Whereas Presidents of both the Republican and Democratic parties have embraced the mantle of promoting democracy and human rights on the international stage; Whereas in the wake of World War II, the United States led the effort to rebuild Europe through the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, and other efforts that promoted a prosperous, peaceful, and democratic Europe; Whereas the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an alliance built upon shared democratic values and committed to the collective defense of its members; Whereas the United States was a founding member of the alliance and, beginning with NATO’s first Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, has proudly provided leadership to the alliance for nearly seventy years; Whereas NATO continues to provide a defensive shield for allies against a revanchist Russia, train regional partners in Eastern Europe, and contribute to peace and security more broadly; Whereas President Trump has undermined the core principle of NATO, that of mutual defense, by criticizing Article 5 of the NATO treaty and questioning whether the United States would come to the defense of a NATO member state if it is attacked; Whereas, in a departure from decades of encouraging European integration and closer ties to the United States, President Trump referred to the European Union as America’s leading geopolitical foe ; Whereas President Trump has departed from the precedents of Presidents of both parties in publicly castigating NATO allies and other democratic countries, while praising autocratic rulers who undermine or destroy democratic processes in their own countries and violate human rights with impunity