Maintaining United States National Security Interests in Europe Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4016 To reiterate the support of Congress for the relationship between the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany, to prevent the weakening of the deterrence capacity of the United States in Europe, to prohibit use of funds to withdraw the United States Armed Forces from Europe, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 18, 2020 Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To reiterate the support of Congress for the relationship between the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany, to prevent the weakening of the deterrence capacity of the United States in Europe, to prohibit use of funds to withdraw the United States Armed Forces from Europe, 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 ‘‘Maintaining United 4 States National Security Interests in Europe Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4016.IS S4016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4016 IS SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 2 ings: 3 (1) The 2017 National Security Strategy states, 4 ‘‘[t]he United States will deepen collaboration with 5 our European allies and partners to confront forces 6 threatening to undermine our common values, secu- 7 rity interests, and shared vision. The United States 8 and Europe will work together to counter Russian 9 subversion and aggression, and the threats posed by 10 North Korea and Iran. We will continue to advance 11 our shared principles and interests in international 12 forums.’’. 13 (2) After the end of World War II, the presence 14 of foreign military forces in Germany was governed 15 by a law signed in April 1949 that allowed France, 16 the United Kingdom, and the United States to re- 17 tain forces in Germany. 18 (3) The initial law was succeeded by the Con- 19 vention on the Presence of Foreign Forces in the 20 Federal Republic of Germany, signed at Paris on 21 October 23, 1954, allowing eight North Atlantic 22 Treaty Organization (NATO) members, specifically 23 Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, 24 the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4016.IS S4016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4016 IS United States, to maintain a long-term presence of 1 military forces in the Federal Republic of Germany. 2 (4) The Federal Republic of Germany has made 3 significant contributions to the North Atlantic Trea- 4 ty Organization alliance, and by hosting the largest 5 United States Armed Forces presence in Europe, the 6 Federal Republic of Germany has borne a significant 7 burden in the interest of collective security. 8 (5) As of June 2020, the United States pres- 9 ence in various locations in the Federal Republic of 10 Germany, including in Stuttgart at the United 11 States European Command and the United States 12 Africa Command, consists of— 13 (A) approximately— 14 (i) 35,000 members of the Armed 15 Forces; 16 (ii) 10,000 Department of Defense ci- 17 vilian employees; and 18 (iii) 2,000 defense contractors; 19 (B) personnel of the Department of State 20 and other United States Government agencies; 21 and 22 (C) the dependents of individuals described 23 in subparagraphs (A) and (B). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4016.IS S4016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4016 IS (6) The United States presence in Europe, in- 1 cluding in the Federal Republic of Germany— 2 (A) protects and defends the United States 3 and United States allies and partners by deter- 4 ring conflict with the Russian Federation and 5 other adversaries; 6 (B) strengthens and supports the North 7 Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance and crit- 8 ical partnerships in Europe; and 9 (C) serves as an essential support platform 10 for carrying out vital national security engage- 11 ments in Afghanistan, the Middle East, Africa, 12 and Europe. 13 (7) The deep bilateral ties between the United 14 States and the Federal Republic of Germany have 15 led to decades of economic prosperity for both coun- 16 tries and their allies and have strengthened human 17 rights and democracy around the world. 18 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 19 gress that— 20 (1) the United States should continue to main- 21 tain and strengthen the bilateral relationship with 22 the Federal Republic of Germany and the relation- 23 ships with other European allies; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4016.IS S4016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4016 IS (2) the United States should maintain a robust 1 military presence in the Federal Republic of Ger- 2 many so as to deter further aggression from the 3 Russian Federation or aggression from other adver- 4 saries against the United States and its allies and 5 partners; and 6 (3) the United States should remain committed 7 to strong collaboration with European allies as out- 8 lined in the 2017 National Security Strategy. 9 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS TO WITHDRAW 10 THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM 11 EUROPE. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 13 (b), notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Fed- 14 eral funds are authorized to be appropriated, obligated, 15 expended, or otherwise made available to take any ac- 16 tion— 17 (1) to withdraw or otherwise reduce the overall 18 presence, including the rotational presence, of 19 United States Armed Forces personnel and civilian 20 employees of the Department of Defense in Europe; 21 (2) to close or change the status of any base or 22 other facility of the United States Armed Forces lo- 23 cated in Europe; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4016.IS S4016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4016 IS (3) to withdraw or otherwise reduce the overall 1 presence of United States Armed Forces assets in 2 Europe. 3 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibition under subsection 4 (a) shall not apply if— 5 (1) the host government transmits to the 6 United States Government a written request for 7 such a withdrawal or other reduction; or 8 (2)(A) the President declares the intent to take 9 an action described in subsection (a); 10 (B) not later 180 days before initiating an ac- 11 tion described in subsection (a), the President sub- 12 mits to the appropriate committees of Congress no- 13 tice of such intent that includes— 14 (i) a justification for the action; 15 (ii) the number of members of the United 16 States Armed Forces or civilian employees of 17 the Department of Defense to be withdrawn or 18 reduced, as applicable; 19 (iii) a description of the United States 20 Armed Forces assets to be withdrawn or re- 21 duced, as applicable; 22 (iv) a description of any base or facility of 23 the United States Armed Forces in Europe to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4016.IS S4016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4016 IS be subject to closure or change of status, as ap- 1 plicable; 2 (v) an explanation of the national security 3 benefit of the action to the United States and 4 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; and 5 (vi) a plan to offset the reduction in 6 United States and North Atlantic Treaty Orga- 7 nization conventional deterrence against Rus- 8 sian Federation aggression caused by the ac- 9 tion; and 10 (C) the action is expressly authorized by a joint 11 resolution of Congress or an Act of Congress en- 12 acted after the date of the declaration described in 13 subparagraph (A). 14 (c) PUBLIC TESTIMONY.—Not later than 14 days 15 after the submittal of the notice required by subparagraph 16 (B), the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense 17 shall testify before the appropriate committees of Congress 18 in public session on such withdrawal or reduction. 19 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON DECISION TO WITH- 20 DRAW THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES 21 FROM GERMANY. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 23 date of the enactment of this Act, the President, in con- 24 sultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of De- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4016.IS S4016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4016 IS fense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall 1 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress, a re- 2 port that details the decisionmaking process used to arrive 3 at the decision to withdraw members of the Armed Forces 4 from the Federal Republic of Germany announced on 5 June 15, 2020. 6 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 7 (a) shall include the following: 8 (1) An assessment of whether any withdrawal 9 of or reduction in United States Armed Forces per- 10 sonnel in the Federal Republic of Germany was or- 11 dered by a Presidential directive. 12 (2) A description of the interagency process un- 13 dertaken to inform the decision outlined in any such 14 Presidential directive or other document calling for 15 such a withdrawal or reduction. 16 (3) A description of the communications with 17 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Govern- 18 ment of the Federal Republic of Germany, or other 19 North Atlantic Treaty Organization member coun- 20 tries about the potential decision to change United 21 States force posture in the Federal Republic of Ger- 22 many. 23 (4) An analysis of the United States national 24 security implications of the proposed withdrawal or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4016.IS S4016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4016 IS reduction of United States Armed Forces presence 1 in the Federal Republic of Germany. 2 SEC. 5. APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE- 3 FINED. 4 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate committees of 5 Congress’’ means— 6 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 7 Committee on Armed Services, the Select Committee 8 on Intelligence, and the Committee on Appropria- 9 tions of the Senate; and 10 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 11 Committee on Armed Services, the Permanent Select 12 Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on 13 Appropriations of the House of Representatives. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4016.IS S4016 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS