Title: A resolution expressing the unwavering commitment of the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Pledges that the United States will continue to maintain strong leadership and strengthen its commitments to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Encourages NATO members to fulfill their pledge to invest at least 2% of gross domestic product on defense spending, invest at least 20% of such spending on major equipment, and shoulder appropriate responsibility within NATO.
Recognizes the historic contribution and sacrifice NATO member countries have made while combating terrorism in Afghanistan through the International Security Assistance Force and Operation Resolute Support.
Calls for honoring those who served under NATO and gave their lives to promote peace, security, and international cooperation since 1949.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 54 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 54

Expressing the unwavering commitment of the United States to the North 
                     Atlantic Treaty Organization.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             February 7 (legislative day, February 6), 2017

     Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Rubio, and Mrs. 
 McCaskill) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the unwavering commitment of the United States to the North 
                     Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Whereas, following World War II, the United States rejected isolationism, 
        established its role as a world leader, and developed an international 
        alliance system that protected the United States while supporting 
        democracy, freedom, and economic prosperity with European nations;
Whereas, 70 years ago, the United States announced the Marshall Plan for Europe, 
        a strategic investment in Europe, as well as articulated the Truman 
        Doctrine, which sought to contain a growing Soviet threat in Southern 
        Europe;
Whereas, in 1949, the United States, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, 
        Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United 
        Kingdom signed the North Atlantic Treaty that formed the basis of the 
        North Atlantic Treaty Organization (in this preamble referred to as 
        ``NATO'');
Whereas NATO was created to protect countries from a growing Soviet threat, 
        promote international peace and stability, and defend freedom;
Whereas, to date, 28 countries have joined NATO;
Whereas, for more than 67 years, NATO has served as a central pillar of United 
        States national security and a deterrent against adversaries and 
        external threats;
Whereas NATO continues to improve its collective defense measures, enhance its 
        military capabilities to address a full spectrum of complex threats, and 
        partner with non-NATO countries to promote international stability;
Whereas Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is an integral part of NATO and 
        states that ``[t]he Parties agree that an armed attack against one or 
        more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack 
        against them all. . .'';
Whereas NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time less than 24 hours after the 
        September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States;
Whereas, in Afghanistan, NATO allies and partners have served alongside United 
        States forces since 2001, reaching a peak of more than 42,000 ally and 
        partner forces, 6,300 NATO forces continue to serve today alongside the 
        6,900 United States forces there, and more than 1,100 NATO ally and 
        partner forces have paid the ultimate price in service to the collective 
        defense of NATO;
Whereas NATO took the lead in helping combat the terrorist threat in Afghanistan 
        through the International Security Assistance Force and Operation 
        Resolute Support, contributing to the safety of the United States and 
        the international community;
Whereas all 28 NATO allies and many NATO partners are contributing to the Global 
        Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant;
Whereas approximately 18,000 military personnel are currently engaged in NATO 
        missions around the world, conducting operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo, 
        the Mediterranean, and off the Horn of Africa;
Whereas NATO conducts a range of maritime security operations in the 
        Mediterranean and is essential to establishing stability along the 
        borders of Europe and to responding to the ongoing refugee and migrant 
        crisis;
Whereas, for nearly 10 years, NATO has provided airlift support for the mission 
        of the African Union in Somalia, as well as assisted with training the 
        African Standby Force at the request of the African Union;
Whereas, for more than 17 years, NATO has led peace-support operations in Kosovo 
        to maintain safety and security in a volatile region;
Whereas NATO has three standing forces on active duty at all times to defend the 
        Alliance, air policing capability, maritime forces, and an integrated 
        air defense system;
Whereas NATO allies and the international community continue to look to NATO to 
        deter the increasingly revanchist activities of Russia;
Whereas Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, testified 
        before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate on July 19, 2015, 
        that Russia presents the ``greatest existential threat'' to the United 
        States;
Whereas the malign actions of Russia--its 2008 incursion into Georgia, its 
        illegal annexation of Crimea, its continued military action in Ukraine, 
        its targeting of civilians in Syria, its ongoing information war in 
        Europe, its continued violations of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces 
        Agreement, and its cyberattacks aimed at influencing United States 
