I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5149 

To prohibit actions to suspend, terminate, or withdraw the United States 

from the Open Skies Treaty. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 

Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. BACON, Mr. HASTINGS, and Mr. FORTENBERRY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit actions to suspend, terminate, or withdraw the 

United States from the Open Skies Treaty. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open Skies Treaty 

5 Stability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Open Skies Treaty is a vital component 

9 of joint international arms control agreements. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 5149 IH

1 (2) The Open Skies Treaty provides signatories 

2 with the ability to conduct short-notice, unarmed re3 connaissance flights over the territories of other sig4 natories to gather information through aerial imag5 ing on military forces and activities of concern. 

6 (3) The Open Skies Treaty aims to build con7 fidence among signatories through participation in 

8 overflights. 

9 (4) Open Skies Treaty observation missions 

10 contribute to greater transparency and stability in 

11 the Euro-Atlantic region, benefitting both the 

12 United States and United States allies and partners. 

13 (5) In May 2018, Secretary of Defense Jim 

14 Mattis affirmed the Open Skies Treaty is an impor15 tant mechanism for engaging with United States al16 lies and partners, and it is in our Nation’s best in17 terest to remain a party to the Open Skies Treaty. 

18 (6) In December 2018, the United States, along 

19 with Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Ger20 many, and Romania, demonstrated that Open Skies 

21 Treaty mechanisms can be used during times of cri22 sis. 

23 (7) Following Russia’s unprovoked attack on 

24 Ukrainian vessels near the Kerch Strait, the United 

25 States and United States allies conducted an ‘‘exVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5149.IH H5149

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 5149 IH

1 traordinary’’ Open Skies Treaty observation mission 

2 over Ukraine to reaffirm commitment to Ukraine. 

3 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 It is the sense of Congress that— 

5 (1) the United States should forcefully address 

6 Russian violations of its obligations under the Open 

7 Skies Treaty; 

8 (2) due to the significant benefits that observa9 tion missions under the Open Skies Treaty provide 

10 to the United States and United States allies, the 

11 United States should commit to continued participa12 tion in the Treaty; and 

13 (3) the President should not withdraw the 

14 United States from the Open Skies Treaty. 

15 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

16 It is the policy of the United States— 

17 (1) to continue to fulfill its obligations under 

18 the Open Skies Treaty; and 

19 (2) consistent with section 5, to reject any ef20 forts to withdraw the United States from the Open 

21 Skies Treaty, or to indirectly withdraw from the 

22 Open Skies Treaty in a manner that creates a de 

23 facto withdrawal. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 5149 IH

1 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON ACTIONS TO SUSPEND, TERMI2 NATE, OR WITHDRAW THE UNITED STATES 

3 FROM THE OPEN SKIES TREATY. 

4 The President may not take any action to suspend, 

5 terminate, or withdraw the United States from the Open 

6 Skies Treaty unless, not later than 180 days before such 

7 action is to take effect, the Secretary of Defense and the 

8 Secretary of State jointly determine and certify to the ap9 propriate congressional committees that— 

10 (1) Russia is in material breach of its obliga11 tions under the Open Skies Treaty and is not taking 

12 steps to return to compliance with such obligations, 

13 and all other state parties to the Open Skies Treaty 

14 have been consulted with respect to such determina15 tion of the Secretaries; 

16 (2) withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty 

17 would be in the best interests of United States na18 tional security and the other state parties to the 

19 Open Skies Treaty have been consulted with respect 

20 to such withdrawal; and 

21 (3) a comprehensive strategy to mitigate 

22 against reduced military transparency, including po23 tential new multilateral confidence building meas24 ures, has been developed. 

25 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

26 In this Act: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 5149 IH

1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the congressional defense committees 

5 (as such term is defined in section 101 of title 

6 10, United States Code); and 

7 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

8 the House of Representatives and the Com9 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

10 (2) OPEN SKIES TREATY; TREATY.—The term 

11 ‘‘Open Skies Treaty’’ or ‘‘Treaty’’ means the Treaty 

12 on Open Skies, done at Helsinki March 24, 1992, 

13 and entered into force January 1, 2002. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS