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NATO
US Senate's NATO Mandates Spurned
by White House
Administration Fails to Act Upon Key Treaty
Provisions
8 March 1999
By Thomas Neve
Last May President Clinton, upon receiving the advice and
consent of the US Senate, signed the NATO Enlargement Treaty
thereby allowing three former Warsaw Pact states, Poland,
Hungary and the Czech Republic, admission into the exclusive
military alliance. On March 12, at a signing ceremony to be
held in Independence, Missouri, the three will officially
accede to NATO. However, the Treaty lays out specific time
sensitive conditions to be satisfied by the Administration
as a precursor to enlargement that have not been heeded. The
three tasks concern transparency between the Administration
and Congress calling for the following:
- Not later than Oct. 30, 1998: A report to Congress on
updated military requirements; analysis on all potential
conventional, nuclear, chemical and biological threats to
NATO until 2010.
- Not later than March 30, 1999: Brief Congress at least
twice on how an updated NATO will serve the US security
interest; a timetable of new force goals by all members;
revised nuclear policy.
- Not later than April 1, 1999: Brief Congress on updated
costs and individual budgets; updated proportional costs
and cost-sharing arrangements; defence budgets of each member;
any additional costs to US due to expansion; future membership
expansion.
The lack of action on behalf of the Administration has meant
that Senators have not been given the opportunity to monitor
the progress of the new members. The Senate has not been able
to ascertain whether the minimum political and military standards
that they agreed and voted upon have been met.
Following is the text from the NATO Enlargement Ratification
treaty signed by the Senate and President Clinton. It mentions
specific tasks to be completed by specific dates. The Administration
has not met these targets.
RESOLUTION OF RATIFICATION TO THE PROTOCOLS TO THE NORTH ATLANTIC
TREATY OF 1949 ON THE ACCESSION OF POLAND, HUNGARY, AND THE
CZECH REPUBLIC
U.S. SENATE
April 30, 1998
Resolution Text:
Sec. 3. Conditions.
Chapter (1) The Strategic Concept of NATO
Sub-section (D)
Report: Not later than 180 days after the date of
adoption of this resolution, the President shall submit to
the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives a report on the Strategic Concept of NATO.
The report shall be submitted in both classified and unclassified
form and shall include
- an explanation of the manner in which the Strategic Concept
of NATO affects United States military requirements both
within and outside the North Atlantic area, including the
broader strategic rational of NATO;
- an analysis of all potential threats to the North Atlantic
area (meaning the entire territory if all NATO members)
up to the year 2010, including the consideration of a reconstituted
conventional threat to Europe, emerging capabilities of
non-NATO countries to use nuclear, biological, or chemical
weapons affecting the North Atlantic area, and the emerging
ballistic missile and cruise missile threat affecting the
North Atlantic area;
- the identification of alternative system architectures
for the deployment of a NATO missile defence for the entire
territory of all NATO members that would be capable of countering
the threat posed by emerging ballistic and cruise missile
systems in countries other than declared nuclear powers,
as well as in countries that are existing nuclear powers,
together with timetables for development and an estimate
of costs;
- a detailed assessment of the progress of all NATO members,
on a country-by-country basis, toward meeting current force
goals; and
- a general description of the overall approach to updating
the Strategic Concept of NATO.
Sub-section (E)
Briefings on revisions to the strategic concept: Not less
than twice in the 300-day period following the date of
adoption of this resolution, each at an agreed time to precede
each Ministerial meeting of the North Atlantic Council, the
Senate expects the appropriate officials of the executive
branch of Government to offer detailed briefings to the appropriate
congressional committees on proposed changes to the Strategic
Concept of NATO, including -
- an explanation of the manner in which specific revisions
to the Strategic Concept of NATO will serve United States
national security interests and affect united States military
requirements both within and outside the North Atlantic
area;
- a timetable for implementation of new force goals by all
NATO members under any revised Strategic Concept of NATO;
- a description of any negotiations regarding the revision
of the nuclear weapons policy of NATO; and
- a description of any proposal to condition decisions of
the North Atlantic Council upon the approval of the United
Nations, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe, or any NATO-affiliated forum.
Chapter (2) Costs, benefits, burdensharing, and military implications
of the enlargement of NATO. -
Sub-section (B)
Annual reports. - Not later than April 1 of each year
during the five-year period following the date of entry into
force of the Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949
on the Accession of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic,
the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report, which may be submitted in an unclassified
and classified form, and which shall contain the following
information:
- The amount contributed to the common budgets of NATO by
each NATO member during the preceding calendar year.
- The proportional share assigned to, and paid by, each
NATO member under NATO's cost-sharing arrangements.
- The national defence budget of each NATO member, the steps
taken by each NATO member to meet NATO force goals, and
the adequacy of the national defence budget of each NATO
member in meeting common defence and security obligations.
- Any costs incurred by the United States in connection
with the membership of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic
in NATO, including the deployment of United States military
personnel, the provision of any defence article or defence
service, the funding of any training activity, or the modification
or construction of any military facility.
- The status of discussions concerning NATO membership for
countries participating in the Partnership for Peace.
Chapter (4) Report on intelligence matters:
Sub-section (A)
Progress report. - Not later than January 1, 1999,
the President shall submit a report to the congressional intelligence
committees on the progress of Hungary, Poland and the Czech
Republic in satisfying the security requirements for membership
of NATO.
Sub-section (B)
Reports regarding protection of the intelligence and methods.
- Not later than January 1, 1999, and again not later than
the date that is 90 days after the date of accession to the
North Atlantic treaty by Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic,
the Director of Central Intelligence shall submit a detailed
report to the congressional intelligence committees -
- identifying the latest procedures and requirements established
by Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic for the protection
of intelligence sources and methods; and
- including an assessment of how the overall procedures
and requirements of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic
for the protection of intelligence sources and methods compare
with the procedures and requirements of other NATO members
for the protection of intelligence sources and methods.
President Clinton - March 20, 1998, The White House:
"I have consulted broadly with Congress on decisions about
the admissions of the first three members. I pledge to do
the same before any future decisions are made. And of course
any new members would also require the advice and the consent
of the United States Senate."
"We must continue to strengthen the partnership for peace
with our many friends in Europe. We need to give even more
practical expression to the agreements between NATO and Russia,
and NATO and Ukraine, turning words into deeds. With Russia
and other countries, we must continue to reduce our nuclear
stockpiles -- and we thank you, Senator Lugar, for your leadership
on that -- to combat the dangers of proliferation, to lower
conventional arms ceilings all across Europe."
President Clinton NATO Enlargement Ratification ceremony May
21, 1998 The White House:
"And just very briefly before I close, let me mention the
things that I believe we still have to do with NATO. We have
to build closer ties with the Partnership for Peace members.
We have to reinforce the practical cooperation between NATO
and Russia and between NATO and Ukraine. We have to see through
on our efforts to secure a lasting peace in the Balkans, and
we cannot walk away until the job is done. We must achieve
deeper reductions in our nuclear forces and lower the limits
on conventional arms across the European continent."
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