Allied Burden Sharing Report Act

The Allied Burden Sharing Report Act would require the Secretary of Defense, each year by March 1, to submit a comprehensive, unclassified (with possible classified annex) report to Congress detailing allied contributions to the United States’ common defense. Building on a 1985 provision, the bill aims to increase transparency about how much allied countries spend on defense, how they contribute to operations involving U.S. forces, and any limits those countries place on their contributions or on U.S. use of those contributions. The report would cover NATO members, GCC members, Rio Treaty (Inter-American Treaty) participants, and additional allies such as Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand. The act emphasizes near-term and longer-term threats beyond terrorism and urges allies to accept security responsibilities in line with collective defense treaties. Reports would be unclassified but may include a classified annex and would be available to any Member of Congress upon request.