June 09, 2017

Rep. Ruben Gallego & House Armed Services Democrats to Donald Trump: Explicit Support of NATO Article 5 is a “National Security Imperative”

Washington, DC – Yesterday, Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-07) joined other Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee to call on President Donald Trump to state explicit support for Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, known as the "collective-defense clause," – calling such action a "national security imperative."

The collective-defense clause specifies that an attack on any NATO member is an attack on all, and is a commitment from member states to protect one another. The clause was invoked for the first time following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, and collective defense measures have since been taken on several other occasions, including in response to the situation in Syria.

During a summit with NATO allies in Brussels last month, Trump refused to express such support, reportedly surprising even his own national security team.

"Not committing to Article 5 provides opportunities for our adversaries and can easily be spun to propagate a dangerous narrative regarding U.S. commitment to the defense of our NATO Allies in the event of an attack," the group wrote in a letter to the President.

"Your explicit and immediate endorsement of Aricle 5 is a national security imperative," the letter continues. "The European security environment has significantly evolved, and deterring Russian aggression is as important now as it has ever been."

The full text of the letter can be found here.