July 31 this year Deputy Minister Szatkowski, on behalf of Mariusz Błaszczak, the minister of national defense, met, among others with Congressman H. Rogers, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations in the years 2011-2016 and its current President R. Frelinghuysen. The meeting was also attended by S. Womack, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on the Budget.

Deputy Minister Szatkowski thanked the congressmen for the activities of the Congress supporting the increased presence of American troops on the eastern flank of NATO, which is, among others, reflected in the financing of this commitment growing year by year.

He also expressed his appreciation for including in the National Defense Authorization Act for 2019 of the provisions regarding the commitment of the Department of Defense to investigate the possibility of permanent deployment of US troops in Poland.

During the talks, the deputy minister referred to the letter to the US Secretary of Defense signed last week by a group of congressmen, at the initiative of the Congressman Ch. Smith, supporting our offer to establish a permanent presence of US forces in Poland.

The delegation of the Congress expressed a positive opinion on the level of strategic relations and highly appreciated Poland's attitude as a reliable ally of the United States.

In addition to issues related to the prospects of increasing the presence of US troops in Poland, cooperation in the technical modernization of the Polish Armed Forces was also discussed.