IIA 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 37 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 12, 2023 

Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MORAN, Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MERKLEY, 

Mr. DURBIN, Mr. WARNER, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the following 

joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. OPPOSITION OF CONGRESS TO SUSPENSION, 

4 TERMINATION, DENUNCIATION, OR WITH5 DRAWAL FROM NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY. 

6 The President shall not suspend, terminate, de7 nounce, or withdraw the United States from the North 


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•SJ 37 IS 

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

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

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

4 or pursuant to an Act of Congress. 

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

6 No funds authorized or appropriated by any Act may 

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

8 the part of any United States Government official to sus9 pend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States 

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

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

12 House of Representatives pass, by an affirmative vote of 

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

14 withdrawal of the United States from the treaty, or pursu15 ant to an Act of Congress. 

16 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF TREATY ACTION. 

17 (a) CONSULTATION.—Prior to the notification de18 scribed in subsection (b), the President shall consult with 

19 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and 

20 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep21 resentatives in relation to any initiative to suspend, termi22 nate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the 

23 North Atlantic Treaty. 

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

25 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 


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1 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa2 tives in writing of any deliberation or decision to suspend, 

3 terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from 

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

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

6 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF LEGAL COUNSEL TO REP7 RESENT CONGRESS. 

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

9 Senate or the House of Representatives, respectively, the 

10 Senate Legal Counsel or the General Counsel to the House 

11 of Representatives may be authorized to initiate, or inter12 vene in, in the name of the Senate or the House of Rep13 resentatives, as the case may be, independently, or jointly, 

14 any judicial proceedings in any Federal court of competent 

15 jurisdiction in order to oppose any action to suspend, ter16 minate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the 

17 North Atlantic Treaty in a manner inconsistent with this 

18 resolution. 

19 (b) CONSIDERATION.—Any resolution or joint resolu20 tion introduced relevant to North Atlantic Treaty-related 

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

22 considered in accordance with the procedures of section 

23 601(b) of the International Security Assistance and Arms 

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

25 765). 


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1 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

2 Any legal counsel operating pursuant to section 4 

3 shall report as soon as practicable to the Committee on 

4 Foreign Relations of the Senate or the Committee on For5 eign Affairs of the House of Representatives with respect 

6 to any judicial proceedings which the Senate Legal Coun7 sel or the General Counsel to the House of Representa8 tives, as the case may be, initiates or in which it intervenes 

9 pursuant to section 4. 

10 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

11 Nothing in this resolution shall be construed to au12 thorize, imply, or otherwise indicate that the President 

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

14 treaty to which the Senate has provided its advice and con15 sent without the advice and consent of the Senate to such 

16 act or pursuant to an Act of Congress. 

17 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

18 If any provision of this resolution or the application 

19 of such provision is held by a Federal court to be unconsti20 tutional, the remainder of this resolution and the applica21 tion of such provisions to any other person or cir22 cumstance shall not be affected thereby. 

23 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this resolution, the terms ‘‘withdrawal’’, ‘‘denun25 ciation’’, ‘‘suspension’’, and ‘‘termination’’ have the meanVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SJ37.IS SJ37

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1 ing given the terms in the Vienna Convention on the Law 

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

Æ 


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