A resolution expressing the Senate's support for taking interim steps to strengthen the military interoperability and resiliency of the militaries of Finland and Sweden with respect to their anticipated accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance.

Bill: 117-sres-747
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
Introduced: 2022-08-04
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2022-08-04
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. (text: S4048)

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-08-04
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>This resolution supports, and calls for additional actions, to advance the interoperability of the Finnish and Swedish militaries with NATO forces.</p>

tv_txt: III 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 747 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES August 4, 2022 Mr. Thune (for himself, Mr. Inhofe , Mrs. Blackburn , Ms. Ernst , Mr. Wicker , and Mr. Rounds ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Expressing the Senate’s support for taking interim steps to strengthen the military interoperability and resiliency of the militaries of Finland and Sweden with respect to their anticipated accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance.

Whereas North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ambassadors signed the Accession Protocols for Finland and Sweden on July 5, 2022; Whereas the Senate agreed to the resolution of advice and consent to ratification of the Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on the Accession of the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden (Treaty Doc. 117–3) on August 3, 2022; Whereas the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO will strengthen the capabilities, geostrategic position, and deterrence posture of the alliance in the Baltic Sea region and the North Atlantic from that day forward; and Whereas the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO will reduce each current member nation’s respective burden share as a percentage of the total alliance’s deterrence and defense posture: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate, in accordance with its support for NATO’s collective security commitment and for maximizing the combined defense capabilities of United States allies and partners through NATO coordination and cooperation, and with anticipation for the accession of Finland and Sweden to the alliance— (1) recognizes the steps taken by the United States to build upon years of joint and multilateral engagement, training, and exercises; and (2) encourages the President to further advance the efforts of the United States with respect to— (A) enhancing the interoperability of the militaries of Finland and Sweden with the United States, including via— (i) exercises and training across all domains, including a focus on critical capabilities such as— (I) command, control, and communications; (II) logistics; (III) planning; and (IV) integrated and resilient operations across Northern Europe and the Arctic; (ii) bomber task forces; (iii) freedom of navigation operations in the territorial waters of these nations and of NATO allies in the Baltic Sea; (iv) personnel and professional military education program exchanges; (v) United States foreign military sales; (vi) joint development of emerging technologies, including cybersecurity and telecommunications components; and (vii) coordination on critical infrastructure, including dual-use infrastructure such as telecommunications infrastructure and port facilities; (B) trilateral cooperation between Finland and Sweden with the United States, including the military activities described in clauses (i) through (vii) of subparagraph (A) and through the trilateral statement of intent signed by all three nations in 2018; (C) multilateral interoperability between Finland, Sweden, and all NATO partners, including military activities described in clauses (i) through (vii) of subparagraph (A); and (D) countering disinformation campaigns that seek to diminish the relevancy and cohesion of NATO or otherwise undermine or delay the collective accession process of NATO members; and (3) calls on all NATO members to take similar, respective actions as provided in paragraph (2) to further advance the interoperability of the militaries of Finland and Sweden with NATO forces and bolster European security, in conjunction with the rapid completion of their respective ratification processes.