Solemnly reaffirming the commitment of the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's principle of collective defense as enumerated in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for his extraordinary leadership on the committee, as well as the bipartisan nature of this legislation that Mr. Royce and Mr. Engel are bringing to the floor. I associate myself with the remarks of the distinguished former chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen.

Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan resolution reassures our friends, it rebuffs our foes, and it reminds the world that America's commitment to NATO's common defense pledge is ironclad.

When President Truman signed the NATO Treaty nearly 70 years ago, he called the alliance, ``a long step toward permanent peace in the whole world.''

NATO has guaranteed the security of the American people and our allies for decades. Now some people don't remember what those decades were like, fighting the threat of communism. Article 5, the collective defense provision, is the core of that security guarantee.

Article 5, as the gentlewoman just mentioned, was invoked only once: when America's allies joined in the fight against al-Qaida after the September 11 terrorist attacks on our country.

I, like many of my colleagues, have traveled to Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places and seen that our NATO partners have shed blood in the name of article 5 in our common fight against terrorism.

Our commitment to article 5 is a commitment to brave men and women across the world who risk and give their lives for the NATO alliance. Previous administrations, both Democratic and Republican, have strongly and unambiguously stood by NATO and article 5.

I was very sad, I will be very honest with you, my colleagues, when meeting with NATO leaders at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, a building dedicated to the victims of the 9/11 attacks, President Trump refused to clearly and unequivocally reassure our NATO partners that he would honor article 5.

We in this Congress of the United States, acting in a bipartisan way, want to remove all doubt that the U.S. commitment to the principles of a mutual defense embodied by NATO are ironclad. I keep using that word. Every day, Putin searches for cracks in our NATO alliance. We must convey to him that this alliance is ironclad.

And now, just on another related subject, it is about our national security. While we are glad to be passing this resolution affirming America's commitment to article 5, the bipartisan bill sanctioning Russia languishes in the House. While the White House caters to Putin, Congress must hold Russia accountable for its actions by passing the Iran-Russia sanctions bill. It passed the Senate 98-2--98-2--strong bipartisan support for a bill that contained the Iran and Russia sanctions.

We can't go home for the Fourth of July without passing that legislation. It is my understanding it was just a blue slip problem that could be easily resolved. That is how it was characterized when the President of Ukraine said to us that they really need the Russian sanctions enforced and strengthened.

Let us have the courage to stand up to those who menace the free world and stand by our partners in support of a peaceful, democratic, and free future for all.

What we are doing today is very important. It is not just about a bill. It is not just about an agreement. It is about values. It is about security as a value, something we take an oath to protect and defend. This NATO agreement helps us do that, but we must also do what flows from it and say to the Russians, who are the point of NATO, you are going to have sanctions because of your aggression in Eastern Europe, and at the same time send that message to the Iranians.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a very strong unanimous vote for this. This is something so bipartisan, so wonderful. It is a good day. It is a good bill. It gives us all hope.

I urge our colleagues to vote ``aye'' and call upon the Speaker to bring the other bill to the floor. I hope our distinguished chair and ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee will be able to be part of bringing it to the floor very soon.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this measure. Let me start by thanking the leaders on both sides of the aisle who worked to bring this measure forward: Speaker Ryan and Leader Pelosi; the majority leader, Mr. McCarthy; the minority whip, Mr. Hoyer; and my friend from California (Mr. Royce), our chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, NATO has been the most effective alliance of the 20th and 21st centuries. It stood as a bulwark against communist aggression during the Cold War. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, it has played a critical role in building an integrated Europe that is whole, free, and at peace.

At the heart of the alliance is the value enshrined in article 5: An attack on any ally is an attack on all allies. That commitment has been so strong across the decades, that the alliance never once invoked article 5 during the long standoff between East and West during the Cold War.

In fact, article 5 has only been invoked one time in NATO's history, when the ruins of the World Trade Center were smouldering in New York City as the world rallied around the United States. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, NATO allies did what we always knew they would: they said the attack on us was an attack on all of them as well. Since then, for nearly 16 years, American troops have fought and shed blood and died alongside men and women serving in the uniforms of our NATO allies.

