II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4304 

To prohibit actions to terminate or withdraw the United States from certain 

international agreements without a joint resolution of approval, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2020 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mr. VAN HOLLEN)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To prohibit actions to terminate or withdraw the United 

States from certain international agreements without a 

joint resolution of approval, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Preventing Actions 

5 Undermining Security without Endorsement Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘PAUSE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The COVID–19 global pandemic has high2 lighted the need for United States leadership to ad3 dress the full range of international security chal4 lenges, which the Government of the United States 

5 can do by reaffirming its steadfast commitment to 

6 those mutually beneficial treaties and agreements 

7 forged with its European and Indo-Pacific allies, 

8 along with other states parties. 

9 (2) For more than 70 years, the United States 

10 has shown a bipartisan commitment to the North 

11 Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), specifically to 

12 the principle of collective defense enshrined in Arti13 cle 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, signed at Wash14 ington April 4, 1949. 

15 (3) Section 1242 of the National Defense Au16 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 

17 116–92) prohibited the use of funds for the United 

18 States withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty in 

19 recognition that the NATO alliance remains a cor20 nerstone for peace and prosperity throughout the 

21 world. 

22 (4) On January 22, 2019, the House of Rep23 resentatives passed H.R. 676 (116th Congress) on a 

24 357–22 vote, prohibiting the use of funds for the 

25 United States withdrawal from the North Atlantic 


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1 Treaty, and on December 17, 2019, the Committee 

2 on Foreign Relations of the Senate reported out 

3 S.J. Res. 4 (116th Congress), which, if enacted into 

4 law, would require approval of two-thirds of the Sen5 ate, or both Houses of Congress, before the Presi6 dent could withdraw the United States from the 

7 treaty. 

8 (5) The Treaty on Open Skies provides a crit9 ical confidence-building measure for Euro-Atlantic 

10 security to the mutual benefit of the 34 States Par11 ties to the treaty, and the Open Skies Consultative 

12 Commission (OSCC) is one of the few remaining 

13 operational diplomatic forums from which the 

14 United States can engage with the Russian Federa15 tion. 

16 (6) Although the Government of the United 

17 States is right to diplomatically press the Govern18 ment of the Russian Federation to return to full 

19 compliance with its obligations under the Treaty on 

20 Open Skies, withdrawal or termination of the treaty 

21 would deprive United States allies and partners of 

22 the benefits derived from observation missions over 

23 Russian territory and Russian-occupied Eastern 

24 Ukraine, missions that have vastly outnumbered 


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1 Russian overflights of United States territory since 

2 entry into force of the treaty. 

3 (7) On May 22, 2020, President Trump sub4 mitted notice of the decision to withdraw the United 

5 States from the Treaty on Open Skies, and, in doing 

6 so, failed to comply with section 1234(a) of the Na7 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

8 2020 (Public Law 116–92), requiring the President 

9 to provide notification to Congress 120 days before 

10 the provision of notice of intent to withdraw the 

11 United States from that treaty. 

12 (8) On July 7, 2020, Secretary of State Mike 

13 Pompeo formally submitted a notice of the United 

14 States decision to withdraw from the World Health 

15 Organization, which, if such decision takes effect 1 

16 year after that date and in accordance with other re17 quirements under law, will deprive the World Health 

18 Organization of robust financial and technical con19 tributions from the United States needed to 

20 strengthen the global response to the COVID–19 

21 pandemic and address other health challenges. 

22 (9) The Mutual Defense Treaty Between the 

23 United States and the Republic of Korea, signed at 

24 Washington October 1, 1953, the ratification of 

25 which the Senate advised and consented to on JanuVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4304.IS S4304

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1 ary 26, 1954, was born from mutual sacrifice during 

2 the Korean War, is based on shared values and in3 terests, and remains critical to the national security 

4 of the United States nearly 7 decades after its sign5 ing. 

6 (10) A February 2020 report from the Depart7 ment of State confirmed, in part, that verifiable lim8 its on ‘‘Russia’s strategic nuclear force’’ under the 

9 New START Treaty ‘‘currently contribute to the na10 tional security of the United States’’. 

11 (11) A decision by the President to allow the 

12 New START Treaty to expire on February 5, 2021, 

13 without the United States having first successfully 

14 concluded a verifiable and binding agreement in its 

15 place, would lead to the United States losing visi16 bility into the location, movement, and disposition of 

17 the strategic arsenal of the Russian Federation to 

18 the detriment of the national security of the United 

19 States and its allies. 

20 (12) The Constitution of the United States pro21 vides Congress an important role in the treaty proc22 ess, requiring the advice and consent of two-thirds 

23 of the Senate for approval of a resolution of ratifica24 tion. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON4 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con5 gress’’ means— 

6 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

7 Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Com8 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen9 sions of the Senate; and 

10 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

11 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Com12 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of 

13 Representatives. 

14 (2) CONSTITUTION OF THE WORLD HEALTH

15 ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘Constitution of the 

16 World Health Organization’’ means the Constitution 

17 of the World Health Organization, done at New 

18 York July 22, 1946 (62 Stat. 2679; TIAS 1808). 

19 (3) COVERED INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT.— 

20 The term ‘‘covered international agreement’’ 

21 means— 

22 (A) any international treaty to which the 

23 Senate has given its advice and consent to rati24 fication; or 

25 (B) the Constitution of the World Health 

26 Organization. 


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1 (4) NEW START TREATY.—The term ‘‘New 

2 START Treaty’’ means the Treaty between the 

3 United States of America and the Russian Federa4 tion on Measures for the Further Reduction and 

5 Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, signed at 

6 Prague April 8, 2010 (TIAS 11–205). 

7 (5) TREATY ON OPEN SKIES.—The term ‘‘Trea8 ty on Open Skies’’ means the Treaty on Open Skies, 

9 signed at Helsinki March 24, 1992. 

