00:00Music
00:09U.S. Representative Thomas Massey,
00:11a Republican from Kentucky's 4th Congressional District,
00:14has introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives
00:17aimed at removing the United States from NATO.
00:20The legislation, known as H.R. 6508,
00:24or the Not-A-Trusted Organization Act,
00:27has drawn attention for its challenge to America's role
00:30in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
00:34NATO is a Cold War relic, Massey said in a statement.
00:39We should withdraw from NATO and use that money
00:42to defend our own country, not socialist countries.
00:46NATO was created to counter the Soviet Union,
00:49which collapsed over 30 years ago.
00:52Since then, U.S. participation has cost taxpayers
00:56trillions of dollars and continues to risk U.S. involvement
00:59in foreign wars.
01:03The NATO Act lays out a series of congressional findings
01:06supporting the proposal.
01:08It emphasizes that NATO was originally created in 1949
01:12to counterbalance the Soviet Union's military power
01:15in Eastern Europe.
01:17With the collapse of the Warsaw Pact
01:19and the Soviet Union in 1991, the bill argues,
01:22NATO's original collective defence mission
01:25is no longer relevant to American national security.
01:28The bill notes that despite assurances made to Soviet leader
01:34Mikhail Gorbachev before the end of the Cold War,
01:37NATO has expanded eastward since 1999.
01:41Today, NATO borders Russia across more than 1,500 miles,
01:46surrounding the Baltic region.
01:48According to Massey, this expansion has contributed
01:51to heightened tensions, including the Russian invasion
01:54of Ukraine in 2022.
01:56Massey continued.
01:59Our constitution did not authorise permanent foreign entanglements,
02:06something our founding fathers explicitly warned us against.
02:10America should not be the world's security blanket,
02:13especially when wealthy countries refuse to pay
02:16for their own defence.
02:18The bill also calls for halting the use of U.S. taxpayer funds
02:23for NATO's common budgets, including civil, military
02:27and security investment programs.
02:30It requires the President to formally notify NATO of U.S. withdrawal
02:34under Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
02:39Support for the measure is already forming in the Senate.
02:43Senator Mike Lee of Utah has introduced a companion bill
02:46reflecting similar principles.
02:49Massey has urged Congress to re-evaluate the U.S.
02:52ongoing involvement in foreign alliances,
02:55highlighting both the financial burden on taxpayers
02:58and the risks of military entanglements abroad.
03:03This development follows discussions within the Pentagon
03:06earlier in December, in which U.S. officials told European NATO members
03:10they expected the majority of conventional defence capabilities,
03:14from intelligence to missiles, to be shifted to Europe by 2027.
03:20Some European officials described the timeline as unrealistic,
03:25while others noted that the U.S. has been dissatisfied
03:28with Europe's progress in boosting defence capabilities
03:31since Russia's expanded invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
03:37Sources familiar with the discussion said that if European members
03:41fail to meet the 2027 deadline, the United States may reduce participation
03:46in some NATO defence coordination mechanisms,
03:49potentially signalling a major strategic shift in transatlantic relations.
03:55Very proud member of NATO.
03:56We have a great relationship with the countries of NATO.
03:59I think made much better by a visit a few months ago when they agreed to 5% instead of 2% of GDP.
04:07That was a big concession.
04:09I think that was a concession that two years ago nobody would have said.
04:12Even a year ago.
04:13Even nine months ago before you were elected.
04:15Yeah, they would have said that's not possible.
04:16Absolutely.
04:17And the difference is they're paying 5% as opposed to not paying 2%.
04:21A lot of them weren't paying.
04:23With the exception of Spain, I think you're going to have to talk to Spain.
04:26Spain is not a team player.
04:29So other than Spain, everybody's 100%.
04:33And you could solve the Spain problem very easily, I think.
04:38The NATO Act cites multiple points to justify withdrawal,
04:42including that nearly a third of NATO members
04:45fail to meet the 2% GDP defence spending target pledged at the 2014 Wales Summit,
04:51and that the US continues to shoulder the largest share of alliance costs.
04:56The legislation also emphasises that America's principal interest in Europe
05:00is preventing the emergence of a regional hegemon,
05:03a task European members could potentially handle without US involvement.
05:10But NATO has to step up and the Europeans have to step up more than they have.
05:14And I want to see them equalised because they are in for far less than we're in.
05:19And they should be at least equal.
05:21You understand that?
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