Mr. Speaker, this isn't a commitment we as Americans can take lightly. While I am glad President Trump finally affirmed the commitment of the United States to article 5, I think it is important for Congress to do it as well.

The administration's hot-and-cold approach to the alliance caused a lot of unneeded heartburn for our allies and caused even the best of friends to question our commitment.

NATO is not a thing that can just be thrown in with everything else. It is very important to us, and we should allow our allies to meet their commitments laid out at the NATO summit in Wales. It is very important that we do that.

Right now, especially, we need to be clear on our commitment to NATO. The danger that Russia poses to the alliance, to Western democracy and an integrated, unified Europe, is the greatest test in a generation. If there are cracks in the surface, you can bet that Vladimir Putin will do all he can to exploit them. Fracturing Western unity is his top goal, and the United States needs to be strong in our commitment to

Mr. Speaker, recently, I was in Brussels, and we met with NATO officials on a codel led by the Democratic leader, Ms. Pelosi.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Frankel).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the Democratic whip, who is an original cosponsor of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, we should be clear that Vladimir Putin is testing us. He attacked our democracy in last year's election, he is working to create divisions among our allies, and he would love nothing more than to see NATO fail.

If the United States offers anything less than our full-throated support for the alliance, and our ironclad commitments to article 5, Moscow will see that as an invitation to undercut transatlantic unity and fracture our critical bond with Europe.

I am glad the House is coming together to ensure that it doesn't happen. I hope we can continue to work in a bipartisan way to shore up our alliances and push back on Russian aggregation. This is a real threat. Russia is not our ally.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support this measure, and I urge all Members to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 397, a resolution that reaffirms the United States' commitment to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty and its principle of collective defense.

In the aftermath of World War II, the greatest conflict in human history, the United States, Canada, and their Western Europe allies founded the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 in Washington.

Founded on the principle of collective defense, Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that, ``The 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.''

In the 68 years since the Treaty's ratification, Article 5 has only been invoked once, following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when NATO members came to the aid of the United States.

NATO sent seven planes with 830 crewmen from 13 countries to protect American skies until May 2002, marking the first time in American history that the continental United States was protected by foreign forces.

NATO allies and partners have stood with the United States in joint operations in the Western Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere around the world.

Until this year, every American president since the treaty's signing in 1949--Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama--has publicly reaffirmed the American commitment to Article 5.

American presidents have affirmed this nation's commitment to come to the aid of any NATO member that is under attack.

That is the symbolic meaning of the immortal words spoken by President Kennedy in West Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate in 1963: ``Ich bin ein Berliner.''

Mr. Speaker, the principle of collective defense is the core of NATO's founding treaty and the NATO alliance has been the backbone of American national security and foreign policy for nearly 70 years.

The strength and solidarity of this western alliance kept Western Europe whole, prosperous, and free and paved the way for the collapse of the Soviet Union and the liberation of the nations of Eastern and Central Europe, many of which have now been integrated into NATO.

The Constitution of the United States grants Congress the sole power to declare war, but Article 5 does not increase the chance of war.

Rather, NATO is a bulwark against the outbreak of war because it deters aggression by any adversary.

As a result, NATO is the most successful military alliance in world history, successfully deterring the outbreak of a third world war, seeing the Cold War to a victorious conclusion, and protecting the principle of territorial integrity.

This is why I strongly support H. Res. 397, which reaffirms the commitment of the People's House to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

The resolution also expresses support for the agreement reached at the 2014 NATO Wales Summit calling upon each NATO member nation to allocate at least two percent of its gross domestic product to defense by 2024.

The resolution also condemns any threat to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, freedom and democracy of any NATO ally and welcomes the Republic of Montenegro as the 29th member of the NATO alliance.

I urge all Members to join me in affirming the commitment of the United States to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty for this important resolution by voting for H. Res. 397.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res 397) solemnly reaffirming the commitment of the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's principle of collective defense as enumerated in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Speaker Ryan and Minority Leader Pelosi. I want to thank Leader McCarthy and Minority Whip Hoyer for their leadership on this important resolution and, of course, Ranking Member Engel, who has also been a strong supporter of the NATO alliance.

