The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)  also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance of 31 member states – 29 European and two North American. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implemented the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949.

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The NATO category has related posts on government agencies and departments and  committees and their Chairs.

The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces.

The DOD is the largest employer in the world, with over 1.4 million active-duty service members (soldiers, Marines, sailors, airmen, and Guardians) as of 2021. More employees include over 826,000 National Guard and reservists from the armed forces, and over 732,000 civilians bringing the total to over 2.8 million employees. Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., the DoD’s stated mission is to provide “the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation’s security”.

Mission:
Empowered with legislative oversight of the nation’s military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy (as pertaining to national security), benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and other matters related to defense policy.

House counterpart: Armed Services Committee

Democratic Members (Minority):
Jack Reed, Rhode Island, Ranking Member
Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire
Kirsten Gillibrand, New York
Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut
Mazie Hirono, Hawaii
Tim Kaine, Virginia
Angus King, Maine
Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts
Gary Peters, Michigan
Joe Manchin, West Virginia
Tammy Duckworth, Illinois
Jacky Rosen, Nevada
Mark Kelly, Arizona

Republican Members (Majority):
Roger Wicker, Mississippi, Chairman
Deb Fischer, Nebraska
Tom Cotton, Arkansas
Mike Rounds, South Dakota
Joni Ernst, Iowa
Dan Sullivan, Alaska
Kevin Cramer, North Dakota
Rick Scott, Florida
Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee
Tommy Tuberville, Alabama
Markwayne Mullin, Oklahoma
Ted Budd, North Carolina
Eric Schmitt, Missouri

Featured Video:
Senate Armed Services Committee holds hearing on recent cyber attacks

Current Position: US Senator since 1997
Affiliation: Democrat
Former Positions: US Representative from 1991 – 1997; State Senator from 1985 – 1991
Other Positions:   Vice Chair, Committee on Armed Services

Reed graduated from the United States Military Academy and Harvard University, serving in the U.S. Army as an active officer from 1971 to 1979.  Reed earned the Ranger Tab and was a paratrooper.  He returned to West Point in 1978 as an associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences.

He worked as an associate at the Washington, D.C. office of law firm of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. Afterward, he returned to Rhode Island and worked for the Providence law firm Edwards and Angell until 1990

Featured Quote: 
The right to vote is a cornerstone of our democracy. We must protect #votingrights & stop partisan gerrymandering. I support the #ForThePeople Act to protect voting access for all Americans, regardless of party or where they’re from.

Sen. Jack Reed Full Interview: Biden Made ‘The Best Of Many Poor Choices’

Current Position: US Senator since 2007
Affiliation: Republican
Former Positions: State Senator from 1995 – 2007; State Delegate from 1988 – 1995
Other Positions:   Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet

Roger Wicker was an officer in the United States Air Force from 1976 to 1980 and a member of the United States Air Force Reserves from 1980 to 2003. Wicker served as a judge advocate. During the 1980s, he worked as a political counselor to Congressman Trent Lott on the House Rules Committee.

Featured Quote: 
Federal regulations should not become overly burdensome for Mississippi farmers and small business owners. I’m working to codify the Trump Administration’s rules, which recognizes state control over local waters.

GOP Senator Wicker On Prospect Of Infrastructure Bill

The U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee or HASC, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the United States Armed Forces, as well as substantial portions of the Department of Energy. Its regular legislative product is the National Defense Authorization Act, which has been passed by Congress and signed into law each year since 1962

Senate counterparts:   Committee on Armed Services (Senate)

Subcommittees:

• Cyber, Innovative Technologies and Information Systems
• Intelligence and Special Operations
• Military Personnel
• Readiness
• Seapower and Projection Forces
• Strategic Forces
• Tactical Air and Land Forces

Chair: Mac Thornberry, Texas
Ranking Member: Adam Smith, Washington

Majority Staff Director: Christopher Vieson
Minority Staff Director:  Brian Garrett
Meeting Location: 2216 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-6035. (202) 225-4151

