FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 25, 2019
 Contact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, as the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee considered the Protocol on the accession of North Macedonia to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) during a business meeting, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) offered an amendment to make the United States’ financial contributions to NATO proportional to the number of members in the alliance.
 
“Once again, members of the Senate have shown to be detached from their constituents. Americans believe in all nations paying their fair share, yet members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today voted down my amendment, which would have set the standard for an equal division of funding among alliance members. The status quo is unacceptable and unsustainable, and I will continue responding to concerned American taxpayers by fighting for change,” said Dr. Paul.
 
As the U.S. continues to spend billions in support of NATO, the vast majority of its members have yet to reach the threshold of spending 2% of their GDP on defense, which the alliance agreed to in 2014. 
 
Dr. Paul’s amendment, which was not passed by the committee, would have offered a reservation to the Protocol to enact the change.

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