[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 607 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 607
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the majority
of NATO member countries have failed to meet their defense spending
commitment and that the United States should not continue to subsidize
the security of countries that choose not to invest in their own
defense.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 20, 2023
Mr. Roy (for himself and Mr. Davidson) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the majority
of NATO member countries have failed to meet their defense spending
commitment and that the United States should not continue to subsidize
the security of countries that choose not to invest in their own
defense.
Whereas, on April 4, 1949, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and
the United States signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, DC,
and established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to
safeguard the Allies' freedom and security by political and military
means;
Whereas Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that an armed attack
against a member country shall be considered an attack against all;
Whereas, in the Report of the Secretary of State to the President on North
Atlantic Treaty on April 7, 1949, Secretary of State Dean Acheson
stated, ``that no party can rely on others for its defense unless it
does its utmost to defend itself and contribute toward the defense of
the others'';
Whereas, in 2006, NATO Defense Ministers agreed to annually commit a minimum of
2 percent of their nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on their
defense;
Whereas, according to NATO, the 2-percent GDP defense spending threshold
``serves as an indicator of a country's political will to contribute to
NATO's common defense'';
Whereas, in 2014, in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea, the NATO
alliance adopted the ``Defence Investment Pledge'' and at that time only
three of the 28 NATO member countries were meeting their 2-percent
defense spending commitment;
Whereas the Wales Summit Declaration issued by the NATO alliance stated, ``We
agree to reverse the trend of declining defence budgets, to make the
most effective use of our funds and to further a more balanced sharing
of costs and responsibilities. Our overall security and defence depend
both on how much we spend and how we spend it.'';
Whereas the ``Defence Investment Pledge'' recommitted NATO member countries to
meeting the minimum 2-percent GDP defense spending target by 2024;
Whereas the Senate supported the 2014 Wales Summit Defense Spending Benchmark on
March 28, 2017, by ratifying the ``Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty
of 1949 on the Accession of Montenegro'' on a vote of 97-2;
Whereas, according to the 2022 Secretary General's Annual Report, only seven of
the 30 NATO member countries met the 2-percent GDP defense spending
obligations in 2022;
Whereas Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the United Kingdom all
successfully joined the United States in meeting the minimum 2-percent
GDP defense spending obligations in 2022;
Whereas Croatia, France, Slovakia, Romania, the Netherlands, North Macedonia,
Norway, Albania, Bulgaria, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Denmark, Portugal,
Turkey, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Canada, Slovenia, Belgium,
Spain, and Luxembourg failed to meet the GDP defense spending
obligations in 2022;
Whereas numerous NATO member countries use the United States security umbrella
to evade the financial commitment needed to maintain the military
strength of the NATO alliance;
Whereas the 2022 Secretary General's Annual Report revealed--
(1) the United States accounted for 54 percent of the Allies' combined
GDP and 70 percent of combined defense expenditure;
(2) Canada's defense spending amounted to 1.29 percent of its GDP,
making it the fifth-lowest-spending NATO member country as a percentage of
GDP; and
(3) Germany's defense spending amounted to 1.49 percent of its GDP on
national defense, despite having Europe's largest economy;
Whereas Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 represents the largest
armed conflict in Europe since the end of World War II;
Whereas the United States is the largest contributor to Ukraine, despite this
conflict taking place on the European continent, and has appropriated
over $113,000,000,000 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine;
Whereas the European Union (EU) and its member states have collectively pledged
an estimated $76,000,000,000 in assistance to Ukraine, as well as
additional expenditures related to the support of refugees and NATO
deterrence deployments to central and eastern Europe; and
Whereas European countries in NATO should be leading the effort to advance the
security of their continent and should not delay any longer in meeting
the 2-percent defense spending obligations: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes that the 2014 Wales Summit Defense Spending
Benchmark ensures the NATO Alliance can maintain the best
common defense to safeguard its members in the event a mutual
military response is warranted;
(2) asserts that for far too long the majority of NATO
member countries have relied on the financial contributions and
military capabilities of the United States and have failed to
fully invest in their own defense;
(3) praises Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and
the United Kingdom for meeting the minimum 2-percent GDP
defense spending obligations in 2022;
(4) denounces Croatia, France, Slovakia, Romania, the
Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Albania, Bulgaria, Italy,
Germany, Hungary, Denmark, Portugal, Turkey, Montenegro, the
Czech Republic, Canada, Slovenia, Belgium, Spain, and
Luxembourg's failure to meet the minimum 2-percent GDP defense
spending obligation in 2022 and strongly urges these nations to
fulfill the commitment they pledged to meet;
(5) maintains that European countries in NATO should be
chiefly responsible for safeguarding the European continent and
should not delay in meeting the 2-percent defense spending
obligations;
(6) expresses that the United States should not continue
subsidizing NATO member countries who choose not to invest in
their own defense by meeting the 2014 Wales Summit Defense
Spending Benchmark; and
(7) calls on NATO leaders to make the 2-percent defense
spending pledge binding for all NATO member countries.
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