[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4020 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4020

          To prevent an unconstitutional war with North Korea.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 22, 2020

  Mr. Markey (for himself, Ms. Warren, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Sanders) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
          To prevent an unconstitutional war with North Korea.

    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 ``No Unconstitutional War with North 
Korea Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The President is currently prohibited from initiating a 
        war or launching a first strike without congressional approval 
        under the United States Constitution and United States law.
            (2) The Constitution, in Article I, Section 8, grants 
        Congress the sole power to declare war.
            (3) George Washington, in a letter to William Moultrie 
        dated August 28, 1793, wrote, ``The constitution vests the 
        power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive 
        expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they 
        shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a 
        measure.''
            (4) In Examination Number 1 of the Hamilton Papers, dated 
        December 17, 1801, Alexander Hamilton wrote, ```The Congress 
        shall have the power to declare war'; the plain meaning of 
        which is, that it is the peculiar and exclusive duty of 
        Congress, when the nation is at peace, to change that state 
        into a state of war.''
            (5) James Madison wrote, in Madison Papers, Helvidius, 
        Number 4, dated September 14, 1793, ``The power to declare war, 
        including the power of judging the causes of war, is fully and 
        exclusively vested in the legislature . . . the executive has 
        no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is 
        or is not cause for declaring war.''
            (6) Section 2(c) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 
        1541(c)) states that ``the constitutional powers of the 
        President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States 
        Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where 
        imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the 
        circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration 
        of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national 
        emergency created by attack upon the United States, its 
        territories or possessions, or its armed forces''.
            (7) On April 12, 2018, then-Director of the Central 
        Intelligence Agency, Mike Pompeo, testified before the 
        Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate that he believed 
        the President had the authority to send United States military 
        forces into action even if none of the qualifications of 
        section 2(c) of the War Powers Resolution are met.
            (8) On February 13, 2020, a bipartisan majority in the 
        Senate directed the President to remove Armed Forces from 
        hostilities against Iran or any part of its government or 
        military, unless otherwise explicitly authorized by Congress, 
        following passage of a similar measure in the House of 
        Representatives on January 9, 2020.
            (9) The United States has approximately 28,500 members of 
        the Armed Forces stationed in Korea, and over 100,000 United 
        States citizens in total, all of whom would be placed in grave 
        danger if an active military conflict on the Korean Peninsula 
        were to erupt.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON UNCONSTITUTIONAL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST NORTH 
              KOREA.

    (a) Prohibition of Authorized Military Force In or Against North 
Korea.--Except as provided in subsection (b), no Federal funds may be 
obligated or expended for any use of military force in or against North 
Korea unless Congress has--
            (1) declared war; or
            (2) enacted specific statutory authorization for such use 
        of military force after the date of the enactment of this Act 
        that meets the requirements of the War Powers Resolution (50 
        U.S.C. 1541 et seq.).
    (b) Exception.--The prohibition under subsection (a) shall not 
apply to a use of military force that is consistent with section 2(c) 
of the War Powers Resolution.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed--
            (1) to prevent the President from using necessary and 
        appropriate force to defend United States allies and partners 
        if Congress enacts specific statutory authorization for such 
        use of force consistent with the requirements of the War Powers 
        Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.);
            (2) to relieve the executive branch of restrictions on the 
        use of force, reporting, or consultation requirements set forth 
        in the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.); or
            (3) to authorize the use of military force.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS IN SUPPORT OF DIPLOMATIC RESOLUTION TO 
              GROWING TENSIONS WITH NORTH KOREA.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) a conflict on the Korean peninsula would have 
        catastrophic consequences for the American people, for members 
        of the United States Armed Forces stationed in the region, for 
        United States interests, for United States allies the Republic 
        of Korea and Japan, for the long-suffering people of North 
        Korea, and for global peace and security more broadly, and that 
        actions and statements that increase tensions and could lead to 
        miscalculation should be avoided; and
            (2) the President, in coordination with United States 
        allies, should explore and pursue every feasible opportunity to 
        engage in talks with the Government of North Korea on concrete 
        steps to reduce tensions and improve communication, and to 
        reinvigorate high-level negotiations aimed at achieving a 
        diplomatic agreement consistent with the June 12, 2018, Joint 
        Statement of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of 
        America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People's 
        Republic of Korea at the Singapore Summit.
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