PAUSE Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6991 To prohibit actions to terminate or withdraw the United States from inter- national treaties without affirmative approval from both Houses of Con- gress, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2020 Mr. PANETTA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To prohibit actions to terminate or withdraw the United States from international treaties without affirmative ap- proval from both Houses of Congress, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Actions 4 Undermining Security without Endorsement Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘PAUSE Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress makes the following findings: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6991.IH H6991 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6991 IH (1) The COVID–19 global pandemic has high- 1 lighted the need for United States leadership to ad- 2 dress the full range of international security chal- 3 lenges, which the Government of the United States 4 can do by reaffirming its steadfast commitment to 5 those mutually beneficial treaties and agreements 6 forged with its European and Indo-Pacific allies, 7 along with other states parties. 8 (2) For more than 70 years, the United States 9 has shown a bipartisan commitment to the North 10 Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), specifically to 11 the principle of collective defense enshrined in Arti- 12 cle 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, signed at Wash- 13 ington April 4, 1949. 14 (3) Section 1242 of the National Defense Au- 15 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 16 116–92) prohibited the use of funds for the United 17 States withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty in 18 recognition that the NATO alliance remains a cor- 19 nerstone for peace and prosperity throughout the 20 world. 21 (4) On January 22, 2019, the House of Rep- 22 resentatives passed H.R. 676 (116th Congress) on a 23 357–22 vote, prohibiting the use of funds for the 24 United States withdrawal from the North Atlantic 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6991.IH H6991 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6991 IH Treaty, and on December 17, 2019, the Committee 1 on Foreign Relations of the Senate reported out S.J. 2 Res. 4 (116th Congress), which if enacted into law, 3 would require approval of two-thirds of the Senate, 4 or both Houses of Congress, before the President 5 could withdraw the United States from the treaty. 6 (5) The Treaty on Open Skies, signed at Hel- 7 sinki March 24, 1992, provides a critical confidence- 8 building measure for Euro-Atlantic security to the 9 mutual benefit of the 34 States Parties to the trea- 10 ty, and the Open Skies Consultative Commission 11 (OSCC) is one of the few remaining operational dip- 12 lomatic forums from which the United States can 13 engage with the Russian Federation. 14 (6) Although the Government of the United 15 States is right to diplomatically press the Govern- 16 ment of the Russian Federation to return to full 17 compliance with its obligations under the Treaty on 18 Open Skies, withdrawal or termination of the treaty 19 would deprive United States allies and partners of 20 the benefits derived from observation missions over 21 Russian territory and Russian occupied Eastern 22 Ukraine, missions that have vastly outnumbered 23 Russian overflights of United States territory since 24 entry into force of the treaty. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6991.IH H6991 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6991 IH (7) The Mutual Defense Treaty Between the 1 United States and the Republic of Korea, signed at 2 Washington October 1, 1953, the ratification of 3 which the Senate advised and consented to on Janu- 4 ary 26, 1954, was born from mutual sacrifice during 5 the Korean War, is based on shared values and in- 6 terests, and remains critical to the national security 7 of the United States nearly 7 decades after its sign- 8 ing. 9 (8) A February 2020 report from the Depart- 10 ment of State confirmed, in part, that verifiable lim- 11 its on ‘‘Russia’s strategic nuclear force’’ under the 12 New START Treaty ‘‘currently contribute to the na- 13 tional security of the United States’’. 14 (9) A decision by the President to allow the 15 New START Treaty to expire on February 5, 2021, 16 without the United States having first successfully 17 concluded a verifiable and binding agreement in its 18 place, would lead to the United States losing visi- 19 bility into the location, movement, and disposition of 20 the strategic arsenal of the Russian Federation to 21 the detriment of the national security of the United 22 States and its allies. 