[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7220 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7220

  To require the Secretary of State to publish a quarterly assessment 
         regarding the Paris Agreement, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 6, 2018

 Mr. McEachin (for himself and Mr. Schneider) introduced the following 
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Secretary of State to publish a quarterly assessment 
         regarding the Paris Agreement, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Produce All Relevant Information to 
Safeguard Climate Act'' or the ``PARIS Climate Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the policy of the United States should reflect and 
        respond to the findings of the Fourth National Climate 
        Assessment, which states that ``the warming trend observed over 
        the past century can only be explained by the effects that 
        human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, 
        have had on the climate'', that ``the evidence of human-caused 
        climate change is overwhelming'', that ``climate-related 
        threats to Americans' physical, social, and economic well-being 
        are rising'', and that ``without substantial and sustained 
        reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions . . . annual 
        losses in some economic sectors are projected to reach hundreds 
        of billions of dollars by the end of the century'', in some 
        scenarios reducing gross domestic product by as much as 10 
        percent;
            (2) the President and Congress, in formulating a policy 
        response to the findings of the National Climate Assessment, 
        should fully address all of the threats contemplated in such 
        Assessment, including the increasing frequency of heat waves, 
        floods, wildfires, and other extreme weather events, increasing 
        scarcity of water, expanded territory for certain infectious 
        diseases, and diminishing air quality, and should be mindful of 
        low-income communities, communities of color, or other 
        vulnerable populations that are disproportionately impacted by 
        climate change; and
            (3) in order to best minimize or prevent the harms of which 
        the National Climate Assessment warns, the Federal Government 
        must join with other governments in a concerted global effort 
        to swiftly curtail greenhouse gas and meet the goals 
        established by the Paris Agreement.

SEC. 3. QUARTERLY ASSESSMENTS REGARDING THE PARIS AGREEMENT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act and quarterly thereafter, the Secretary of State 
shall publish on a publicly available website of the Department of 
State and submit to the appropriate congressional committees an 
assessment that addresses each of the following matters regarding the 
Paris Agreement:
            (1) How many parties to the Paris Agreement have formally 
        indicated an intent to withdraw from such Agreement.
            (2) Whether the Department has a reasonable expectation 
        that any of the parties referred to in paragraph (1) may pursue 
        withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in the next year, and if 
        so, an identification of such parties and the motives for such 
        withdrawal.
            (3) Whether the United States has established specific 
        terms for re-engagement with the Paris Agreement, per stated 
        Administration policy at the United Nations 
        (C.N.464.2017.TREATIES-XXVII.7.d) on August 4, 2017.
    (b) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) in the House of Representatives--
                            (i) the Committee on Foreign Affairs;
                            (ii) the Committee on Armed Services;
                            (iii) the Committee on Natural Resources;
                            (iv) the Committee on Science, Space, and 
                        Technology; and
                            (v) the Committee on Energy and Commerce; 
                        and
                    (B) in the Senate--
                            (i) the Committee on Foreign Relations;
                            (ii) the Committee on Armed Services;
                            (iii) the Committee on the Environment and 
                        Public Works;
                            (iv) the Committee on Health, Education, 
                        Labor, and Pensions; and
                            (v) the Committee on Energy and Natural 
                        Resources.
            (2) Paris agreement.--The term ``Paris Agreement'' means 
        the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's 
        21st Conference of Parties in Paris, France, adopted December 
        12, 2015.
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