Whereas the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded on April 4, 1949, to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of [its] peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law ; Whereas the United States Senate approved the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on July 21, 1949, and the United States Government acceded to membership in NATO on August 24, 1949; Whereas NATO was originally founded to ensure the collective security of its members, and stand against the Soviet threat to peace and acts collectively to promote freedom, stability, and peace in the North Atlantic region; Whereas, since the formation of NATO, 10 rounds of enlargement have grown the alliance from 12 members to 32; Whereas NATO is the most successful political-military alliance in history and, guided by a set of common values, provides collective defense to more than 950,000,000 people living in its member nations; Whereas the sustained commitment of NATO to mutual defense has contributed to the democratic and economic transformation of Central and Eastern Europe; Whereas enlargement has strengthened NATO, and the Alliance remains open to additional enlargement for European states that advance the principles of the North Atlantic Treaty and contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area, in line with article 10 of the Treaty; Whereas the newest members of the alliance, Finland and Sweden, contribute already interoperable militaries, including robust navies, powerful air forces, strong cyber capabilities, and large numbers of active military personnel and ready reservists to the alliance; Whereas the allies invoked NATO’s article 5 collective defense clause for the first and only time to offer political and military assistance to the United States in responding to the attacks of September 11, 2001