ICYMI: Kennedy in Newsweek: Congress must hold NATO to its 5% defense spending commitment

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) penned this op-ed in Newsweek arguing that Congress needs to hold NATO member countries to their 5% defense spending commitments.

Key excerpts of the op-ed are below:

"On the surface, it appeared as though every member of NATO agreed to increase its defense spending to 5 percent of its GDP by 2035-and I'm confident that many of our allies intend to do just that.

"But some of our friends in NATO have already begun to weasel their way out of this commitment."

. . .

"I am introducing a resolution to commend our NATO allies who agreed to increase their defense spending to 5 percent and to strongly urge every member of NATO to follow through with this commitment sincerely. If we want to deter our adversaries, we need real investments in our defense, not bridges that have little, if anything, to do with national security.

"NATO is one of the greatest defensive alliances in all of human history, but these loopholes make us weaker. The world needs to know we have each other's backs, and that starts by putting your money where your mouth is."

Read Kennedy's op-ed here.

The full text of the resolution is available here.