the new NATO strategic concept, adopted
by the Allies at the summit meeting held in Wash-
ington, D.C. in April of 1999, articulates a concrete
vision for the Alliance in the 21st century, clearly
setting out the continued importance of NATO for
the citizens of the Allied nations, and establishing
that defense of shared interests and values is as im-
portant for peace and stability as maintaining a vig-
orous capability to carry out collective defense;
(3) the Alliance, while maintaining collective de-
fense as its core function, should, as a fundamental
Alliance task, identify crisis management operations
outside the NATO treaty area, based on case-by-case
consensual Alliance decisions;
(4) the Alliance must recognize and act upon
the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction and terrorism by intensifying con-
sultations among political and military leaders, and
deploying comprehensive capabilities to counter these
threats to the international community at the ear-
liest possible date;
(5) the Alliance should make clear commit-
ments to remedy shortfalls in areas such as logistics,
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command, control, communications, intelligence,
ground surveillance, readiness, deployability, mobil-
ity, sustainability, survivability, armaments coopera-
tion, and effective engagement, including early
progress in the NATO force structure review;
(6) the Alliance must ensure equitable sharing
of contributions to the NATO common budgets and
overall defense expenditure and capability-building;
(7) the Alliance should welcome efforts by mem-
bers of the European Union (EU) to strengthen
their military capabilities and enhance their role
within the Alliance through the European Security
and Defense Identity (ESDI);
(8) the key to a vibrant and more influential
ESDI is the improvement of European military ca-
pabilities that will strengthen the Alliance;
(9) in order to preserve the solidarity and effec-
tiveness that has been achieved within the Alliance
over the last 50 years, it is essential that security
arrangements elaborated under the EU’s Common
Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) complement,
rather than duplicate NATO efforts and institutions,
and be linked to, rather than decoupled from NATO
structures, and provide for full and active involve-
ment of all European Allies rather than discrimi-
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nating against European Allies that are not mem-
bers of the EU;
(10) the Alliance should remain prepared to ex-
tend invitations for accession negotiations to any ap-
propriate European democracy meeting the criteria
for NATO membership as established in the Alli-
ance’s 1995 Study on NATO Enlargement and sec-
tion 203(d)(3)(A) of the NATO Participation Act of
1994 (22 U.S.C. 1928 note), on the same conditions
as applied to the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Po-
land;
(11) while maintaining its unchallenged right to
make its own decisions, NATO should seek to
strengthen its relations with Russia and Ukraine as
essential partners in building long-term peace in the
Euro-Atlantic area; and
(12) the Alliance should fully support the
NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s activities in en-
hancing and stabilizing parliamentary democracy in
the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, ensuring
ratification of appropriate new NATO members,
continuing to deepen cooperation within the Alliance,
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and forging democratic links with the new European
democracies.
Attest:
Clerk.