Commending the men and women of the United States military, our NATO Allies, and our African allies who successfully planned, coordinated, deployed, and trained as part of the DEFENDER-EUROPE 2021 Exercise.

IV 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 478 Commending the men and women of the United States military, our NATO Allies, and our African allies who successfully planned, coordinated, de- ployed, and trained as part of the DEFENDER-EUROPE 2021 Exer- cise. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2021 Mr. VELA (for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. TITUS, Mr. TURNER, and Mr. WILSON of South Carolina) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned RESOLUTION Commending the men and women of the United States mili- tary, our NATO Allies, and our African allies who suc- cessfully planned, coordinated, deployed, and trained as part of the DEFENDER-EUROPE 2021 Exercise. Whereas United States military planners prepared a concept of operations that deployed 28,000 United States troops and nearly 12,000 pieces of equipment by air, land, and sea for simultaneous operations across more than 30 training areas in more than a dozen countries and two VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR478.IH HR478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 478 IH continents, all of which occurred under strict COVID–19 prevention and mitigation strategies; Whereas, as part of DEFENDER-EUROPE 2021, United States civilian and military ships coordinated their move- ments across the Atlantic Ocean, validating their ability to move thousands of troops and equipment through con- tested waters during opposed transit, convoy operations, and building on the success of last year, the Army again leveraged the use of its Prepositioned Stocks located in Europe that were deployed to exercise sites throughout Europe; Whereas, through this elaborate coordination, the United States military validated its ability to rapidly deploy and sustain massive military capability to deter adversaries from conducting destabilizing hostilities against demo- cratic institutions; Whereas NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Eu- rope (SHAPE) planned the training and logistics for more than 30,000 multinational troops from 27 nations that would participate in linked complex exercises to demonstrate NATO’s ability to deter aggression while protecting peace throughout Europe, enhancing relation- ships, readiness, and interoperability among NATO Allies and achieving United States national defense strategy and NATO strategic objectives; Whereas United States Commanders and partner nations again adapted exercise plans to the global COVID–19 cri- sis by adjusting troops movements and activities to pro- tect the force and its readiness from a highly infectious pandemic; VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR478.IH HR478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 478 IH Whereas, despite the COVID–19 pandemic, military leaders were able to safely proceed with DEFENDER-EUROPE 2021 training objectives across the linked exercises; Whereas SWIFT RESPONSE included airborne operations in Estonia, Bulgaria, and Romania involving more than 7,000 troops from 11 countries; Whereas SABER GUARDIAN involved more than 13,000 servicemembers from 19 countries conducting live fire and air and missile defense operations, including a large- scale medical evacuation; Whereas STEADFAST DEFENDER included a new series of NATO exercises focused on the transatlantic reinforce- ment of Europe and demonstrated NATO’s ability to re- spond rapidly to the full spectrum of threats; and Whereas, within DEFENDER-EUROPE 2021, in the associ- ated exercise AFRICAN LION, United States Africa Command executed their premier annual training event in which nearly 5,000 military personnel from approxi- mately 24 nations trained on medical readiness, per- formed large-scale live-fire exercises and conducted air, maritime, and forward command post training exercises primarily in Morocco: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep- 1 resentatives to— 2 (1) reaffirm the ironclad commitment of the 3 United States to the NATO Alliance that, through 4 collective engagement, expands United States eco- 5 nomic, diplomatic, and military capabilities in re- 6 sponding to adversarial and rogue nations, and be- 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR478.IH HR478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 478 IH cause of these instruments of power the United 1 States is better able to protect its shared economic 2 security interests in Europe and throughout the 3 world; 4 (2) urge allies in the strongest possible terms to 5 recommit to the founding principles of the alliance 6 by strengthening democratic institutions, respecting 7 individual liberty, and reinforcing the rule of law; 8 (3) commend United States military 9 servicemembers for their complex operational plan- 10 ning, execution, and response to emerging threats 11 that demonstrated the United States military might 12 and ability to quickly adapt to the evolving oper- 13 ational environment in order to achieve its strategic 14 objectives; 15 (4) commend the courage and perseverance that 16 United States forces demonstrated while deployed to 17 Europe, as their selfless efforts saved lives in allied 18 nations by directly contributing to NATO’s contin- 19 ued response to COVID–19, and their resilience en- 20 abled DEFENDER-EUROPE 2021 to continue and 21 validate multiple operational capabilities require 22 these large scale tests; and 23 (5) commend our NATO and African allies who 24 participated in DEFENDER-EUROPE 2021, which 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR478.IH HR478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 478 IH enhanced, among Allied forces, communications, 1 interoperability, readiness, and sustainment, as in- 2 vesting in such exercises is necessary for developing 3 new tactics, technologies, and partnerships that will 4 ensure NATO’s strategic advantage over time. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR478.IH HR478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS