IIA 

Calendar No. 337 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. J. RES. 17 

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 

APRIL 15, 2021 

Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. 

COONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. GRAHAM, 

Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MORAN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, 

Mr. WARNER, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. ROMNEY) introduced the 

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

APRIL 6, 2022 

Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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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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 efforts on 

13 the part of any United States Government official to take 

14 steps to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the 

15 United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, done at 

16 Washington, DC, April 4, 1949, until such time as both 

17 the Senate and the House of Representatives pass, by an 

18 affirmative vote of two-thirds of Members, a joint resolu19 tion approving the withdrawal of the United States from 

20 the treaty or pursuant to an Act of Congress. 

21 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF TREATY ACTION. 

22 The President shall notify the Committee on Foreign 

23 Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign 

24 Affairs of the House of Representatives in writing of any 

25 effort to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the 

26 United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, as soon 


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•SJ 17 RS 

1 as possible but in no event later than 48 hours after any 

2 such action is taken. 

3 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF LEGAL COUNSEL TO REP4 RESENT CONGRESS. 

5 Both the Senate Legal Counsel and the General 

6 Counsel to the House of Representatives are authorized 

7 to independently or collectively represent Congress in initi8 ating or intervening in any judicial proceedings in any 

9 Federal court of competent jurisdiction on behalf of Con10 gress in order to oppose any effort to suspend, terminate, 

11 denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North 

12 Atlantic Treaty in a manner inconsistent with this joint 

13 resolution. 

14 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

15 Any legal counsel operating pursuant to section 4 

16 shall report as soon as practicable to the Committee on 

17 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on 

18 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives with re19 spect to any judicial proceedings which the Senate Legal 

20 Counsel or the General Counsel to the House of Rep21 resentatives, as the case may be, initiates or in which it 

22 intervenes pursuant to section 4. 

23 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this resolution, the terms ‘‘withdrawal’’, ‘‘denun25 ciation’’, ‘‘suspension’’, and ‘‘termination’’ have the meanVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Apr 07, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\SJ17.RS SJ17

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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. 

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, denounce, 

7 or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic 

8 Treaty, done at Washington, DC, April 4, 1949, except by 

9 and with the advice and consent of the Senate, provided 

10 that two-thirds of the Senators present concur, or pursuant 

11 to an Act of Congress. 

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

13 No funds authorized or appropriated by any Act may 

14 be used to support, directly or indirectly, any efforts on the 

15 part of any United States Government official to take steps 

16 to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United 

17 States from the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, 

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

19 the House of Representatives pass, by an affirmative vote 

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

21 withdrawal of the United States from the treaty or pursu22 ant to an Act of Congress. 

23 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF TREATY ACTION. 

24 (a) CONSULTATION.—Prior to the notification de25 scribed in subsection (b), the President shall consult with 


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1 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 

2 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa3 tives in relation to any effort to suspend, terminate, de4 nounce, or withdraw the United States from the North At5 lantic Treaty. 

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

7 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Com8 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

9 in writing of any effort to suspend, terminate, denounce, 

10 or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic 

11 Treaty, as soon as possible but in no event later than 180 

12 days prior to taking such action. 

13 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF LEGAL COUNSEL TO REP14 RESENT CONGRESS. 

15 Both the Senate Legal Counsel and the General Coun16 sel to the House of Representatives are authorized to inde17 pendently or collectively represent Congress in initiating or 

18 intervening in any judicial proceedings in any Federal 

19 court of competent jurisdiction on behalf of Congress in 

20 order to oppose any effort to suspend, terminate, denounce, 

21 or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic 

22 Treaty in a manner inconsistent with this joint resolution. 

23 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

24 Any legal counsel operating pursuant to section 4 shall 

25 report as soon as practicable to the Committee on Foreign 


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1 Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Af2 fairs of the House of Representatives with respect to any 

3 judicial proceedings which the Senate Legal Counsel or the 

4 General Counsel to the House of Representatives, as the case 

5 may be, initiates or in which it intervenes pursuant to sec6 tion 4. 

7 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

8 Nothing in this resolution shall be construed to author9 ize, imply, or otherwise indicate that the President may 

10 suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw from any treaty 

11 to which the Senate has provided its advice and consent 

12 without the advice and consent of the Senate to such act 

13 or pursuant to an Act of Congress. 

14 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

15 If any provision of this resolution or the application 

16 of such provision is held by a Federal court to be unconsti17 tutional, the remainder of this resolution and the applica18 tion of the provisions of such to any person or circumstance 

19 shall not be affected thereby. 

20 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this resolution, the terms ‘‘withdrawal’’, ‘‘denuncia22 tion’’, ‘‘suspension’’, and ‘‘termination’’ have the meaning 

23 given the terms in the Vienna Convention on the Law of 

24 Treaties, concluded at Vienna May 23, 1969. 


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Calendar No. 337 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. J. RES. 17 

JOINT RESOLUTION 

Requiring the advice and consent of the Senate or 

and for other purposes. lantic Treaty and authorizing related litigation, withdraw the United States from the North Atan Act of Congress to suspend, terminate, or 

APRIL 6, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


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