I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3807
To prohibit the use of Federal funds to implement the Kyoto Protocol to
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change unless
or until the Senate has given its advice and consent to ratification
of the Kyoto Protocol and to clarify the authority of Federal agencies
with respect to the regulation of the emissions of carbon dioxide.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 7, 1998
Mr. KNOLLENBERG (for himself, Mrs. EMERSON, and Mr. KLINK) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To prohibit the use of Federal funds to implement the Kyoto
Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change unless or until the Senate has given
its advice and consent to ratification of the Kyoto Proto-
col and to clarify the authority of Federal agencies with
respect to the regulation of the emissions of carbon diox-
ide.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Economy
Protection Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) Article II, section 2, of the Constitution
confers on the Senate the responsibility to evaluate
a treaty’s merits and its potential impacts on the
United States and to give or withhold its advice and
consent for treaties negotiated by the Executive
Branch;
(2) the President, as the Chief Executive, is in
the most effective position to negotiate on behalf of
the United States, but does not have the independ-
ent Constitutional authority to implement or provi-
sionally apply a treaty absent the advice and consent
of the Senate;
(3) the United States is a signatory to the 1992
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change that under the 1995 Berlin Mandate specifi-
cally exempts all Developing Country Parties, includ-
ing China, Iran, Brazil, India, and South Korea;
(4) greenhouse gas emissions of Developing
Country Parties rapidly are increasing and are ex-
pected to surpass emissions of the United States and
other countries as early as 2015;
(5)(A) on July 27, 1997, the Senate unani-
mously voted that any new commitments to limit or
reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the United
States also must include scheduled commitments to
limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for Devel-
oping Country Parties within the same compliance
period; and
(B) the agreement reached in Kyoto, Japan, in
December 1997 does not meet this standard; and
(6) implementation of the Kyoto Protocol could
result in serious harm to the United States economy,
including significant job loss, trade disadvantages,
increased energy and consumer costs, or any com-
bination thereof.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS TO IM-
PLEMENT KYOTO PROTOCOL.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Federal funds shall not be used
for rules, regulations, or programs designed to implement,
or in contemplation of implementing, the Kyoto Protocol
to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, done at Kyoto on December 11, 1997, unless or
until the Senate has given its advice and consent to ratifi-
cation of the Kyoto Protocol under Article II, section 2,
clause 2 of the Constitution.
(b) AUTHORITY OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, no Federal agency
shall have authority to promulgate regulations to limit the
emissions of carbon dioxide, after the date of enactment