Whereas, on December 2, 1823, President James Monroe articulated what became to be known as the Monroe Doctrine in his seventh annual message to Congress; Whereas in the Monroe Doctrine, President Monroe asserted a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by foreign powers; Whereas the Monroe Doctrine asserted a spirit of solidarity with the newly independent republics of Latin America and established the principle that autocratic influences and depredations by powers outside the region present dangers to the peace, safety, and independence of the free nations of the Western Hemisphere; Whereas President Monroe established the defensive character of the Monroe Doctrine by asserting that, It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defense. ; Whereas President Monroe proclaimed the doctrine after the Russian Empire attempted to claim and colonize territories in present-day Alaska and the Pacific Northwest in 1821, and the seizure of the USS Pearl by the Russian sloop Apollon in 1822; Whereas, according to the National Archives, the United States Government invoked the Monroe Doctrine in 1865 to exert diplomatic and military pressure in support of the Mexican President Benito Juárez, which enabled Juárez to lead a successful revolt against the Emperor Maximilian, who had been placed on the throne by the French Empire; Whereas, according to the National Archives, President John F. Kennedy invoked the Monroe Doctrine when the Soviet Union built missile launch sites in Cuba in 1962, and as part of the successful actions of his administration to see the Soviet missiles withdrawn from the dismantled missile launch sites in Cuba