IA 

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. 

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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•HJ 89 IH 

1 SECTION 1. OPPOSITION OF CONGRESS TO SUSPENSION, 

2 TERMINATION, DENUNCIATION, OR WITH3 DRAWAL FROM NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY. 

4 The President shall not suspend, terminate, de5 nounce, or withdraw the United States from the North 

6 Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, DC, April 4, 1949, 

7 except by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 

8 provided that two-thirds of the Senators present concur, 

9 or pursuant to an Act of Congress. 

10 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON THE USE OF FUNDS. 

11 No funds authorized or appropriated by any Act may 

12 be used to support, directly or indirectly, any decision on 

13 the part of any United States Government official to sus14 pend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States 

15 from the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, DC, 

16 April 4, 1949, until such time as both the Senate and the 

17 House of Representatives pass, by an affirmative vote of 

18 two-thirds of Members, a joint resolution approving the 

19 withdrawal of the United States from the treaty, or pursu20 ant to an Act of Congress. 

21 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF TREATY ACTION. 

22 (a) CONSULTATION.—Prior to the notification de23 scribed in subsection (b), the President shall consult with 

24 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and 

25 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep26 resentatives in relation to any initiative to suspend, termiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Sep 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ89.IH HJ89

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1 nate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the 

2 North Atlantic Treaty. 

3 (b) NOTIFICATION.—The President shall notify the 

4 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 

5 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa6 tives in writing of any deliberation or decision to suspend, 

7 terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from 

8 the North Atlantic Treaty, as soon as possible but in no 

9 event later than 180 days prior to taking such action. 

10 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF LEGAL COUNSEL TO REP11 RESENT CONGRESS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—By adoption of a resolution of the 

13 Senate or the House of Representatives, respectively, the 

14 Senate Legal Counsel or the General Counsel to the House 

15 of Representatives may be authorized to initiate, or inter16 vene in, in the name of the Senate or the House of Rep17 resentatives, as the case may be, independently, or jointly, 

18 any judicial proceedings in any Federal court of competent 

19 jurisdiction in order to oppose any action to suspend, ter20 minate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the 

21 North Atlantic Treaty in a manner inconsistent with this 

22 resolution. 

23 (b) CONSIDERATION.—Any resolution or joint resolu24 tion introduced relevant to North Atlantic Treaty-related 

25 matters and pursuant to section 4(a) of this title shall be 


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1 considered in accordance with the procedures of section 

2 601(b) of the International Security Assistance and Arms 

3 Export Control Act of 1976 (Public Law 94–329; 90 Stat. 

4 765). 

5 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

6 Any legal counsel operating pursuant to section 4 

7 shall report as soon as practicable to the Committee on 

8 Foreign Relations of the Senate or the Committee on For9 eign Affairs of the House of Representatives with respect 

10 to any judicial proceedings which the Senate Legal Coun11 sel or the General Counsel to the House of Representa12 tives, as the case may be, initiates or in which it intervenes 

13 pursuant to section 4. 

14 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

15 Nothing in this resolution shall be construed to au16 thorize, imply, or otherwise indicate that the President 

17 may suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw from any 

18 treaty to which the Senate has provided its advice and con19 sent without the advice and consent of the Senate to such 

20 act or pursuant to an Act of Congress. 

21 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

22 If any provision of this resolution or the application 

23 of such provision is held by a Federal court to be unconsti24 tutional, the remainder of this resolution and the applicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Sep 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ89.IH HJ89

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1 tion of such provisions to any other person or cir2 cumstance shall not be affected thereby. 

3 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this resolution, the terms ‘‘withdrawal’’, ‘‘denun5 ciation’’, ‘‘suspension’’, and ‘‘termination’’ have the mean6 ing given the terms in the Vienna Convention on the Law 

7 of Treaties, concluded at Vienna May 23, 1969. 

Æ 


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