IA 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. J. RES. 89 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 14, 2023 
Ms. MCCLELLAN (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. TUR-
NER, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PORTER, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. 
SWALWELL, Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. PETERS, Mr. 
SCHIFF, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. COSTA, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. 
SHERRILL, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. MAGAZINER, Ms. WEXTON, Mrs. KIGGANS 
of Virginia, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. 
MCCORMICK, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, 
Ms. SPANBERGER, and Ms. ROSS) submitted the following joint resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in ad-
dition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
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 au-
thorizing related litigation, and for other purposes. 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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nate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the 
North Atlantic Treaty. 
(b) NOTIFICATION.—The President shall notify the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa-
tives in writing of any deliberation or decision to suspend, 
terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from 
the North Atlantic Treaty, as soon as possible but in no 
event later than 180 days prior to taking such action. 
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF LEGAL COUNSEL TO REP-
RESENT CONGRESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—By adoption of a resolution of the 
Senate or the House of Representatives, respectively, the 
Senate Legal Counsel or the General Counsel to the House 
of Representatives may be authorized to initiate, or inter-
vene in, in the name of the Senate or the House of Rep-
resentatives, as the case may be, independently, or jointly, 
any judicial proceedings in any Federal court of competent 
jurisdiction in order to oppose any action to suspend, ter-
minate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the 
North Atlantic Treaty in a manner inconsistent with this 
resolution. 
(b) CONSIDERATION.—Any resolution or joint resolu-
tion introduced relevant to North Atlantic Treaty-related 
matters and pursuant to section 4(a) of this title shall be 
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considered in accordance with the procedures of section 
601(b) of the International Security Assistance and Arms 
Export Control Act of 1976 (Public Law 94–329; 90 Stat. 
765). 
SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 
Any legal counsel operating pursuant to section 4 
shall report as soon as practicable to the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate or the Committee on For-
eign Affairs of the House of Representatives with respect 
to any judicial proceedings which the Senate Legal Coun-
sel or the General Counsel to the House of Representa-
tives, as the case may be, initiates or in which it intervenes 
pursuant to section 4. 
SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this resolution shall be construed to au-
thorize, imply, or otherwise indicate that the President 
may suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw from any 
treaty to which the Senate has provided its advice and con-
sent without the advice and consent of the Senate to such 
act or pursuant to an Act of Congress. 
SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this resolution or the application 
of such provision is held by a Federal court to be unconsti-
tutional, the remainder of this resolution and the applica-
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tion of such provisions to any other person or cir-
cumstance shall not be affected thereby. 
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 
In this resolution, the terms ‘‘withdrawal’’, ‘‘denun-
ciation’’, ‘‘suspension’’, and ‘‘termination’’ have the mean-
ing given the terms in the Vienna Convention on the Law 
of Treaties, concluded at Vienna May 23, 1969. 
Æ 
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