June 24, 2025
Mr. Lee (for himself, Mrs. Blackburn, and Mr. Paul) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
To require the Secretary of Defense to submit annual reports on allied contributions to the common defense, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the NATO Burden Sharing Report Act
.
Sec. 2. Report on allied contributions to the common defense
(a) Finding
Congress finds that section 1003 of the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1985 (Public Law 98–525; 63 Stat. 2241)—
(1)
expresses the sense of Congress that, due to threats that are ever-changing, Congress must be informed with respect to allied contributions to the common defense to properly assess the readiness of the United States and the countries described in subsection (c)(2) for threats; and
(2)
requires the Secretary of Defense to submit to Congress an annual report on the contributions of allies to the common defense.
(b) Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)
the threats facing the United States—
(A)
include near-peer threats; and
(B)
require the United States to prioritize military assets and resources in accordance with the most recent National Defense Strategy;
(2)
the United States should not continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of the burden for European security while current and prospective members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization neglect to meet defense spending guidelines; and
(3)
the President should seek from each member country of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization acceptance of international security responsibilities and agreements to make contributions to the common defense in accordance with the collective defense treaty to which such country is a party.
(c) Reports on allied contributions to the common defense
(1) In general
Not later than March 1 each year, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the heads of other Federal agencies, as the Secretary determines to be necessary, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report containing a description of—
(A)
the annual defense spending by each country described in paragraph (2), including available data on nominal budget figures and defense spending as a percentage of the gross domestic products of each such country for the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year in which the report is submitted;
(B)
the activities of each such country to contribute to military or stability operations in which the Armed Forces of the United States are a participant or may be called upon in accordance with a cooperative defense agreement to which the United States is a party;
(C)
any limitations placed by any such country on the use of such contributions;
(D)
any actions undertaken by the United States or by other countries to minimize such limitations; and
(E)
with respect to each such country—
(i)
the contributions made by the country to Ukraine, including an indication of whether such contributions relate to hard or soft power;
(ii)
an assessment of the health of the defense industrial base of the country;
(iii)
the comparative advantages of the defense industrial base of the country;
(iv)
the size and structure of the military forces of the country, including an estimate of the amount of time required for such forces to achieve full military mobilization;
(v)
any area in which the country would be fully dependent on allied military assets;
(vi)
any delivery received or contract entered into by the country through the Foreign Military Sales or the Foreign Military Financing program during the preceding year;
(vii)
any change in defense spending during the preceding year; and
(viii)
the amount defense spending anticipated in the subsequent year.
(2) Countries described
The countries described in this paragraph are the following:
(A)
Each member country of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
(B)
Each country participating in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization Membership Action Plan.
(3) Form
Each report under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex.
(4) Availability
A report submitted under paragraph (1) shall be made available on request to any Member of Congress.
(d) Appropriate committees of Congress defined
In this section, the term appropriate committees of Congress means—
(1)
the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(2)
the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.