I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6991 

To prohibit actions to terminate or withdraw the United States from international treaties without affirmative approval from both Houses of Congress, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2020 

Mr. PANETTA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit actions to terminate or withdraw the United 

States from international treaties without affirmative approval from both Houses of Congress, 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 S.J. 

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

4 would require approval of two-thirds of the Senate, 

5 or both Houses of Congress, before the President 

6 could withdraw the United States from the treaty. 

7 (5) The Treaty on Open Skies, signed at Hel8 sinki March 24, 1992, provides a critical confidence9 building measure for Euro-Atlantic security to the 

10 mutual benefit of the 34 States Parties to the trea11 ty, and the Open Skies Consultative Commission 

12 (OSCC) is one of the few remaining operational dip13 lomatic forums from which the United States can 

14 engage with the Russian Federation. 

15 (6) Although the Government of the United 

16 States is right to diplomatically press the Govern17 ment of the Russian Federation to return to full 

18 compliance with its obligations under the Treaty on 

19 Open Skies, withdrawal or termination of the treaty 

20 would deprive United States allies and partners of 

21 the benefits derived from observation missions over 

22 Russian territory and Russian occupied Eastern 

23 Ukraine, missions that have vastly outnumbered 

24 Russian overflights of United States territory since 

25 entry into force of the treaty. 


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1 (7) The Mutual Defense Treaty Between the 

2 United States and the Republic of Korea, signed at 

3 Washington October 1, 1953, the ratification of 

4 which the Senate advised and consented to on Janu5 ary 26, 1954, was born from mutual sacrifice during 

6 the Korean War, is based on shared values and in7 terests, and remains critical to the national security 

8 of the United States nearly 7 decades after its sign9 ing. 

10 (8) A February 2020 report from the Depart11 ment of State confirmed, in part, that verifiable lim12 its on ‘‘Russia’s strategic nuclear force’’ under the 

13 New START Treaty ‘‘currently contribute to the na14 tional security of the United States’’. 

15 (9) A decision by the President to allow the 

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

17 without the United States having first successfully 

18 concluded a verifiable and binding agreement in its 

19 place, would lead to the United States losing visi20 bility into the location, movement, and disposition of 

21 the strategic arsenal of the Russian Federation to 

22 the detriment of the national security of the United 

23 States and its allies. 

24 (10) The Constitution of the United States pro25 vides Congress an important role in the treaty procVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6991.IH H6991

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1 ess, requiring the advice and consent of two-thirds 

2 of the Senate for approval of a resolution of ratifica3 tion. 

4 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) the President should refrain from taking 

7 any action to withdraw or terminate any inter8 national treaty to which the Senate has given its ad9 vice and consent to ratification without proper con10 sultation with, and affirmative approval from, Con11 gress; 

12 (2) the 1979 Supreme Court decision in Gold13 water v. Carter, 444 U.S. 996 (1979), is not control14 ling legal precedent with respect to the role of Con15 gress in the withdrawal or termination of the United 

16 States from an international treaty, as the Court di17 rected the lower court to dismiss the complaint and 

18 did not address the constitutionality of the decision 

19 by President Carter to terminate the Mutual De20 fense Treaty between the United States of America 

21 and the Republic of China, signed at Washington 

22 December 2, 1954 (commonly referred to as the 

23 ‘‘Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty’’); and 

24 (3) the United States should take every action 

25 to reinforce its global reputation as a country that 


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1 fully complies with its obligations under the inter2 national treaties to which it is a party. 

3 SEC. 4. AFFIRMATIVE CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL FOR 

4 TERMINATION OR WITHDRAWAL FROM AN 

5 INTERNATIONAL TREATY. 

6 No action to terminate or withdraw the United States 

7 from any international treaty to which the Senate has 

8 given its advice and consent to ratification may occur un9 less— 

10 (1) the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary 

11 of State meet the requirements under section 5; and 

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

13 that approves such action. 

14 SEC. 5. JUSTIFICATION, CERTIFICATIONS, DETERMINA15 TION, AND STRATEGY ON ACTIONS TO TERMI16 NATE OR WITHDRAW THE UNITED STATES 

17 FROM AN INTERNATIONAL TREATY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days before 

19 the provision of notice of intent to terminate or withdraw 

20 the United States from any international treaty to which 

21 the Senate has given its advice and consent to ratification, 

22 the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State, in 

23 consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, 

24 shall each submit to the appropriate committees of Con25 gress— 


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1 (1) a detailed justification for the withdrawal 

2 from or termination of the treaty; 

3 (2) if the justification described in paragraph 

4 (1) includes that a state party to the treaty is in 

5 material breach of one or more obligations under the 

6 treaty, a detailed explanation of the steps taken by 

7 that state party to return to compliance with such 

8 obligations; 

9 (3) a certification that all other state parties to 

10 the treaty have been consulted with respect to the 

11 justification described in paragraph (1); 

12 (4) a certification that withdrawal from or ter13 mination of the treaty would be in the best national 

14 interests of the United States; 

15 (5) a certification that the United States ra16 tionale and all steps taken for withdrawal from the 

17 treaty are made in compliance with the treaty; and 

18 (6) a comprehensive strategy to mitigate 

19 against lost capacity of benefits, including a super20 seding treaty or potential new bilateral or multilat21 eral confidence-building measures. 

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

23 (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may in24 clude a classified annex. 


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1 (c) APPLICABILITY TO NEW STRATEGIC ARMS RE2 DUCTION TREATY.—This section shall apply to a decision 

3 by the President to not renew the New START Treaty 

4 for up to an additional 5 years. 

5 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON8 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con9 gress’’ means— 

10 (A) the Committee on Armed Services and 

11 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen12 ate; and 

13 (B) the Committee on Armed Services and 

14 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

15 of Representatives. 

16 (2) NEW START TREATY.—The term ‘‘New 

17 START Treaty’’ means the Treaty between the 

18 United States of America and the Russian Federa19 tion on Measures for the Further Reduction and 

20 Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, signed at 

21 Prague April 8, 2010. 

Æ 


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