H.R. 1130 expresses the support of the House of Representatives for the applications Finland and Sweden submitted to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for joining the military alliance, and “calls on the member states of NATO to formally support the accession of Finland and Sweden into NATO,” increasing the number of NATO members from 30 to 32.
The House passed H.R. 1130 on July 18, 2022 by a vote of 394 to 18 (Roll Call 364). We have assigned pluses to the nays because NATO is based on the principle of collective security, as opposed to each country acting in its own best interests. Under the North Atlantic Treaty that established NATO in 1949, “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them … shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them … will assist the Party or Parties so attacked.” The expansion of this entangling military alliance, which was comprised of just 12 members at the time of its founding, increases the likelihood of the United States being drawn into a military conflict.
