Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I regret it is necessary to introduce legislation that prevents a President from withdrawing from NATO. Our allies with whom we have fought alongside since World War II and earlier in some cases, are seriously questioning our allegiance for the first time in the history of the modern international order. President Trump has chosen to call our European allies ``foes'' while aligning himself with a brutal and repressive authoritarian, Vladimir Putin, over the professional assessment of the U.S. intelligence community. Troubling news continues to flow from the President's disastrous trip to Europe for the NATO summit and his meeting with President Putin in Helsinki. And for the first time ever, we are forced to ask what options we have to preserve U.S. membership in the primary tool of peace and stability for the last 70 years, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In response to the only invocation of Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, more than 1,100 servicemembers from our NATO allies have given their lives fighting alongside the United States. This is a sacrifice that should not be so easily cast aside by our President who continues to inaccurately depict the alliance as a protection racket and ``obsolete.'' While we must continue to press every country to continue increasing defense spending to meet the agreed upon goal of 2 percent of GDP by 2024, it is disconcerting to watch the President disparage these allies and make threats to withdraw the U.S. from NATO. Unfortunately, without action from Congress, this President might try to terminate U.S. membership in NATO. For this reason, we must affirmatively pronounce our legal position with regards to NATO, use our constitutionally required power of advice and consent to block any withdrawal and we must preemptively authorize legal proceedings to challenge any future decision to withdraw.

This legislation I am introducing today along with Senators Gardner, Reed, and McCain, is a bipartisan message to the President and the necessary tool needed to block the President from terminating the NATO treaty. It is the affirmative position of the United States Senate, supported by this Bill, and previous resolutions passed by this Congress, including and by the original vote of 82-13 in 1949 to give the Senate's advice and consent to join NATO, that the United States of America through their elected officials are unequivocally opposed to the U.S. withdrawing from NATO. This legislation also asserts our constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent to U.S. membership in treaties. Just as the President sought and received the advice and consent to enter into NATO, the President must also receive the advice and consent to terminate treaty membership--especially when such a decision would be at odds with the opinion of the Senate and the American people. Finally, this Bill will authorize Senate Legal Counsel to represent the Senate in challenging any decision to withdraw from NATO and specifically grant Federal courts jurisdiction to consider the case.

I am proud to have bipartisan support for this bill to ensure that the opinion of the Senate is upheld and the safety of the American people prioritized through our continued membership in NATO. I strongly encourage my colleagues in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to support this legislation.

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