[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 89 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. J. RES. 89

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 2023

Ms. McClellan (for herself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Turner, 
  Ms. Adams, Ms. Norton, Ms. Porter, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. 
Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Peters, Mr. Schiff, Mrs. Watson 
    Coleman, Mr. Costa, Mr. Gallego, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Allred, Mr. 
    Magaziner, Ms. Wexton, Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia, Mr. Larsen of 
Washington, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. McCormick, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Cleaver, 
 Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms. Spanberger, and Ms. Ross) submitted the 
  following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
   Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                            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.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. OPPOSITION OF CONGRESS TO SUSPENSION, TERMINATION, 
              DENUNCIATION, OR WITHDRAWAL FROM NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY.

    The President shall not suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw 
the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, 
DC, April 4, 1949, except by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, provided that two-thirds of the Senators present concur, or 
pursuant to an Act of Congress.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON THE USE OF FUNDS.

    No funds authorized or appropriated by any Act may be used to 
support, directly or indirectly, any decision on the part of any United 
States Government official to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw 
the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, 
DC, April 4, 1949, until such time as both the Senate and the House of 
Representatives pass, by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of Members, 
a joint resolution approving the withdrawal of the United States from 
the treaty, or pursuant to an Act of Congress.

SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF TREATY ACTION.

    (a) Consultation.--Prior to the notification described in 
subsection (b), the President shall consult with the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives in relation to any initiative to suspend, 
terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North 
Atlantic Treaty.
    (b) Notification.--The President shall notify the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives in writing of any deliberation or decision 
to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the 
North Atlantic Treaty, as soon as possible but in no event later than 
180 days prior to taking such action.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF LEGAL COUNSEL TO REPRESENT CONGRESS.

    (a) In General.--By adoption of a resolution of the Senate or the 
House of Representatives, respectively, the Senate Legal Counsel or the 
General Counsel to the House of Representatives may be authorized to 
initiate, or intervene in, in the name of the Senate or the House of 
Representatives, as the case may be, independently, or jointly, any 
judicial proceedings in any Federal court of competent jurisdiction in 
order to oppose any action to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw 
the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty in a manner 
inconsistent with this resolution.
    (b) Consideration.--Any resolution or joint resolution introduced 
relevant to North Atlantic Treaty-related matters and pursuant to 
section 4(a) of this title shall be considered in accordance with the 
procedures of section 601(b) of the International Security Assistance 
and Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-329; 90 Stat. 765).

SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

    Any legal counsel operating pursuant to section 4 shall report as 
soon as practicable to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 
or the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
with respect to any judicial proceedings which the Senate Legal Counsel 
or the General Counsel to the House of Representatives, as the case may 
be, initiates or in which it intervenes pursuant to section 4.

SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this resolution shall be construed to authorize, imply, 
or otherwise indicate that the President may suspend, terminate, 
denounce, or withdraw from any treaty to which the Senate has provided 
its advice and consent without the advice and consent of the Senate to 
such act or pursuant to an Act of Congress.

SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this resolution or the application of such 
provision is held by a Federal court to be unconstitutional, the 
remainder of this resolution and the application of such provisions to 
any other person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

    In this resolution, the terms ``withdrawal'', ``denunciation'', 
``suspension'', and ``termination'' have the meaning given the terms in 
the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, concluded at Vienna May 
23, 1969.
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