Whereas, in 1997, the Governments of the United States and Romania embarked upon a strategic partnership rooted in our mutual embrace of popular sovereignty, individual rights, free markets, and the rule of law, and our commitment to transatlantic security and prosperity; Whereas the Government of Romania has striven to advance security and democratic principles in Southeast Europe, and has participated actively in building a Europe whole, free, and at peace; Whereas the strategic partnership between the United States and Romania has helped forge durable economic and cultural bonds between our two countries; Whereas the Government of Romania recently announced that it will raise defense spending to two percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017 in order to meet the minimum level of defense expenditures pledged at the 2014 NATO Wales Summit; Whereas NATO’s first Aegis Ashore missile defense installation became operational on May 12, 2016, at Deveselu Base in Romania, representing a significant increase in NATO’s capacity to defend against ballistic missile threats outside the Euro-Atlantic zone; Whereas the Romanian Armed Forces have supported NATO and United States operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other theatres for over a decade, contributing more than 30,000 total combat and support personnel to those missions; Whereas Romania maintains the fifth largest contingent in NATO’s Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, with over 600 troops helping to train, advise, and assist the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and Afghan security institutions; Whereas Romania is a member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and has deployed military trainers to Iraq to train Iraqi Security Forces and provided humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq and Syria