23 (10) The Constitution of the United States pro- 24 vides Congress an important role in the treaty proc- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6991.IH H6991 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6991 IH ess, requiring the advice and consent of two-thirds 1 of the Senate for approval of a resolution of ratifica- 2 tion. 3 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 4 It is the sense of Congress that— 5 (1) the President should refrain from taking 6 any action to withdraw or terminate any inter- 7 national treaty to which the Senate has given its ad- 8 vice and consent to ratification without proper con- 9 sultation with, and affirmative approval from, Con- 10 gress; 11 (2) the 1979 Supreme Court decision in Gold- 12 water v. Carter, 444 U.S. 996 (1979), is not control- 13 ling legal precedent with respect to the role of Con- 14 gress in the withdrawal or termination of the United 15 States from an international treaty, as the Court di- 16 rected the lower court to dismiss the complaint and 17 did not address the constitutionality of the decision 18 by President Carter to terminate the Mutual De- 19 fense Treaty between the United States of America 20 and the Republic of China, signed at Washington 21 December 2, 1954 (commonly referred to as the 22 ‘‘Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty’’); and 23 (3) the United States should take every action 24 to reinforce its global reputation as a country that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6991.IH H6991 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6991 IH fully complies with its obligations under the inter- 1 national treaties to which it is a party. 2 SEC. 4. AFFIRMATIVE CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL FOR 3 TERMINATION OR WITHDRAWAL FROM AN 4 INTERNATIONAL TREATY. 5 No action to terminate or withdraw the United States 6 from any international treaty to which the Senate has 7 given its advice and consent to ratification may occur un- 8 less— 9 (1) the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary 10 of State meet the requirements under section 5; and 11 (2) there is enacted into law a joint resolution 12 that approves such action. 13 SEC. 5. JUSTIFICATION, CERTIFICATIONS, DETERMINA- 14 TION, AND STRATEGY ON ACTIONS TO TERMI- 15 NATE OR WITHDRAW THE UNITED STATES 16 FROM AN INTERNATIONAL TREATY. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days before 18 the provision of notice of intent to terminate or withdraw 19 the United States from any international treaty to which 20 the Senate has given its advice and consent to ratification, 21 the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State, in 22 consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, 23 shall each submit to the appropriate committees of Con- 24 gress— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6991.IH H6991 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6991 IH (1) a detailed justification for the withdrawal 1 from or termination of the treaty; 2 (2) if the justification described in paragraph 3 (1) includes that a state party to the treaty is in 4 material breach of one or more obligations under the 5 treaty, a detailed explanation of the steps taken by 6 that state party to return to compliance with such 7 obligations; 8 (3) a certification that all other state parties to 9 the treaty have been consulted with respect to the 10 justification described in paragraph (1); 11 (4) a certification that withdrawal from or ter- 12 mination of the treaty would be in the best national 13 interests of the United States; 14 (5) a certification that the United States ra- 15 tionale and all steps taken for withdrawal from the 16 treaty are made in compliance with the treaty; and 17 (6) a comprehensive strategy to mitigate 18 against lost capacity of benefits, including a super- 19 seding treaty or potential new bilateral or multilat- 20 eral confidence-building measures. 21 (b) FORM.—The submission required by subsection 22 (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may in- 23 clude a classified annex. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6991.IH H6991 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6991 IH (c) APPLICABILITY TO NEW STRATEGIC ARMS RE- 1 DUCTION TREATY.—This section shall apply to a decision 2 by the President to not renew the New START Treaty 3 for up to an additional 5 years. 4 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 5 In this Act: 6 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 7 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 8 gress’’ means— 9 (A) the Committee on Armed Services and 10 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen- 11 ate; and 12 (B) the Committee on Armed Services and 13 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 14 of Representatives. 15 (2) NEW START TREATY.—The term ‘‘New 16 START Treaty’’ means the Treaty between the 17 United States of America and the Russian Federa- 18 tion on Measures for the Further Reduction and 19 Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, signed at 20 Prague April 8, 2010. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6991.IH H6991 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS