Title: A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should submit the Paris Agreement to the Senate for review and consideration.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that the Paris Agreement is considered a treaty and that President Biden should submit the agreement to the Senate for advice and consent.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 68 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 68

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should submit the 
      Paris Agreement to the Senate for review and consideration.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 22, 2021

   Mr. Daines (for himself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Barrasso, Ms. Lummis, Mr. 
 Marshall, Mr. Moran, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Paul, 
and Mr. Toomey) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                 to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should submit the 
      Paris Agreement to the Senate for review and consideration.

Whereas, in August 2016, President Obama entered the United States into the 
        decision by the 21st Conference of Parties of the United Nations 
        Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris, France, adopted 
        December 12, 2015 (referred to in this preamble as the ``Paris 
        Agreement''), without the advice and consent of the Senate as required 
        by section 2 of article 2 of the Constitution of the United States;
Whereas President Trump announced that the United States would cease all 
        implementation of the Paris Agreement in June 2017, and formally 
        withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement in November 2019, 
        which withdrawal became effective in November 2020;
Whereas, according to a report, by 2035, the Paris Agreement will result in--

    (1) an aggregate gross domestic product loss of over 
$2,500,000,000,000;

    (2) a 13 to 20 percent increase in household electricity expenditures; 
and

    (3) the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs;

Whereas the Paris Agreement, and cumbersome regulations associated with the 
        Paris Agreement, put the economy of the United States at a competitive 
        disadvantage and risk even greater job loss and energy rate increases at 
        a time when the economy of the United States is already hurting from the 
        COVID-19 pandemic;
Whereas, in addition to the economic costs of the Paris Agreement, the Paris 
        Agreement obligates United States taxpayer dollars towards a 
        $100,000,000,000 fund to assist climate change mitigation and adaptation 
        in other countries with minimal oversight or transparency;
Whereas, according to a report, if every signatory of the Paris Agreement 
        fulfills their--

    (1) commitment under the Paris Agreement, the Paris Agreement will have 
a negligible impact on climate change, reducing global average temperatures 
by just 0.086 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100; or

    (2) commitment under the Paris Agreement if the Paris Agreement were 
extended another 70 years, average global temperatures would be reduced by 
just 0.306 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100;

Whereas, through free-market innovation and investments in clean, efficient 
        energy, the United States has seen the largest absolute decline in 
        emissions globally while emissions from several signatories of the Paris 
        Agreement continue to increase;
Whereas clause 2 of section 2 of article 2 of the Constitution of the United 
        States provides that the President may only enter into a treaty 
        ``provided two thirds of the Senators present concur'';
Whereas section 723.3 of chapter 11 of the Foreign Affairs Manual of the 
        Department of State provides that, ``[i]n determining whether any 
        international agreement should be brought into force as a treaty or as 
        an international agreement other than a treaty, the utmost care is to be 
        exercised to avoid any invasion or compromise of the constitutional 
        powers of the Senate, Congress as a whole, or the President'';
Whereas, given the historical precedents, the potential costs and benefits, and 
        the fact that the Paris Agreement could in future decades result in 
        stronger obligations for the United States than the Senate anticipated 
        when it gave its consent to ratifying the United Nations Framework 
        Convention on Climate Change, done at New York May 9, 1992, and entered 
        into force March 21, 1994, the Paris Agreement is a treaty; and
Whereas, on January 20, 2021, President Biden announced his intent to reenter 
        the United States into the Paris Agreement without seeking the advice 
        and consent of the Senate: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the decision by the 21st Conference of Parties of the 
        United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris, 
        France, adopted December 12, 2015 (referred to in this 
        resolution as the ``Paris Agreement''), is considered a treaty 
        requiring the advice and consent of the Senate; and
            (2) President Biden should immediately submit the Paris 
        Agreement to the Senate.
                                 <all>