NATO/SENATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Senate group that acts as the liaison to NATO is appointing and announcing new members following President Donald Trump’s tumultuous appearance at the annual NATO summit in Brussels and his meeting in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Co-chairs Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, and Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, announced on Tuesday [7-17-18] that the Senate NATO Observer Group would be adding nine new members. After its decade-long hiatus, the group is now going to be fully ‘staffed.’ First established in 1997, the Senate NATO Observer Group was revived in February amid questions about Trump’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance. The bipartisan group is focused on working closely with US NATO allies as a partner. It was first established in 1997 to serve as a connection between the administration, NATO and the Senate. It was re-established in 2002, but disbanded in 2007 due to a lack of NATO enlargement rounds. Each of the new members of the Senate NATO Observer Group spoke with Tillis and agreed to join.”
-Suzanne Malveaux and Veronica Stracqualursi, “Senate beefing up NATO oversight group,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, July 17, 2018 5:27 pm