Congresswoman Lois Frankel has just returned from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) in Brussels as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation.  Frankel was appointed to the US delegation by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.   During the four-day trip, the delegation – comprised of five additional Members of Congress – met with representatives of the other NATO countries as well as NATO leaders including NATO Commander General Philip Breedlove, NATO PA President Hugh Baley, and US Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute.

“This bipartisan trip gave me the chance to discuss with delegates from Great Britain, Spain, Italy, and other European allies, the status of our military and diplomatic efforts in Afghanistan,” said Frankel.  “I had the opportunity to ask hard hitting questions about the value of a continued presence in that region.”

The conference focused on the drawdown of the American and NATO military presence as NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) security commitment comes to a close at the end of 2014.  Discussions centered on the US-Afghan Bilateral Security Agreement that would allow a residual troop presence in Afghanistan post-2014 to train, advise, and assist Afghan security forces.

Frankel, whose son served two tours in Afghanistan both as a Marine and with USAID, visited our troops in Afghanistan and met with US and Afghan military commanders in May 2013.

NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance – based on the North Atlantic Treaty – whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external force.  The combined military spending of the 38 NATO countries is more than 70% of the world's defense budget.  

Frankel departed for the bipartisan trip overseas on February 14 and returned February 18.

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