Featured Video: Full Committee Hearing: “Department of the Air Force Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request” – June 16, 2021
Web Links

Current: US Representative of WA District 9 since 1997
Affiliation: Democrat
Leadership: Ranking Member, House Armed Services Committee
District:  Western Washington, through the densely populated central Puget Sound region, from Auburn and Federal Way in the south to parts of Seattle and Bellevue in the north. 
Next Election: 

History: He completed a Juris Doctor from the University of Washington in 1990. He worked his way through college by loading trucks for United Parcel Service. After law school, Smith worked as a private practice attorney with Cromwell, Mendoza & Belur. From 1993 to 1995, he served as a prosecutor for the city of Seattle. In 1996, he worked temporarily as a pro tem judge.

Smith was elected to the State Senate in 1990; at age 25, he was the youngest state senator in the country. He ran in and won his first congressional race in 1996

Quotes: ICYMI: I reintroduced the Emergency Economic and Workforce System Resiliency Act last week. If we are going to #BuildBackBetter, we need to support workers through better training & development, layoff aversion, and more employee ownership opportunities.

Featured Video: Rep. Adam Smith on Pentagon Funding, Impeachment Hearings and USMCA

Current Position: US Representative of AL 3rd District since 2011
Affiliation: Republican
Former Position: State Delegate from 1994 – 2002
Other positions: Ranking Member, House Armed Services Committee
District:  Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Lee, Macon, Randolph, Russell, St. Clair, Talladega, and Tallapoosa counties, 
Upcoming Election:

Featured Quote: 
Attacks on our intelligence professionals & diplomats, direct or indirect, are a sinister escalation in tensions with #Russia. We must investigate #HavanaSyndrome & support those affected, & make it clear that this behavior is unacceptable. @TheHillOpinion

Rogers served as the Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee from 2021 to 2023 and as the Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee from 2019 to 2021.

Republican Congressman Mike Rogers on impeachment, State of the Union

The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the nation’s foreign policy and international relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nations, its primary duties are advising the U.S. president, administering diplomatic missions, negotiating international treaties and agreements, and representing the U.S. at the United Nations.

The department is headquartered in the Harry S Truman Building, a few blocks from the White House, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C.; “Foggy Bottom” is thus sometimes used as a metonym.

Current Position: US Senator since 2009
Affiliation: Democrat
Former Positions: Governor from 2002 – 2006; Venture Capital from 1989 – 2001

Other Positions:
Vice Chair, Senate Intelligence Committee
Vice Conference Chair, Senate Democrats

Featured Quotes:
“Senator Warner is committed to strengthening our national security both at home and abroad, and he believes a strong and engaged United States is fundamental to securing our national interests around the world.”

When he left the Governorship in 2006, Virginia was ranked as the best state for business, the best managed state, and the best state in which to receive a public education.

What is the Cybersecurity Caucus? 1:23 5/10/2021

Current Position: US Representative of MS 2nd District since 1993
Affiliation: Democrat
Other Positions:  Committee on Homeland Security; Select Committee on the January 6 Attack
District: Western Mississippi. It includes most of Jackson, the riverfront cities of Greenville and Vicksburg and the interior market cities of Clarksdale, Greenwood and Clinton.   
Upcoming Election:

Thompson was a schoolteacher in Madison, Mississippi.[2] He served as an alderman (1969–1973) and then mayor of Bolton (1973–1980) before being elected to the Hinds County Board of Supervisors, on which he served from 1980 to 1993.

He is a founding member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. His legislative platform focuses mainly on homeland security, civil rights, agriculture and rural issues, equal education, and health care reform. In 1975, he became one of the original plaintiffs in the Ayers Case, which concerned the adequate funding of predominantly black educational institutes in Mississippi.

Featured Quote: 
Today, the bipartisan @January6thCmte will begin its work investigating the #January6th attack on the Capitol by hearing powerful testimony from the brave law enforcement heroes who defended the Capitol that day.

Rep. Bennie Thompson’s full opening statement in House investigation of Jan. 6