A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that member countries of NATO must commit at least 2 percent of their national gross domestic product to national defense spending to hold leadership or benefit at the expense of those countries who meet their obligations.

Bill: 119-sres-75
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC]
Introduced: 2025-02-12
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2025-02-12
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. (text: CR S931)

Summaries:
action_date: 2025-02-12
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>This resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that any NATO member country that does not meet its commitment to spend 2% of its gross domestic product on national defense should not be allowed to host certain NATO meetings that provide substantial economic benefits and international recognition, such as the NATO Summit and NATO Parliamentary Assembly sessions. The resolution also expresses that citizens of such countries should not be allowed to hold NATO leadership positions, such as Secretary General or military positions at the two-star level or above.</p>

tv_txt: III 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 75 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 12, 2025 Mr. Tillis (for himself, Mr. Justice , Mr. Cornyn , Mr. Sheehy , Mr. Lee , Mr. Daines , and Mrs. Capito ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the Senate that member countries of NATO must commit at least 2 percent of their national gross domestic product to national defense spending to hold leadership or benefit at the expense of those counties who meet their obligations.

Whereas, in 2014, the heads of state and governments of the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (commonly known as NATO ) renewed their earlier commitment to invest 2 percent of their national gross domestic product (referred to in this preamble as GDP ) to defense spending to help ensure the continued military readiness of NATO; Whereas NATO considers the 2 percent commitment as a floor and not a ceiling for what member countries of NATO have committed to invest in their national defense efforts; Whereas the current global security environment has caused the current leadership of NATO and the United States to consider raising this commitment even higher; Whereas 23 of the 31 member countries spent at least 2 percent of their GDP on national defense in 2024; Whereas, since the year 2000, NATO has lost almost $2,000,000,000,000 in mutual defense spending capability from member countries not meeting the commitment of 2 percent of their GDP towards defense; and Whereas it is in the interest of all member countries to meet the 2 percent minimum commitment or have a plan in place to do so before the opening session of the NATO Summit in The Hague, which is scheduled to take place in June 2025: Now, therefore, be it

That it is the sense of the Senate that— (1) any citizen of a member country of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (commonly known as NATO ) that is not meeting its commitment to spend 2 percent of its gross domestic product (referred to in this resolution as GDP ) on national defense should not be allowed to hold any position within the leadership of NATO, including positions such as— (A) the Secretary General of NATO; (B) the Deputy Secretary General of NATO; (C) any Assistant Secretaries General of NATO; (D) the NATO Spokesperson; and (E) any uniformed military leadership or command positions within the structure of NATO at the 2-star (OF–7) level or above; and (2) any member country of NATO that fails to meet its commitment to spend 2 percent of its GDP on national defense should not be allowed to host any significant formal or informal meetings, conferences, or summits of NATO at the ministerial level or above, outside established routine corporate processes of NATO that direct military operations or coordination at a headquarters location, that would provide substantial economic benefit to the economy and enable the ability for that member country to receive international recognition, including— (A) the NATO Summit; (B) meetings of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs; (C) NATO Parliamentary Assembly sessions; and (D) the NATO Youth Summit or similar events.