S.Amdt. 5607

1. Rewrites the text S.Amdt. 5536 would insert

   Rewrites S.Amdt. 5536In place of the text S.Amdt. 5536 would insert

   In S.Amdt. 5536 as proposed

   SEC. 1083. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON SUPPORT OF CZECH REPUBLIC AND POLAND FOR [struck: NATO ]MISSILE DEFENSE EFFORTS.

   (a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings:

   (1) The Heads of State and Government of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) agreed at the Bucharest Summit on April 3, 2008, that "[b]allistic missile proliferation poses an increasing threat to Allies' forces, territory and populations".

   (2) As part of a broad response to counter the ballistic missile threat, the Heads of State and Government of NATO "recognise the substantial contribution to the protection of Allies from long-range ballistic missiles to be provided by the planned deployment of European-based United States missile defence assets".

   Struck: (3) On July 8, 2008, the United States Government and the Government of the Czech Republic signed an agreement on the stationing of a United States radar facility in the Czech Republic to track ballistic missiles.

   Struck: (4) On August 20, 2008, the United States Government and the Government of Poland signed an agreement on the stationing of 10 ground-based missile defense interceptors to defend NATO territory and populations from Iranian ballistic missiles.

   Struck: (5) The United States radar facility in the Czech Republic and the United States ground-based ballistic missile defense interceptor facility in Poland will become part of a future NATO-wide missile defense architecture.

   Struck: (6) The Government of Iran continues to defy international calls to cease its nuclear weapons program and continues to develop and test longer-range ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles.

   Inserted: (3) At the Bucharest Summit, the NATO Heads of State and Government stated that, with respect to the planned deployment of United States missile defense capability, "[w]e are exploring ways to link this capability with current NATO missile defence efforts as a way to ensure that it would be an integral part of any future NATO wide missile defence architecture".

   Inserted: (4) At the Bucharest Summit, the NATO Heads of State and Government stated that, "[b]earing in mind the principle of the indivisibility of Allied security as well as NATO solidarity, we task the Council in Permanent Session to develop options for a comprehensive missile defence architecture to extend coverage to all Allied territory and populations not otherwise covered by the United States system for review at our 2009 Summit, to inform any future political decision".

   Inserted: (5) On July 8, 2008, the United States Government and the Government of the Czech Republic signed an agreement on the stationing of a United States radar facility in the Czech Republic to track ballistic missiles.

   Inserted: (6) On August 20, 2008, the United States Government and the Government of Poland signed an agreement on the stationing of 10 ground-based missile defense interceptors in Poland.

   Inserted: (7) Supplemental Status of Forces Agreements (SOFA) regarding the missile defense deployment agreements, not yet signed, are required elements of any final agreements to deploy the planned missile defense capabilities in the Czech Republic and Poland.

   Inserted: (8) In order to take legal effect, any final bilateral missile defense agreements must be submitted to and ratified by the parliaments of the Czech Republic and Poland, respectively.

   Inserted: (9) The deployment of the planned United States missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland would not provide protection to southeastern portions of NATO territory against missile attack. Additional missile defense capabilities would be required to protect these areas against missile attack, including against existing short- and medium-range missile threats.

   Inserted: (10) According to the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, the ground-based interceptor planned to be deployed in Poland would require three flight tests to demonstrate whether it could accomplish its mission in an operationally effective manner. Such testing is not expected to begin before the fall of 2009, and is unlikely to be concluded before 2011.

   Inserted: (11) The Government of Iran continues to defy international calls to cease its uranium enrichment program, has deployed hundreds of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, and continues to develop and test ballistic missiles of increasing range, as well as a space launch vehicle.

   (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that--

   (1) the [struck: decision][inserted: decisions] by the Governments of Poland and the Czech Republic to station elements of a missile defense system on their territory [struck: is][inserted: are] a clear affirmation of the commitment of those governments to support the defense of [struck: Europe and ][inserted: NATO member states, including ]the United States[inserted: ,] against the threat of [struck: certain ]long-range ballistic missiles;

   (2) the Senate--

   (A) recognizes the importance of these decisions taken by the Governments of Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as the [struck: decision ][inserted: statements made ]by NATO [struck: to support ][inserted: Heads of State and Government relative to ]missile defense at the Bucharest Summit in April 2008; and

   (B) notes the care and seriousness with which [struck: these governments ][inserted: the Governments of Poland and the Czech Republic ]have undertaken their evaluation and consideration of these issues;[inserted: and]

   (3) these decisions will deepen the strategic relationship between [struck: these governments ][inserted: the United States Government ]and [inserted: the Governments of Poland and the Czech Republic and could ]make a substantial contribution to the collective capability of NATO to counter [struck: existing and ]future [inserted: long-range ]ballistic missile threats[struck: ;][inserted: .]

   Struck: (4) these decisions by the Governments of Poland and the Czech Republic--

   Struck: (A) are a clear indication of their commitment to uphold their independence and sovereignty; and

   Struck: (B) demonstrate their determination to play a positive role in the defense of freedom; and

   Struck: (5) in light of all these circumstances, the United States Government should fully fund and proceed with the deployment of a missile defense system in Europe as soon as technically feasible, which program will provide additional protection for the United States and Europe against certain long-range ballistic missile threats.

   Inserted: (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to modify the requirements of section 226 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181; 122 Stat. 41), or [section 232] of this Act.

   Original wording

   In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted, insert the following:

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As printed