{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hres135-115/featured_urging-north-atlantic-treaty-organization-nato-member-countries-to-meet-or-exceed-the-two-percent-gross-domesti-1495812953.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hres135-115/featured_large_urging-north-atlantic-treaty-organization-nato-member-countries-to-meet-or-exceed-the-two-percent-gross-domesti-1495812953.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hres135-115.png"},"introduced_on":"2017-02-16","title_override":"Do NATO Member Countries Need to Meet Their Defense Spending Commitments?","summary_override":"

This resolution would call on other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries to meet or exceed their defense spending obligations that they committed to when joining the alliance. Members of NATO are required to spend at least two percent of their country’s gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, and 20 percent of their defense spending must go toward major equipment. In 2016, only five countries are expected to meet the requirement to spend two percent of GDP on defense: the U.S., Greece, Great Britain, Estonia, and Poland.

The NATO alliance was formed in 1949 by 12 North American and European nations to provide for a unified defense if one member came under armed attack from an enemy, which was expected to be the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies during the Cold War. Article 5 of the NATO charter is sometimes known as “The Three Musketeers Clause” because an attack on one member country is considered an attack on all, thus requiring the alliance to come to the country’s defense.

NATO isn’t only a military alliance though, as it also promotes democratic values through political means. Since its founding, another 16 countries have joined NATO and several others are considering joining — including some of the 22 Partnership for Peace partner nations.

As a simple resolution, this legislation would neither have the force of law nor advance to the Senate if passed.

","official_title":"Urging North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries to meet or exceed the two percent gross domestic product commitment to spending on defense.","short_title":null,"popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Calls on North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries to meet or exceed: (1) the 2% gross domestic product commitment to defense spending, and (2) the 20% commitment to defense expenditures on major equipment spending.","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"NATO member countries; and Congress.","argument_for":"It’s unacceptable that the vast majority of NATO members aren’t meeting spending as much on defense as they’d committed to when they joined. Congress should do what it can to encourage them to fulfill their obligations.","argument_against":"There may be a chance that the governments of NATO member countries that haven’t spent what they’d committed to on defense will listen to Congress and change their ways, but it’s more likely that they won’t.","bill_type":"hres","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hres135-115","bill_id":"hres135-115","formal_id":"H. Res. 135","chamber":"house","congress":115,"last_action_at":"2017-02-16T00:00:00.000Z","active":false,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":null,"debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/house-resolution/135","plain_text_url":"https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-115hres135ih/html/BILLS-115hres135ih.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hres135-115.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/house-resolution/135/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2017-02-16","related_bill_ids":[],"progress":"Introduced","house_passage_result":false,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":823,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Foreign Affairs","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSFA","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hres135-115","details":"/api/bills/hres135-115/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hres135-115","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hres135-115/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hres135-115/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":31,"slug":"hres135-115-urging-north-atlantic-treaty-organization-nato-member-countries-to-meet-or-exceed-the-two-percent-gross-domestic-product-commitment-to-spending-on-d","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":5144,"yea_vote_count":1788,"nay_vote_count":3337,"passed_house":false,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["international-trade-and-affairs","government"],"issue_ids":["military","international-trade-and-affairs","federal-agencies","government","diplomacy"],"sponsor_id":22}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"military","name":"Military","slug":"military","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Military . Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Military Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/military/black_military-1429042060.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/military/grey_military-1429042060.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/military/white_military-1429042060.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"international-trade-and-affairs","name":"International Trade & Affairs","slug":"international-trade-and-affairs","description":"U.S. Congressional Legislation encompassing arms control treaties, human rights, international law, sanctions, and foreign aid. Recent legislation addressed approving the use of military force against ISIS (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria, the emerging situation in the Ukraine and Ebola. ","page_title":"US Federal legislation related to Foreign Aid, International Trade and Relations and Human Rights - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/international-trade-and-affairs/black_international-trade-and-affairs-1429042060.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/international-trade-and-affairs/grey_international-trade-and-affairs-1429042060.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/international-trade-and-affairs/white_international-trade-and-affairs-1429042060.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"federal-agencies","name":"Federal Agencies","slug":"federal-agencies","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Federal Agencies. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Federal Agencies Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/federal-agencies/black_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/federal-agencies/grey_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/federal-agencies/white_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"government","name":"Government","slug":"government","description":"Federal legislation related to the operations of the US Federal Government. Bills can encompass government administration, regulation of political parties, the US postal service, US territories and public contracts.","page_title":"US Government - Federal legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/black_government-1453508811.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/grey_government-1453508811.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/white_government-1453508811.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"diplomacy","name":"Diplomacy","slug":"diplomacy","description":"Maintaining positive diplomatic relations with foreign countries is critical in U.S. foreign policy. Tell your congressperson how you feel about current legislation related to the U.S.'s diplomatic efforts!","page_title":"Diplomacy Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/diplomacy/black_diplomacy-1429042057.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/diplomacy/grey_diplomacy-1429042057.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/diplomacy/white_diplomacy-1429042057.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"IAmTheSenate","vote_count":126,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/jW2VBO5W/large_jw2vbo5w-1488509368.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/jW2VBO5W/small_jw2vbo5w-1488509368.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/jW2VBO5W/tiny_jw2vbo5w-1488509368.jpg","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/1187553958030948/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/jW2VBO5W/following","followers":"/api/users/jW2VBO5W/followers"},"about_me":"The Senate shall decide your fate.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":"","youtube_id":"watch","google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"iamthesenate","issue_count":51,"is_following":null,"influence_score":850,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":15,"following_count":18,"position_count":78,"id":"jW2VBO5W","partner_id":null},{"name":"Dave","vote_count":73,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-2.png","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-2.png","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-2.png"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/0Z7MEPo9/following","followers":"/api/users/0Z7MEPo9/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":0,"is_following":null,"influence_score":1430,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":34,"following_count":221,"position_count":89,"id":"0Z7MEPo9","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"704adbc9-c07d-48f3-ba37-ee4ea84da7fe","argument_for":null,"argument_against":"The best way to get NATO members to pay the amount they agreed to is to simply cut out NATO funding and let them feel the squeeze. That will convince them to pay up immediately. ","show_argument_for":false,"show_argument_against":true,"upvote_count":1,"upvotes_for_count":null,"upvotes_against_count":1,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":1,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/704adbc9-c07d-48f3-ba37-ee4ea84da7fe"},"body":"The best way to get NATO members to pay the amount they agreed to is to simply cut out NATO funding and let them feel the squeeze. That will convince them to pay up immediately. ","stance":"nay","created_at":"2017-05-27T14:55:23.867Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/704adbc9-c07d-48f3-ba37-ee4ea84da7fe.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hres135-115","user_id":"jW2VBO5W","endorser_ids":["0Z7MEPo9"]}}

Like Causes?

IAmTheSenate

Do NATO Member Countries Need to Meet Their Defense Spending Commitments?