A joint resolution requiring the advice and consent of the Senate or an Act of Congress to suspend, terminate, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty and authorizing related litigation, and for other purposes.

IIA Calendar No. 337 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. J. RES. 17 Requiring the advice and consent of the Senate or an Act of Congress to suspend, terminate, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty and authorizing related litigation, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 15, 2021 Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. COONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MORAN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. ROMNEY) introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Foreign Relations APRIL 6, 2022 Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, with an amendment [Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic] JOINT RESOLUTION Requiring the advice and consent of the Senate or an Act of Congress to suspend, terminate, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty and au- thorizing related litigation, and for other purposes. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 1 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Apr 07, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SJ17.RS SJ17 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •SJ 17 RS SECTION 1. OPPOSITION OF CONGRESS TO SUSPENSION, 1 TERMINATION, DENUNCIATION, OR WITH- 2 DRAWAL FROM NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY. 3 The President shall not suspend, terminate, de- 4 nounce, or withdraw the United States from the North 5 Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, DC, April 4, 1949, 6 except by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 7 provided that two-thirds of the Senators present concur, 8 or pursuant to an Act of Congress. 9 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON THE USE OF FUNDS. 10 No funds authorized or appropriated by any Act may 11 be used to support, directly or indirectly, any efforts on 12 the part of any United States Government official to take 13 steps to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the 14 United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, done at 15 Washington, DC, April 4, 1949, until such time as both 16 the Senate and the House of Representatives pass, by an 17 affirmative vote of two-thirds of Members, a joint resolu- 18 tion approving the withdrawal of the United States from 19 the treaty or pursuant to an Act of Congress. 20 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF TREATY ACTION. 21 The President shall notify the Committee on Foreign 22 Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign 23 Affairs of the House of Representatives in writing of any 24 effort to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the 25 United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, as soon 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Apr 07, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\SJ17.RS SJ17 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •SJ 17 RS as possible but in no event later than 48 hours after any 1 such action is taken. 2 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF LEGAL COUNSEL TO REP- 3 RESENT CONGRESS. 4 Both the Senate Legal Counsel and the General 5 Counsel to the House of Representatives are authorized 6 to independently or collectively represent Congress in initi- 7 ating or intervening in any judicial proceedings in any 8 Federal court of competent jurisdiction on behalf of Con- 9 gress in order to oppose any effort to suspend, terminate, 10 denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North 11 Atlantic Treaty in a manner inconsistent with this joint 12 resolution. 13 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 14 Any legal counsel operating pursuant to section 4 15 shall report as soon as practicable to the Committee on 16 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on 17 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives with re- 18 spect to any judicial proceedings which the Senate Legal 19 Counsel or the General Counsel to the House of Rep- 20 resentatives, as the case may be, initiates or in which it 21 intervenes pursuant to section 4. 22 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 23 In this resolution, the terms ‘‘withdrawal’’, ‘‘denun- 24 ciation’’, ‘‘suspension’’, and ‘‘termination’’ have the mean- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Apr 07, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\SJ17.RS SJ17 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •SJ 17 RS ing given the terms in the Vienna Convention on the Law 1 of Treaties, concluded at Vienna May 23, 1969. 2 SECTION 1. OPPOSITION OF CONGRESS TO SUSPENSION, 3 TERMINATION, DENUNCIATION, OR WITH- 4 DRAWAL FROM NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY. 5 The President shall not suspend, terminate, denounce, 6 or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic 7 Treaty, done at Washington, DC, April 4, 1949, except by 8 and with the advice and consent of the Senate, provided 9 that two-thirds of the Senators present concur, or pursuant 10 to an Act of Congress. 11 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON THE USE OF FUNDS. 12 No funds authorized or appropriated by any Act may 13 be used to support, directly or indirectly, any efforts on the 14 part of any United States Government official to take steps 15 to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United 16 States from the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, 17 DC, April 4, 1949, until such time as both the Senate and 18 the House of Representatives pass, by an affirmative vote 19 of two-thirds of Members, a joint resolution approving the 20 withdrawal of the United States from the treaty or pursu- 21 ant to an Act of Congress. 22 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF TREATY ACTION. 23 (a) CONSULTATION.—Prior to the notification de- 24 scribed in subsection (b), the President shall consult with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Apr 07, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\SJ17.RS SJ17 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •SJ 17 RS the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 1 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa- 2 tives in relation to any effort to suspend, terminate, de- 3 nounce, or withdraw the United States from the North At- 4 lantic Treaty. 5 (b) NOTIFICATION.—The President shall notify the 6 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Com- 7 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 8 in writing of any effort to suspend, terminate, denounce, 9 or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic 10 Treaty, as soon as possible but in no event later than 180 11 days prior to taking such action. 12 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF LEGAL COUNSEL TO REP- 13 RESENT CONGRESS. 14 Both the Senate Legal Counsel and the General Coun- 15 sel to the House of Representatives are authorized to inde- 16 pendently or collectively represent Congress in initiating or 17 intervening in any judicial proceedings in any Federal 18 court of competent jurisdiction on behalf of Congress in 19 order to oppose any effort to suspend, terminate, denounce, 20 or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic 21 Treaty in a manner inconsistent with this joint resolution. 22 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 23 Any legal counsel operating pursuant to section 4 shall 24 report as soon as practicable to the Committee on Foreign 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Apr 07, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\SJ17.RS SJ17 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •SJ 17 RS Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Af- 1 fairs of the House of Representatives with respect to any 2 judicial proceedings which the Senate Legal Counsel or the 3 General Counsel to the House of Representatives, as the case 4 may be, initiates or in which it intervenes pursuant to sec- 5 tion 4. 6 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 7 Nothing in this resolution shall be construed to author- 8 ize, imply, or otherwise indicate that the President may 9 suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw from any treaty 10 to which the Senate has provided its advice and consent 11 without the advice and consent of the Senate to such act 12 or pursuant to an Act of Congress. 13 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 14 If any provision of this resolution or the application 15 of such provision is held by a Federal court to be unconsti- 16 tutional, the remainder of this resolution and the applica- 17 tion of the provisions of such to any person or circumstance 18 shall not be affected thereby. 19 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 20 In this resolution, the terms ‘‘withdrawal’’, ‘‘denuncia- 21 tion’’, ‘‘suspension’’, and ‘‘termination’’ have the meaning 22 given the terms in the Vienna Convention on the Law of 23 Treaties, concluded at Vienna May 23, 1969. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Apr 07, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\SJ17.RS SJ17 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Apr 07, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\SJ17.RS SJ17 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 337 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. J. RES. 17 JOINT RESOLUTION Requiring the advice and consent of the Senate or an Act of Congress to suspend, terminate, or withdraw the United States from the North At- lantic Treaty and authorizing related litigation, and for other purposes. APRIL 6, 2022 Reported with an amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Apr 07, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\SJ17.RS SJ17 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS