Sen. Lee introduces bill to tally NATO countries’ defense spending

WASHINGTON— Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Allied Burden Sharing Report Act of 2018 (S. 3198). The act would require the Department of Defense to resume compiling and submitting an extensive report that includes the common defense contributions of NATO countries and other allies, including GCC countries, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand.
“NATO and other mutual defense agreements have a purpose,” Sen. Lee said, “but until we no longer bear the greatest brunt of the financial burden, we cannot and should not consider expanding these commitments.
The information included in this report would be instrumental in informing Congress’ oversight of our own military and defense spending and would help educate lawmakers on the return on investment we receive in exchange for our involvement in global alliances.”
The report would be submitted annually to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, the Senate Armed Services Committee, the House Armed Services Committee, and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.