        elections--have violated international laws and norms;
Whereas Russia continues to use disinformation campaigns and promote state 
        propaganda to discredit democracy and undermine NATO members;
Whereas, since the illegal annexation of Crimea and direct support to the 
        conflict in Eastern Ukraine by Russia in 2014, NATO members have 
        undertaken the biggest reinforcement of the collective defense of NATO 
        since the end of the Cold War, enhancing allied readiness and deterrence 
        measures in response to Russian aggression;
Whereas the efforts of NATO to confront and deter Russian aggression in Eastern 
        Europe have included a three-fold increase in the size of the NATO 
        Response Force (NRF) to 40,000 troops; the creation of a Spearhead Force 
        of 5,000 troops capable of deploying within a few days to respond to any 
        threat against an ally, particularly on the eastern flank of NATO; the 
        forward deployment of up to 4,000 troops to Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and 
        Lithuania; an increase in the air policing and maritime missions of NATO 
        in Eastern Europe; and a significant increase in NATO training and 
        military exercises in Eastern Europe;
Whereas, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2014, the United States 
        established Operation Atlantic Resolve and the European Reassurance 
        Initiative to reassure NATO allies that the United States would uphold 
        its global security commitments and work in coordination with European 
        partners to deter Russian aggression;
Whereas, since 2014, Operation Atlantic Resolve and the European Reassurance 
        Initiative have demonstrated the continued commitment of the United 
        States to its NATO allies and partners by engaging in deterrence and 
        security measures against potential Russian aggression in the region;
Whereas the United States is further strengthening its force presence in Europe 
        through the continuous deployment of an armored brigade combat team to 
        Poland on a rotating basis;
Whereas, on January 6, 2017, as a part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, 3,500 
        United States troops from the 4th Infantry Division in Fort Carson, 
        Colorado, along with more than 2,500 military vehicles, were deployed to 
        Eastern Europe to deter regional aggression;
Whereas continued United States leadership in NATO is critical to ensuring that 
        NATO remains the greatest military alliance in history;
Whereas all NATO members have recommitted themselves to sharing the security 
        burden of NATO at the 2014 NATO Wales Summit by pledging to meet the 
        defense spending target for NATO members of 2 percent of gross domestic 
        product within 10 years;
Whereas the United States, Greece, Poland, Estonia, and the United Kingdom all 
        have exceeded that defense spending target;
Whereas, since the Wales Summit, Latvia, Lithuania, and many other allies have 
        increased defense spending in an effort to meet that defense spending 
        target;
Whereas NATO remains committed to its open door policy on enlargement, working 
        with countries in the Euro-Atlantic region that aspire to join NATO to 
        help meet the requirements for membership;
Whereas, at the 2016 NATO Warsaw Summit, NATO Heads of State and Government 
        formally invited Montenegro to become the 29th member of NATO;
Whereas General James Jones, United States Marine Corps (retired), former 
        National Security Advisor, testified before the Committee on Armed 
        Services of the Senate in July 2016 that ``[o]ur 27 NATO allies offer 
        America forward basing, which allows us to better fight enemies like 
        ISIS and deter adversaries like the new Russia and to meet shared 
        challenges. Twenty-eight countries acting as one is a powerful 
        alliance'';
Whereas Secretary of Defense James Mattis testified before the Committee on 
        Armed Services of the Senate, during his hearing as nominee for 
        Secretary of Defense, that ``[w]e must also embrace our international 
        alliances and security partnerships. History is clear: Nations with 
        strong allies thrive and those without them wither'';
Whereas there is a long tradition of strong bipartisan agreement that 
        participation in NATO strengthens the security of the United States;
Whereas NATO is the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered 
        into outside the Western Hemisphere and today remains the largest 
        peacetime military alliance in the world;
Whereas a fractured NATO alliance would harm the interests of the United States 
        and embolden adversaries of the United States; and
Whereas a strong and united Europe is important to United States strategic 
        interests: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) pledges that the United States will continue to 
        maintain strong leadership and strengthen its commitments to 
        the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (in this resolution 
        referred to as ``NATO'');
            (2) strongly encourages NATO members to fulfill their 
        pledge to invest at least 2 percent of gross domestic product 
        on defense spending, invest at least 20 percent of such 
        spending on major equipment (including research and 
        development), and shoulder appropriate responsibility within 
        NATO;
            (3) recognizes the historic contribution and sacrifice NATO 
        member countries have made while combating terrorism in 
        Afghanistan through the International Security Assistance Force 
        and Operation Resolute Support; and
            (4) honors the men and women who served under NATO and gave 
        their lives to promote peace, security, and international 
        cooperation since 1949.
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