SENSE OF CONGRESS ON REDEPLOYMENT OF UNITED STATES FORCES IN EUROPE.

SEC. 1233. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON REDEPLOYMENT OF UNITED STATES FORCES IN EUROPE.(a) Findings.—Congress makes the following findings:(1) In March 1999, in its initial round of expansion, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) admitted Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary to the Alliance.(2) At the Prague Summit on November 21–22, 2002, the NATO heads of state and government invited the countries of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia to join the Alliance.(3) The countries admitted in the initial round of expansion referred to in paragraph (1) and the seven new invitee nations referred to in paragraph (2) will in combination significantly alter the nature of the Alliance.(4) During the first 50 years of the Alliance, NATO materially contributed to the security and stability of Western Europe, bringing peace and prosperity to the member nations.(5) The expansion of NATO is an opportunity to assist the invitee nations in gaining the capabilities to ensure peace, prosperity, and democracy for themselves during the next 50 years of the Alliance.(6) The military structure and mission of NATO has changed, no longer being focused on the threat of a Soviet invasion, but evolving to handle new threats and new missions in the area of crisis management, peacekeeping, and peace-support in and beyond the Euro-Atlantic area of operations. (b) Sense of Congress.—In light of the findings in subsection (a), it is the sense of Congress that—(1) the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Alliance and the evolution of the military mission of that Alliance requires a fundamental reevaluation of the current posture of United States forces stationed in Europe; and117 STAT. 1657(2) the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of State, should—(A) initiate a reevaluation referred to in paragraph (1); and(B) in carrying out such a reevaluation, consider a military posture that takes maximum advantage of basing and training opportunities in the newly admitted and invitee states referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, of subsection (a).