[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2010 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2010
To prevent the President of the United States from withdrawing from the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 10, 2025
Mr. Panetta (for himself and Mr. Bacon) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition
to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prevent the President of the United States from withdrawing from the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``NATO Edge Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (``NATO'') has
served as a pillar of international peace and stability, a
critical component of United States security, and a deterrent
against adversaries and external threats.
(2) The House of Representatives affirmed in H. Res. 397,
on June 27, 2017, that--
(A) NATO is one of the most successful military
alliances in history, deterring the outbreak of another
world war, protecting the territorial integrity of its
members, and concluding the Cold War peacefully;
(B) NATO remains the foundation of United States
foreign policy to promote prosperity, freedom, and
peace in Europe;
(C) the United States is solemnly committed to the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization's principle of
collective defense as enumerated in Article 5 of the
North Atlantic Treaty;
(D) condemns any threat to the sovereignty,
territorial integrity, freedom, and democracy of any
NATO ally; and
(E) strongly supports collaboration with NATO
allies to enforce Ukraine's territorial integrity
against unprovoked aggression from the Russian
Federation.
(3) NATO members should abide by the decision at the NATO
Wales Summit in 2014 that each alliance member aim to spend at
least 2 percent of its nation's gross domestic product on
defense by 2024.
(4) Investing in multinational training exercises and joint
research and education programs with NATO allies have offered
improvements for interoperability and readiness against threats
to European security, particularly from the Russian Federation.
SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF LIMITATION ON WITHDRAWAL FROM NATO.
Section 1250A of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2024 (22 U.S.C. 1928f) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting after ``an Act of
Congress'' the following: ``, and unless all remaining members
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization who have not
allocated a minimum of 2 percent of their Gross Domestic
Product to annual defense spending have not made an explicit
commitment to spend 2 percent of their Gross Domestic Product,
as defined by NATO standards, on defense within 5 years from
the given fiscal year to which the President is seeking to so
suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States
from the North Atlantic Treaty'';
(2) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
``(b) Prohibition on the Use of Funds To Withdraw From NATO.--No
funds authorized or appropriated by any Act may be made available to
support, directly or indirectly, any decision on the part of any United
States Government official to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw
the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington,
DC, 3 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, and unless all remaining members of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization who have not spent a minimum of 2
percent of their Gross Domestic Product to defense have not made an
explicit commitment to spend 2 percent of their Gross Domestic Product,
as defined by NATO standards, on defense within 5 years from the given
fiscal year to which the President is seeking to so suspend, terminate,
denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic
Treaty.'';
(3) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f) as
subsections (f), (g), (h), and (i), respectively; and
(4) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new
subsections:
``(c) 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 intervene in, in the name of the Senate or the House of
Representatives, 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, terminate, denounce, or withdraw
the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty in a manner
inconsistent with this section.
``(d) Consideration.--Any resolution or joint resolution introduced
relating to any action to suspend, terminate, denounce or withdraw the
United States from the North Atlantic Treaty and introduced pursuant to
subsection (a) shall be 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).
``(e) Reporting Requirement.--Any legal counsel operating pursuant
to section 1299R shall report as soon as practicable to the Committee
on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate 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 1299R.''.
SEC. 4. SUNSET.
The amendments made by section 3 of this Act shall terminate on
September 30, 2033. Section 1250A of the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (22 U.S.C. 1928f) shall be restored on such
date as if such amendments had not been enacted and as in effect on the
day after the date of the amendment of such Act National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024.
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