; Whereas, during the 1980s, the United States drastically increased its defense spending to combat threats posed by the Soviet Union, causing its share of total NATO defense spending to rise dramatically, while at the same time, NATO allies failed to meet the 1977 spending target; Whereas the National Defense Authorization Act, 1985 ( Public Law 98–525 ) included a sense of Congress that the President should call on the pertinent members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to meet or exceed their pledges for an annual increase in defense spending ; Whereas, in the 1988 NATO Summit Declaration, NATO allies reaffirmed their willingness to share fairly the risks, burdens and responsibilities as well as the benefits of our common efforts ; Whereas, in 1990, as the Soviet Union was trending towards collapse, NATO defense ministers agreed to drop the 3-percent annual increase policy, as allies looked to reap the benefits of the greatly improved climate in East-West relations ; Whereas, while defense spending among all NATO allies decreased throughout the 1990s, conflicts in Bosnia, and later in Kosovo, clearly illustrated that European NATO allies severely lacked key military capabilities, causing British Prime Minister Tony Blair to state, If Europe wants the United States to maintain its commitment to Europe, Europe must share more of the burden of defending the West's security interests. ; Whereas, at the 2002 NATO Prague Summit, NATO allies entered into a nonbinding agreement to raise defense spending to 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in order to meet the goals set out in the Prague Capabilities Commitment; Whereas, before the 2006 NATO Riga Summit, United States Ambassador to NATO Victoria Nuland called the 2-percent metric the unofficial floor on defense spending in NATO; Whereas, at the 2006 NATO Riga Summit, NATO allies declared that we encourage nations whose defense spending is declining to halt that decline and to aim to increase defense spending in real terms