Bipartisan House leaders unveil resolution endorsing NATO’s Article 5 – The Hill

Bipartisan House leaders have introduced a measure reaffirming the U.S. commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations mutual defense clause after President Trump declined to do so in a speech abroad last month.

Top leaders, including House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Speaker Paul RyanPaul RyanRecord number attend Congressional Women's Softball Game after shooting Dems point fingers after crushing loss Savor the flavor of Georgia win, GOP. Midterms will be different. MORE (R-Wis.), Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.), unveiled the resolution on Wednesday.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, are also co-sponsors.

Hoyer's office noted he had been working on the resolution since visiting Denmark, Belgium, Lithuania, and Estonia to reaffirm NATO commitments around the time of Trump's speech. He spearheaded the measure upon his return to Washington and collaborated with McCarthy and other top Republicans to garner bipartisan support.

With Russia continuing its aggression in Eastern Europe and its cyberwar against the worlds democracies, NATO is as relevant as it ever was during the Cold War. I hope the House will take a strong, bipartisan vote to pass this resolution soon, he added.

During a speech before NATO leaders in late May, Trump scolded U.S. allies for not spending enough on defense.

Trump also declined to explicitly endorse NATOs Article 5, which states that a threat to one member nation is a threat to all.

NATO allies found Trumps omission particularly striking given that his speech was delivered at the dedication of a memorial dedicated to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. That has been the only time NATO invoked Article 5.

Vice President Pence and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley have since said that the U.S. still supports NATOs Article 5.

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Bipartisan House leaders unveil resolution endorsing NATO's Article 5 - The Hill