IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 814 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the conditions 
for the United States becoming a signatory to the United Nations Arms 
Trade Treaty, or to any similar agreement on the arms trade. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 16, 2012 
Mr. KELLY (for himself, Mr. JONES, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. KISSELL, Mr. 
CHABOT, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. ALTMIRE, Mr. BISHOP of 
Utah, Mr. HUELSKAMP, Mr. GARRETT, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, 
Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. SMITH of Ne-
braska, Mr. OLSON, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, Ms. 
BUERKLE, Mr. CANSECO, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. NUNNELEE, Mr. BILI-
RAKIS, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. JOHNSON
of Ohio, Mr. UPTON, Mr. 
SOUTHERLAND, Mr. MARINO, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. MULVANEY, Mr. 
DENHAM, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. GRIFFIN of Arkansas, Mr. 
BARLETTA, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. FORBES, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. RIVERA, 
Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. GINGREY of 
Georgia, Mr. MANZULLO, Mrs. ELLMERS, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. 
JORDAN, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. REED, Mr. 
BURTON of Indiana, Mr. GRIFFITH of Virginia, Mr. LANDRY, Mr. 
POMPEO, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. MCHENRY, 
Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. ROSS of Florida, Mr. OWENS, 
Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. DUNCAN of South 
Carolina, Ms. JENKINS, Mr. BROOKS, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. FRANKS of 
Arizona, Mr. FLORES, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. HUIZENGA of Michi-
gan, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. HURT, Mr. 
GRAVES of Georgia, Ms. HAYWORTH, and Mr. BURGESS) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regard-
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•HRES 814 IH 
ing the conditions for the United States becoming a 
signatory to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, 
or to any similar agreement on the arms trade. 
Whereas in October 2009, the United States voted in the 
United Nations General Assembly to participate in the 
negotiation of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty; 
Whereas in July 2012, the United Nations Conference on the 
Arms Trade Treaty convened to negotiate the text of the 
Arms Trade Treaty; 
Whereas in November 2012, the First Committee of the 
United Nations General Assembly voted to hold a final 
negotiating conference on the Arms Trade Treaty in 
March 2013, on the basis of the text of July 2012; 
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty poses significant risks to the 
national security, foreign policy, and economic interests 
of the United States as well as to the constitutional 
rights of United States citizens and United States sov-
ereignty; 
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty fails to expressly recognize 
the fundamental, individual right to keep and to bear 
arms and the individual right of personal self-defense, as 
well as the legitimacy of hunting, sports shooting, and 
other lawful activities pertaining to the private ownership 
of firearms and related materials, and thus risks infring-
ing on freedoms protected by the Second Amendment; 
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty places free democracies and 
totalitarian regimes on a basis of equality, recognizing 
their equal right to transfer arms, and is thereby dan-
gerous to the security of the United States; 
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•HRES 814 IH 
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty’s criteria for assessing the 
potential consequences of arms transfers are vague, easily 
politicized, and readily manipulated; 
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty’s model for using these cri-
teria is incompatible with the decisionmaking model for 
arms transfers employed by the United States under 
Presidential Decision Directive 34, which dates from 
1995; 
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty will create opportunities to 
engage in ‘‘lawfare’’ against the United States via the 
misuse of the treaty’s criteria in foreign tribunals and 
international fora; 
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty could hinder the United 
States from fulfilling its strategic, legal, and moral com-
mitments to provide arms to allies such as the Republic 
of China (Taiwan) and the State of Israel; 
Whereas the creation of an international secretariat to ad-
minister and assist in the implementation of the Arms 
Trade Treaty risks the delegation of authority to a bu-
reaucracy that is not accountable to the people of the 
United States; 
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty urges the provision of ca-
pacity building assistance from signatory nations to im-
plement the Arms Trade Treaty, which could create a 
source of permanent funding to a new international orga-
nization that would be susceptible to waste, fraud, and 
abuse; 
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty risks imposing costly regu-
latory burdens on United States businesses, for example, 
by creating onerous reporting requirements that could 
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•HRES 814 IH 
damage the domestic defense manufacturing base and re-
lated firms; 
Whereas an Arms Trade Treaty that has not been signed by 
the President and received the advice and consent of the 
Senate should not bind the United States in any respect 
as customary international law, jus cogens, or any other 
principle of international law that bypasses the treaty 
power in article II, section 2, clause 2 of the Constitu-
tion; 
Whereas an Arms Trade Treaty that has merely been signed 
by the President but has not received the advice and con-
sent of the Senate should not bind the United States in 
any respect, including any obligation to refrain from de-
feating the object and purpose of the Arms Trade Treaty, 
under any provision of the Vienna Convention on the 
Law of Treaties, to which the United States is not a 
party; 
Whereas an Arms Trade Treaty that has merely been signed 
by the President but has not received the advice and con-
sent of the Senate should not bind the United States in 
any respect, as an international agreement other than a 
treaty, as a sole executive agreement, or in any other 
way; and 
Whereas an Arms Trade Treaty that has been signed by the 
President and has received the advice and consent of the 
Senate, is a non-self-executing treaty that has no domes-
tic legal effect within the United States, unless and until 
it has been adopted by the enactment of implementing 
legislation by the Congress: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
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