Title: A 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.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This joint resolution requires either the advice and consent of the Senate or an act of Congress before the President may suspend, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty. No funds shall be authorized or appropriated to support any efforts to withdraw from the treaty without the Senate's approval by a two-thirds vote or an act of Congress.
The President shall notify Congress in writing of any effort to suspend, denounce, or withdraw from the treaty no later than 48 hours after such action.
This joint resolution also authorizes the Senate Legal Counsel and the General Counsel of the House of Representatives to represent Congress in judicial proceedings related to actions that are inconsistent with this resolution.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S.J. Res. 17 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st 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, and Mr. Warner) 
  introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                            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.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. OPPOSITION OF CONGRESS TO SUSPENSION, TERMINATION, 
              DENUNCIATION, OR WITHDRAWAL FROM NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY.

    The President shall not suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw 
the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, 
DC, April 4, 1949, except by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, provided that two-thirds of the Senators present concur, or 
pursuant to an Act of Congress.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON THE USE OF FUNDS.

    No funds authorized or appropriated by any Act may be used to 
support, directly or indirectly, any efforts on the part of any United 
States Government official to take steps to suspend, terminate, 
denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, 
done at Washington, DC, April 4, 1949, until such time as both the 
Senate and the House of Representatives pass, by an affirmative vote of 
two-thirds of Members, a joint resolution approving the withdrawal of 
the United States from the treaty or pursuant to an Act of Congress.

SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF TREATY ACTION.

    The President shall notify the Committee on Foreign Relations of 
the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives in writing of any effort to suspend, terminate, 
denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, 
as soon as possible but in no event later than 48 hours after any such 
action is taken.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF LEGAL COUNSEL TO REPRESENT CONGRESS.

    Both the Senate Legal Counsel and the General Counsel to the House 
of Representatives are authorized to independently or collectively 
represent Congress in initiating or intervening in any judicial 
proceedings in any Federal court of competent jurisdiction on behalf of 
Congress in order to oppose any effort to suspend, terminate, denounce, 
or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty in a 
manner inconsistent with this joint resolution.

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 
and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
with respect to any judicial proceedings which the Senate Legal Counsel 
or the General Counsel to the House of Representatives, as the case may 
be, initiates or in which it intervenes pursuant to section 4.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this resolution, the terms ``withdrawal'', ``denunciation'', 
``suspension'', and ``termination'' have the meaning given the terms in 
the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, concluded at Vienna May 
23, 1969.
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