Sec. 1666. Sense of Congress on initial operating capability of phase 2 of European Phased Adaptive Approach to missile defense
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Congress finds the following: President Obama, during his announcement of the European Phased Adaptive Approach on September 17, 2009, stated, This approach is based on an assessment of the Iranian missile threat, and the best way to responsibly advance our security and the security of our allies is to deploy a missile defense system that best responds to the threats we face and that utilizes technology that is both proven and cost-effective. . The 2010 Ballistic Missile Defense review stated that The [European] Phased Adaptive Approach utilizes existing and proven capabilities to meet current threats and then will improve upon these capabilities over time by integrating new technology. .
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, during a speech in Brussels on October 5, 2011, stated, The United States is fully committed to building a missile defense capability for the full coverage and protection of all our NATO European populations, their territory and their forces against the growing threat posed by ballistic missiles. . Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, during a press conference on March 15, 2013, stated, The missile deployments the United States is making in phases one through three of the European Phased Adaptive Approach, including sites in Romania and Poland, will still be able to provide coverage of all European NATO territory as planned by 2018. .
It is the sense of Congress that— the United States is committed to the defense of deployed members of the Armed Forces of the United States and to the defense of the European allies of the Unites States by increasing the ballistic missile defense capability of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (in this section referred to as NATO ); phase 2 of the European Phased Adaptive Approach will provide NATO with a substantial increase in ballistic missile defense capability since NATO declared Interim Ballistic Missile Defense Capability at the Chicago Summit in 2012, and such phase consists of— Aegis Ashore in Romania; four Aegis ballistic missile defense capable ships homeported at Rota, Spain; and a more capable SM–3 interceptor;
NATO is moving forward with the modernization of the defense capabilities of NATO that is responsive to 21st century threats to the territory and populations of member states of NATO; the member states of NATO recognize the importance of this contribution, which sends a clear signal that NATO will not allow potential adversaries to threaten the use of ballistic missile strikes to coerce NATO or deter NATO from responding to aggression against the interests of NATO; and phase 2 of the European Phased Adaptive Approach is ready for 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week operation, with proven military systems and command and control capability, and should be so declared at the July 2016 NATO Summit in Warsaw, Poland.