WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) today introduced a resolution urging an America First approach to all international allyships. Specifically, Senator Lee's resolution proposes that the United States must maintain its influence as a great power partner over adversarial countries, and prioritize bilateral security agreements over multilateral arrangements to maximize leverage and America's position on the world stage.
The resolution reads as follows:
Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should prioritize bilateral security partnerships over multilateral security partnerships and institutions.
Whereas alliances have historically allowed states to combine their capabilities to combat shared security challenges and promote shared values and interests;
Whereas, in the era of great powers and regional hegemony that followed World War II, alliances have operated with small and medium states standing behind great powers;
Whereas the United States is the most free and powerful state in world history;
Whereas the United States has a duty to secure the blessings of liberty and provide for the common defense of the homeland;
Whereas the United States historically contributes almost one third of the total funds of the United Nations budget, yet has the same voting power and influence as all other member states in the United Nations;
Whereas the United States historically spends more than twice as much money on defense as all the other member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization combined;
Whereas the United States historically contributed almost one quarter of the total funds of the World Health Organization budget when the United States was a member of the World Health Organization;
Whereas the United States has contributed significantly to other multilateral institutions and multilateral security agreements at the expense of United States taxpayers and has failed to deliver returns on investment to Americans;
Whereas the significant financial and security contributions the United States has provided to multilateral institutions has not served United States interests of securing the blessings of liberty or providing for the common defense of the homeland;
Whereas bilateral agreements deliver stronger outcomes for the United States and put the United States in a more favorable position to advance its interests;
Whereas bilateral negotiations give the United States more leverage, and diplomacy is tailored to the culture, needs, and capabilities of each partner country;
Whereas bilateral agreements are often stronger, easier to secure, and can be amended more feasibly as the security environment and the interests of the United States change;
Whereas the United States is not coerced to relinquish its interests at the expense of the interests of other great powers and adversaries which are hostile towards the United States;
Whereas many multilateral agreements and institutions have outlived their original objectives and do not accurately represent the shared interests of the member states;
Whereas the United Nations is fraught with ideologies that do not align with the United States, including Marxism, antisemitism, climate alarmism, and other extremist ideologies that contradict the values of liberty and prosperity represented by the United States;
Whereas many of the countries that perpetrate gross violations of human rights against women, children, and minorities are active and influential members in the very United Nations bodies tasked with human rights protections;
Whereas the World Health Organization proved to be a puppet of the Chinese Communist Party, an adversary of the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, and failed to make meaningful reforms following the pandemic;
Whereas the United Nations repeatedly protects the interests of adversaries of the United States by excluding Taiwan from participating in the United Nations system and elevating false Chinese data over other countries' data through the World Health Organization;
Whereas the objectives of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization outlined in the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington on April 4, 1949, were reached upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and several member states within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization no longer share values and interests with the United States;
Whereas the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have failed to assist the United States during its time of crisis facing the Iranian regime, which repeatedly threatened the interests of all North Atlantic Treaty states with terrorist proxies; and
Whereas the interests and priorities of the United States are best served by bilateral security agreements with its partners and allies and not by multilateral security agreements or institutions: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate-
(1) expresses that the United States must use its power, influence, and resources to encourage small and medium states to choose the United States as its great power partner and ally of choice;
(2) recognizes that the United States should prioritize bilateral security agreements over multilateral security agreements and institutions; and
(3) determines that the United States should withdraw support for multilateral security agreements or institutions that undermine United States interests.
Access the full text of the resolution here.
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