10 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

11 It is the sense of Congress that— 

12 (1) the President should refrain from taking 

13 any action to withdraw or terminate any covered 

14 international agreement without proper consultation 

15 with, and affirmative approval from, Congress; 

16 (2) the 1979 Supreme Court decision in Gold17 water v. Carter, 444 U.S. 996 (1979), is not control18 ling legal precedent with respect to the role of Con19 gress in the withdrawal or termination of the United 

20 States from an international treaty, as the Court di21 rected the lower court to dismiss the complaint and 

22 did not address the constitutionality of the decision 

23 by President Carter to terminate the Mutual De24 fense Treaty between the United States of America 

25 and the Republic of China, signed at Washington 


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1 December 2, 1954 (commonly referred to as the 

2 ‘‘Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty’’); 

3 (3) the United States should take every action 

4 to reinforce its global reputation as a country that 

5 fully complies with its obligations under the inter6 national treaties to which it is a party; and 

7 (4) although Congress authorized the President 

8 to accept membership for the United States to the 

9 World Health Organization in 1948 through the 

10 Joint Resolution entitled ‘‘Joint Resolution pro11 viding for membership and participation by the 

12 United States in the World Health Organization and 

13 authorizing an appropriation therefor’’, approved 

14 June 14, 1948 (22 U.S.C. 290 et seq.), that Resolu15 tion did not address whether affirmative approval by 

16 both Houses of Congress may be required for a 

17 United States withdrawal from the Constitution of 

18 the World Health Organization to take effect. 

19 SEC. 5. JOINT RESOLUTION OF APPROVAL FOR TERMI20 NATION OR WITHDRAWAL FROM CERTAIN 

21 INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS. 

22 No action to terminate or withdraw the United States 

23 from any covered international agreement may occur un24 less— 


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1 (1) the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary 

2 of State, or the Secretary of Health and Human 

3 Services in the case of the Constitution of the World 

4 Health Organization, meet the requirements under 

5 section 6; and 

6 (2) there is enacted into law a joint resolution 

7 that approves such action. 

8 SEC. 6. SUBMISSION ON NOTICE OF INTENT TO TERMINATE 

9 OR WITHDRAW THE UNITED STATES FROM 

10 CERTAIN INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not less than 120 days before the 

12 provision of notice of intent to terminate or withdraw the 

13 United States from a covered international agreement, the 

14 Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State, or the 

15 Secretary of Health and Human Services in the case of 

16 the Constitution of the World Health Organization, in con17 sultation with the Director of National Intelligence, shall 

18 each submit to the appropriate committees of Congress— 

19 (1) a detailed justification for the withdrawal 

20 from or termination of the agreement; 

21 (2) if the justification described in paragraph 

22 (1) includes that a state party to the agreement is 

23 in material breach of one or more obligations under 

24 the agreement, a detailed explanation of the steps 


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1 taken by that state party to return to compliance 

2 with such obligations; 

3 (3) a certification that— 

4 (A) all other state parties to the agreement 

5 have been consulted with respect to the jus6 tification described in paragraph (1); 

7 (B) withdrawal from or termination of the 

8 agreement would be in the best national inter9 ests of the United States; and 

10 (C) all steps taken for withdrawal from or 

11 termination of the agreement are in compliance 

12 with the agreement; and 

13 (4) a comprehensive strategy to mitigate 

14 against lost capacity of benefits, including plans for 

15 a superseding agreement or potential new bilateral 

16 or multilateral confidence-building measures. 

17 (b) FORM.—The submission required by subsection 

18 (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may in19 clude a classified annex. 

20 (c) APPLICABILITY TO NEW STRATEGIC ARMS RE21 DUCTION TREATY.—This section shall apply to a decision 

22 by the President to not renew the New START Treaty 

23 for up to an additional 5 years. 


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1 SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

2 Nothing in section 5 or 6 shall be construed as elimi3 nating any requirement set out in— 

4 (1) the Joint Resolution entitled ‘‘Joint Resolu5 tion providing for membership and participation by 

6 the United States in the World Health Organization 

7 and authorizing an appropriation therefor’’, ap8 proved June 14, 1948 (22 U.S.C. 290 et seq.), relat9 ing to United States withdrawal from the World 

10 Health Organization; or 

11 (2) section 1234(a) of the National Defense Au12 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 

13 116–92), relating to United States withdrawal from 

14 the Treaty on Open Skies. 

Æ 


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