IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 291 
Recognizing that contributions of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
are vital to United States national security. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 4, 2019 
Ms. FRANKEL (for herself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. 
KEATING, Mr. SUOZZI, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. BERA, 
Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. SHALALA, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. 
COHEN, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. COSTA, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS 
of Illinois, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. RUSH, Ms. CLARKE of New 
York, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. CROW, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. SIRES, Mr. 
CLEAVER, Ms. HILL of California, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. LIPIN-
SKI, Mr. VELA, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. WASSERMAN 
SCHULTZ, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SEWELL of 
Alabama, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. 
PASCRELL, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. SMITH
of Washington, and Mr. 
MALINOWSKI) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing that contributions of the North Atlantic Treaty 
Organization are vital to United States national security. 
Whereas, on April 4, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Orga-
nization (NATO) was founded as a defensive alliance to 
enhance security cooperation between member states and 
deter a military attack on the allies; 
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Whereas the United States military presence in Europe has 
deterred the outbreak of another world war and protects 
the territorial integrity of NATO allies; 
Whereas the 2017 National Security Strategy of the United 
States of America reaffirms that NATO is ‘‘one of our 
great advantages over our competitors, and the United 
States remains committed to Article 5 [of the North At-
lantic Treaty]’’; 
Whereas 29 countries have joined NATO, including most re-
cently the Republic of Montenegro, which was admitted 
in 2017; 
Whereas, on February 9, 2019, NATO member states signed 
an accession protocol with the Republic of North Mac-
edonia, which officially launches the process to make 
North Macedonia the 30th member of the alliance; 
Whereas continued NATO enlargement has promoted peace-
ful democratic transitions and stability in Central and 
Eastern Europe, key United States interests; 
Whereas NATO provides a deployable and integrated multi-
lateral military capability, enabling the United States to 
rapidly shape and lead coalitions to address security 
threats; 
Whereas joint NATO planning, training, and exercises boost 
United States military readiness and ensure interoper-
ability, defined in this context ‘‘as the ability for [NATO] 
allies to act together coherently, effectively and efficiently 
to achieve tactical, operational and strategic objectives’’; 
Whereas NATO has played a critical role in securing stability 
in the Balkans, including through its current deployment 
of approximately 3,210 non-United States troops in 
Kosovo as part of NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR), an 
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international peacekeeping mission in existence since 
1999; 
Whereas NATO invoked Article 5 of the North Atlantic Trea-
ty, its collective defense clause, for the first and only time 
in response to the terrorist attacks on the United States 
that occurred on September 11, 2001; 
Whereas NATO has deployed thousands of troops to Afghani-
stan, where more than 1,100 non-United States NATO 
ally and partner forces have been killed; 
Whereas Admiral James Stavridis, a former NATO Supreme 
Allied Commander, testified that, ‘‘I signed, sadly, thou-
sands of letters of condolence to Europeans who died 
fighting because the United States had been attacked’’; 
Whereas in 2001, NATO agreed on eight measures to sup-
port the United States on counter-terrorism, including 
enhancing intelligence-sharing and providing blanket 
overflight clearances and access for the United States to 
ports and airfields for operations against terrorism; 
Whereas NATO allies are reinforcing NATO’s eastern flank 
by leading three of the four battlegroups of NATO’s En-
hanced Forward Presence in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, 
and Poland; 
Whereas NATO is a member of the Global Coalition to De-
feat ISIS and supports it through a non-combat training 
and capacity building mission in Iraq and with the de-
ployment of aircraft to provide intelligence and greater 
situational awareness; 
Whereas the Russian Federation continues to undermine 
transatlantic unity and security, including through its in-
vasions of Georgia and Ukraine, noncompliance with its 
arms control commitments, support for the Assad regime 
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and destabilizing role in Syria, interference in democratic 
elections, downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in 
Ukraine on July 17, 2014, and its use of a nerve agent 
in Salisbury, United Kingdom on March 4, 2018; 
Whereas NATO carries out disaster relief operations and 
missions to protect populations against natural or hu-
manitarian disasters, and has adopted anti-piracy respon-
sibilities to ensure freedom of the seas; 
Whereas NATO enhances United States cybersecurity, in-
cluding through the Cyber Operations Center, which in-
corporates cyber warfare into the alliance’s defense oper-
ations, and the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Ex-
cellence, which supports its member states with cyber 
defence expertise; 
Whereas NATO member states have participated in economic 
sanctions and reduced trade activity with Russia and 
Iran following the imposition of United States sanctions; 
Whereas at the 2014 Wales Summit Declaration, all NATO 
member states aimed to allocate 2 percent of their gross 
domestic product toward defense spending and 20 per-
cent of their annual defense spending on major new 
equipment, including related research and development 
by 2024; 
Whereas NATO members, not including the United States, 
have increased defense spending for 4 consecutive years, 
and more than half of NATO member states now spend 
more than 20 percent of their annual defense expendi-
tures on major new equipment; and 
Whereas, on April 3, 2019, NATO Secretary General Jens 
Stoltenberg addressed a joint meeting of Congress to 
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mark the seventieth anniversary of the Alliance: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) reaffirms the enduring commitment of the 
United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organi-
zation (NATO) as the bedrock of transatlantic secu-
rity and stability; 
(2) appreciates the many contributions that 
NATO member states have made to support and ad-
vance vital United States security interests; and 
(3) recognizes that continued United States 
leadership in NATO is essential to addressing evolv-
ing threats to national security and to fulfilling 
NATO’s three core tasks: collective defense, crisis 
management, and cooperative security. 
Æ 
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