House Dems push bill to protect NATO alliance

(22 Jan 2019) STORYLINE: House Democrats are pushing a bill that would support and protect the United States' alliance with The North Atlantic Treaty Organizatio (NATO). "The NATO alliance is central to the American security and maintaining peace and stability around the world," said House Majority Leader, Rep. Steny Hoyer. "The NATO alliance has been a force multiplier for the United States as we lead the free world in securing our safety and defense of freedom. Today, however NATO is under threat both from a surge in Russia without and detractors within." The NATO Support Act reiterates strong Congressional support for NATO and rejects any efforts by the President to withdraw from the alliance. The bill is co-sponsored by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY), Representatives Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Don Bacon (R-NE), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Will Hurd (R-TX), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Fred Upton (R-MI), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), and Mike Gallagher (R-WI) "All of us up here agree that we can continue to pressure, to pressure our NATO allies to pay their self stated goal of 2 percent of their GDP to the alliance," said Rep. Jimmy Panetta of California. "But that doesn't mean that we want to get out of NATO. In fact, that would be a historic mistake. Because what we have to realize is that NATO is not just a transactional relationship, our sole focus can't just be on who pays what and who gets what. Being a member of NATO is not like being a member of a country club." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...