IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 743 

Expressing strong disapproval of the President’s formal notification to the 

United Nations of his intent to withdraw the United States from the 

Paris Agreement. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 5, 2019 

Mr. SCHNEIDER (for himself, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, 

Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. CLARKE

of New York, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. TONKO, 

Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. RUSH, Ms. MOORE, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Ms. 

BARRAGA ́N, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. 

DELBENE, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. BRENDAN F. 

BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 

WELCH, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HECK, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. 

SABLAN, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, 

Mr. MORELLE, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. COOPER, Mr. PRICE

of North Carolina, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. 

MEEKS, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. CORREA, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. 

STANTON, Mr. CASE, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. MCEACHIN, 

Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. KILMER, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. KEATING, Mr. 

NEGUSE, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. BEYER, 

Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. PAPPAS, Ms. MENG, Mr. 

COSTA, Ms. BASS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, 

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. CRIST, Mr. COURTNEY, 

Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. SEAN

PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. SOTO, Mr. DEFAZIO, Miss RICE

of New York, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, 

Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. DELGADO, Mr. COX of California, Mr. KIND, Mrs. 

HAYES, Mr. GALLEGO, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. CLAY, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. 

FRANKEL, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. RYAN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, 

Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. PETERS, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. 

SCHRIER, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. 

SARBANES, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, 

Mrs. FLETCHER, Ms. FINKENAUER, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Ms. STEVENS, 


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•HRES 743 IH 

Ms. HAALAND, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. 

CARBAJAL, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. KENNEDY, 

Mr. NEAL, Mr. NADLER, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. 

LOEBSACK, Mr. EVANS, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. BERA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. 

TITUS, Mr. SIRES, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. 

RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Ms. 

WATERS, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. FUDGE, and Ms. SEWELL

of Alabama) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing strong disapproval of the President’s formal notification to the United Nations of his intent to withdraw 

the United States from the Paris Agreement. 

Whereas global climate change is a threat to the United 

States national security, public health, national economy, 

and the legacy we will leave to our children; 

Whereas there is expert-level consensus within the Federal 

Government, from the intelligence community and Department of Defense to the Department of Agriculture, 

Department of Transportation, and the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration, that climate change is 

real, already affecting the United States, and poses a dire 

threat to our well-being and security if left unaddressed; 

Whereas on November 23, 2018, the U.S. Global Change Research Program, a collaboration of thirteen Federal agencies, released Volume II of its Fourth National Climate 

Assessment (NCA4) outlining the impact climate change 

will have on human and societal welfare, including region-specific effects, and issues affecting natural resource 

management, public health, emergency response, and 

other critical issues to national well-being; 


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•HRES 743 IH 

Whereas NCA4 makes clear that communities around the 

country are already facing climate-driven impacts on 

human health such as extreme heat, expanded exposure 

to vector-borne diseases, poor air quality, and weather 

events that are displacing communities; 

Whereas NCA4 found that reducing greenhouse gas emissions could, by the end of the century, result in thousands of American lives saved and hundreds of billions of 

dollars in health-related economic benefits gained each 

year; 

Whereas NCA4 highlighted that already-aging United States 

infrastructure, from stormwater management to the electrical grid, would be stretched to its limit in the face of 

Federal inaction toward combating climate change; 

Whereas on May 6, 2019, the United Nations Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released its updated Global Assessment, which found that around one million species, 1 

in 4, are at risk of extinction as a result of climate 

change; 

Whereas the IPBES Global Assessment found that the reduction in global biodiversity that is driven by climate 

changes threatens global food security, and the NCA4 

notes that climate change is expected to disrupt United 

States agricultural productivity and threaten domestic 

crop yields; 

Whereas the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gonzalez stated at the opening of the United Nations Climate 

Change Conference COP25, that ‘‘choosing the path of 

hope is not the job of one person, one industry or one 

government alone . . . the only solution is rapid, ambiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR743.IH HR743

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•HRES 743 IH 

tious, transformative action by all—governments, regions, 

cities, businesses and civil society’’, and that ‘‘we made 

a commitment to the people of the world through the 

Paris Agreement. It was a solemn promise . . . to do 

anything less will be a betrayal of our entire human family and all the generations to come.’’; 

