,,iv #aahth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,,res4 #fjg ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,july #bj1 #bjbc ,mr4 ,roy 7for himself and ,mr4 ,davidson7 submitted the following resolution2 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 defense4 ,whereas1 on ,april #d1 #aidi1 ,belgium1 ,canada1 ,denmark1 ,france1 ,iceland1 ,italy1 ,luxembourg1 the ,netherlands1 ,norway1 ,portugal1 the ,united ,kingdom1 and the ,united ,states signed the ,north ,atlantic ,treaty in ,washington1 ,,dc1 and established the ,north ,atlantic ,treaty ,organization 7,,nato7 to safeguard the ,allies' freedom and security by political and military means2 ,whereas ,article #e of the ,north ,atlantic ,treaty states that an armed attack against a member country shall be considered an attack against all2 ,whereas1 in the ,report of the ,secretary of ,state to the ,president on ,north ,atlantic ,treaty on ,april #g1 #aidi1 ,secretary of ,state ,dean ,acheson stated1 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 others2 ,whereas1 in #bjjf1 ,,nato ,defense ,ministers agreed to annually commit a minimum of #b percent of their nation's ,gross ,domestic ,product 7,,gdp7 on their defense2 ,whereas1 according to ,,nato1 the #b-percent ,,gdp defense spending threshold serves as an indicator of a country's political will to contribute to ,,nato's common defense2 ,whereas1 in #bjad1 in response to ,russia's annexation of ,crimea1 the ,,nato alliance adopted the ,defence ,investment ,pledge and at that time only three of the #bh ,,nato member countries were meeting their #b-percent defense spending commitment2 ,whereas the ,wales ,summit ,declaration issued by the ,,nato alliance stated1 ,we agree to reverse the trend of declining defence budgets1 to make the most effective use of our funds and to further a more balanced sharing of costs and responsibilities4 ,our overall security and defence depend both on how much we spend and how we spend it42 ,whereas the ,defence ,investment ,pledge recommitted ,,nato member countries to meeting the minimum #b-percent ,,gdp defense spending target by #bjbd2 ,whereas the ,senate supported the #bjad ,wales ,summit ,defense ,spending ,benchmark on ,march #bh1 #bjag1 by ratifying the ,protocol to the ,north ,atlantic ,treaty of #aidi on the ,accession of ,montenegro on a vote of #ig-b2 ,whereas1 according to the #bjbb ,secretary ,general's ,annual ,report1 only seven of the #cj ,,nato member countries met the #b-percent ,,gdp defense spending obligations in #bjbb2 ,whereas ,estonia1 ,greece1 ,latvia1 ,lithuania1 ,poland1 and the ,united ,kingdom all successfully joined the ,united ,states in meeting the minimum #b-percent ,,gdp defense spending obligations in #bjbb2 ,whereas ,croatia1 ,france1 ,slovakia1 ,romania1 the ,netherlands1 ,north ,macedonia1 ,norway1 ,albania1 ,bulgaria1 ,italy1 ,germany1 ,hungary1 ,denmark1 ,portugal1 ,turkey1 ,montenegro1 the ,czech ,republic1 ,canada1 ,slovenia1 ,belgium1 ,spain1 and ,luxembourg failed to meet the ,,gdp defense spending obligations in #bjbb2 ,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 alliance2 ,whereas the #bjbb ,secretary ,general's ,annual ,report revealed-- 7#a7 the ,united ,states accounted for #ed percent of the ,allies' combined ,,gdp and #gj percent of combined defense expenditure2 7#b7 ,canada's defense spending amounted to #a4bi percent of its ,,gdp1 making it the fifth-lowest-spending ,,nato member country as a percentage of ,,gdp2 and 7#c7 ,germany's defense spending amounted to #a4di percent of its ,,gdp on national defense1 despite having ,europe's largest economy2 ,whereas ,russia's invasion of ,ukraine in ,february #bjbb represents the largest armed conflict in ,europe since the end of ,world ,war ,,ii2 ,whereas the ,united ,states is the largest contributor to ,ukraine1 despite this conflict taking place on the ,european continent1 and has appropriated over #aac1jjj1jjj1jjj in response to ,russia's invasion of ,ukraine2 ,whereas the ,european ,union 7,,eu7 and its member states have collectively pledged an estimated #gf1jjj1jjj1jjj in assistance to ,ukraine1 as well as additional expenditures related to the support of refugees and ,,nato deterrence deployments to central and eastern ,europe2 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 #b-percent defense spending obligations3 ,now1 therefore1 be it ,that the ,house of ,representatives-- 7#a7 recognizes that the #bjad ,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 warranted2 7#b7 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 defense2 7#c7 praises ,estonia1 ,greece1 ,latvia1 ,lithuania1 ,poland1 and the ,united ,kingdom for meeting the minimum #b-percent ,,gdp defense spending obligations in #bjbb2 7#d7 denounces ,croatia1 ,france1 ,slovakia1 ,romania1 the ,netherlands1 ,north ,macedonia1 ,norway1 ,albania1 ,bulgaria1 ,italy1 ,germany1 ,hungary1 ,denmark1 ,portugal1 ,turkey1 ,montenegro1 the ,czech ,republic1 ,canada1 ,slovenia1 ,belgium1 ,spain1 and ,luxembourg's failure to meet the minimum #b-percent ,,gdp defense spending obligation in #bjbb and strongly urges these nations to fulfill the commitment they pledged to meet2 7#e7 maintains that ,european countries in ,,nato should be chiefly responsible for safeguarding the ,european continent and should not delay in meeting the #b-percent defense spending obligations2 7#f7 expresses that the ,united ,states should not continue subsidizing ,,nato member countries who choose not to invest in their own defense by meeting the #bjad ,wales ,summit ,defense ,spending ,benchmark2 and 7#g7 calls on ,,nato leaders to make the #b-percent defense spending pledge binding for all ,,nato member countries4