•HRES 59 IH
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 histori-
cal disputes and the actions of undemocratic governments
and sub-state actors who reject the peaceful settlement of
disputes;
Whereas the security of NATO member states is inseparably
linked to that of the whole of Europe, and the consolida-
tion and strengthening of democratic and free societies
on the entire continent, in accordance with the principles
and commitments of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, is of direct and material concern
to the NATO Alliance and its partners;
Whereas the 50th anniversary NATO summit meeting, to be
held on April 24–25, 1999, in Washington, D.C., offers
the historic opportunity to chart a course for NATO in
the next millenium;
Whereas NATO enhances the security of the United States
by providing an integrated military structure and a
framework for consultations on political and security con-
cerns of any member state;
•HRES 59 IH
Whereas NATO remains the embodiment of United States
engagement in Europe and therefore membership in
NATO remains a vital national security interest of the
United States;
Whereas NATO should become the core security organization
of a future Euro-Atlantic architecture in which all states
enjoy the same freedom, cooperation, and security;
Whereas NATO has embarked upon a 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 impending membership of the Czech Republic,
Hungary, and Poland will strengthen NATO’s ability to
perform the full range of NATO missions and bolster its
capability to integrate former communist adversary na-
tions into a community of democracies;
Whereas the organization of NATO national parliamentar-
ians, the North Atlantic Assembly (NAA), 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 NAA activities, such as the Rose-Roth program to
engage and educate Central and Eastern European par-
liamentarians, have played a pioneering role in familiariz-
ing the new democracies with democratic institutions and
a civil society: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that—
•HRES 59 IH
(1) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(hereafter in this resolution referred to as ‘‘NATO’’)
is to be commended for its pivotal role in preserving
trans-Atlantic peace and stability;
(2) the NATO allies, at the Summit meeting to
be held in Washington, D.C. in April of 1999,
should articulate 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;
(3) the Alliance should adopt a strategic con-
cept clearly establishing that defense of shared inter-
ests and values are as important for peace and sta-
bility as maintaining a vigorous capability to carry
out collective defense;
(4) 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 decision;
(5) the Alliance should make clear commit-
ments to remedy shortfalls in areas such as logistics,
command, control, communications, intelligence,
ground surveillance, readiness, deployability, mobil-
ity, sustainability, survivability, armaments coopera-
•HRES 59 IH
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 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 earli-
est possible date;
(8) the Alliance should pace, not pause, the
process of NATO enlargement and remain prepared
to extend invitations for accession negotiations to
any appropriate European democracy meeting the
criteria for NATO membership as established in the
Alliance’s 1995 Study on NATO Enlargement, re-
gardless of geographic location and on the same con-
ditions applied to the Czech Republic, Hungary, and
Poland;
(9) while maintaining its unchallenged right to
make its own decisions, NATO should seek to
strengthen its relations with Russia and Ukraine as
•HRES 59 IH
essential partners in building long-term peace in the
Euro-Atlantic area; and
(10) the Alliance should fully support the
NAA’s activities in enhancing and stabilizing par-
liamentary democracy in the nations of Central and
Eastern Europe, ensuring ratification of appropriate
new NATO members, continuing to deepen coopera-
tion within the Alliance, and forging democratic
links with the new European democracies.
Æ