Whereas the World Meteorological Organization’s Provisional 

Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2019, 

released on December 3, 2019, stated that 2019 ends the 

warmest decade on record and that greenhouse gas concentrations have reached a record new high of 407.8 

parts per million; 

Whereas the United Nations Environment Programme’s 

Emissions Gap Report 2019, released in November 2019, 

highlighted the significant work the global community 

must undertake in order to overcome the shortcomings of 

current commitments to keep global temperature rise to 

two degrees Celsius, that greenhouse gas emissions continued to increase in 2019, that G20 countries account 

for more than 75 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, 

and that ‘‘enhanced action by G20 members will be essential for the global mitigation effort’’; 

Whereas the most vulnerable communities, including communities of color, women, children, the elderly, persons with 

disabilities, low-income communities, and those with underlying health conditions, face even greater health risks 

as a result of climate change; 

Whereas the United States is already seeing climate change 

exacerbate extreme weather events, including 6 Category 

5 hurricanes in the past 4 years, the issuance of the firstever Extreme Red Flag Warning for wildfires, and comVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR743.IH HR743

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•HRES 743 IH 

munities around the country regularly facing ‘‘100 Year 

Floods’’; 

Whereas investing in energy efficiency and clean energy technologies is an extraordinary job creation opportunity for 

the United States that already employs more than 

3,260,000 people, with solar and wind technicians representing the first and second fastest-growing jobs in the 

entire United States economy by 2026, respectively; 

Whereas the United States can lead the world in innovation 

and manufacturing clean energy technologies, creating 

good-paying jobs, modernizing the energy grid, and growing new companies that will be the titans of a new clean 

energy economy; 

Whereas the Paris Agreement highlights the importance of 

environmental justice and equity in our climate solutions, 

particularly in light of the impact climate change is expected to have on vulnerable communities around the 

globe; 

Whereas the Paris Agreement is an international accord that 

aims to limit the increase in global temperatures to less 

than two degrees Celsius and urges efforts to limit the 

increase to one and a half degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels; 

Whereas the Paris Agreement was adopted on December 12, 

2015, opened for signature on April 22, 2016, and entered into force on November 4, 2016; 

Whereas 197 parties are signatories and 187 are officially 

party to the Paris Agreement, including the largest 

emitters of carbon pollution, China, the European Union, 

and India; 


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•HRES 743 IH 

Whereas if the United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement, it would be the only nation in the world to do so; 

Whereas the United States, as one of the world’s top emitters 

of carbon pollution, has an obligation to participate in 

global efforts to curb climate change; 

Whereas the United States exit from the Paris Agreement 

will cede leadership on clean energy technologies, and the 

jobs they create, to China, India, and other nations; 

Whereas a group of States, including California, Colorado, 

Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the territory of Puerto 

Rico, have all joined the United States Climate Alliance, 

a bipartisan group of States committed to upholding the 

goals of the Paris Agreement; 

Whereas more than 3,800 mayors, college and university 

leaders, businesses, and investors in the United States 

announced their continued support for the Paris Agreement; 

Whereas leaders of the world’s religious communities recognize the grave threat to humanity posed by climate 

change and our moral obligation to protect the earth and 

its people publicly have called upon politicians, business 

leaders, and the faithful to take action to address climate 

change; and 

Whereas millions of Americans have made their voices heard 

in support of the Paris Agreement, and the United States 

upholding its commitments to the international community to reduce carbon pollution for the benefit of goodVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR743.IH HR743

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•HRES 743 IH 

paying jobs, healthy families, and a sustainable future for 

our environment now and in future generations: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) strongly disapproves of the President’s for3 mal notification to the United Nations of his intent 

4 to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agree5 ment; 

6 (2) commends the group of States, cities, col7 leges and universities, businesses, investors, and in8 dividuals who have publicly expressed their support 

9 for the Paris Agreement; and 

10 (3) urges the President to reverse his decision 

11 and maintain United States participation in the 

12 Paris Agreement. 

Æ 


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