Mr. Speaker, in 1949, 12 free, democratic nations bound themselves together in an unprecedented defense alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. These founding members acted in the aftermath of the Second World War to promote peace in Europe, to promote their freedom, and to face the threats they saw emerging on the horizon. Now, more than six decades later, this alliance has been the cornerstone of transatlantic security, and it has attracted other freedom-loving democratic nations to join its ranks.

Of course, article 5's principle of collective defense has been key to the success of the alliance, and we will not forget how the United States has benefited from that principle as NATO members unanimously elected to come to our support after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyber attacks, nonconventional attacks by terrorist groups against our people, these are threats that NATO's founders could not have anticipated, yet they are the challenges that we must act now to address. We are stronger, no question, when we act together.

Now, Moscow's strategic objective is to break apart the NATO alliance to boost Russian geopolitical influence in Western Europe. In light of this, it is even more important that NATO members meet the standard of investing 2 percent of their GDP on defense. We appreciate the few who already meet the minimum requirement: Estonia, Greece, Poland, and the U.K. At the administration's urging, others have stepped up their game, such as Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania, but others have further to go.

This resolution calls on NATO members to meet these commitments while also reaffirming our commitment to NATO and to the article 5 provision for collective defense.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), who chairs the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as a coauthor of this resolution, I also want to thank the other coauthors, including Steve Cohen of Tennessee, who has been a leader on NATO issues.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, let me say, for the advancement of our own security, the promotion of our values, and

a strong statement of support for our friends and allies, I urge my colleagues to support passage of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I want to thank Mr. Royce and Mr. Engel for their leadership. I also want to thank Mr. McCarthy, Speaker Ryan, and Leader Pelosi for their strong support of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I went to Brussels over the Memorial Day break. We met in Brussels with the NATO leaders. The Deputy Secretary General was there, and we spoke about the confidence that our European allies had, and needed, for the continuing viability of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and our commitment to the mutual defense of the members of NATO.

That has been for 70 years the critical--over 70 years, really--the critical stability that we have seen in the European Plain, and it needs to continue to be.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to cosponsor this resolution, which reaffirms our Nation's commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's article 5 and the common defense among our NATO allies.

For 70 years, as I said, NATO has kept the peace in Europe and around the world. Now, that does not mean that we have had peace everywhere in the world, but it does mean that we have not had world conflagration, as we saw in the last century.

From the Cuban Missile Crisis to the fall of the Iron Curtain, NATO's unity in the face of common threats has helped prevent a direct Soviet attack against America and against our allies.

Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has been adapting to meet threats new and old. Together, NATO members have served on the ground in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and enlargement has made the allegiance even stronger.

Now, with Russia once again putting forward an aggressive posture to its neighbors and the world--in addition to visiting Bosnia, we also went to Lithuania and to Estonia, and I visited Denmark, as well--there is no doubt that the neighbors of Russia feel a pressure that has, over the last 15 years, not been as present. NATO's common defense commitment is as vital to global security and America's security as it has ever been.

We know that Russia interfered with our elections and has used cyber attacks against our NATO allies to subvert their democratic institutions as well. Estonia, in particular, has developed, and is developing, defenses to cyber attacks.

We, the United States, the leader of the free world, must make it clear, unequivocally so, both to Vladimir Putin and to our NATO allies, that the United States stands firmly by its commitment to the alliance and its collective defense.

It has only been once that article 5 has been implicated, and that was after 9/11, when all of our European allies in NATO said that an attack on the United States was perceived as an attack on them, and they pledged their unity and alliance and action. An attack on one is an attack on all--an attack on democracy, on freedom, on the values that this country and our NATO allies stand for.

It is in that context, Mr. Speaker, that I urge my colleagues to join us in giving this resolution--it says here on this text--a strong vote of passage. More than that, I hope this is a unanimous vote of passage. This is the oppression of the leader of the free world that we will not only lead, but we will act.