Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jack Reed (D-RI), and John McCain (R-AZ) introduced a bipartisan bill to explicitly prohibit the President of the United States from withdrawing from NATO without Senate approval. The bill requires the President to seek the advice and consent of the Senate to modify or terminate U.S. membership in NATO and formalizes the Senate’s opposition to withdrawing from the treaty.

If the President attempts to withdraw from NATO without Senate approval, this bill also authorizes the Senate Legal Counsel to challenge the Administration in court.

“NATO is the most successful military alliance in history, and any effort to abandon it would be a monumental mistake,” said Senator Gardner, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I support the United States’ continued commitment to the alliance, including the provisions that require the armed support of all members in case of an attack on any one member, as was exercised after the 9/11 attack against the United States. As the Constitution requires and this legislation reaffirms, any change proposed by this administration or future administrations regarding America’s standing in this alliance can be done only with the advice and consent of the Senate.”

The full text of the bill can be viewed here.

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Cory Gardner is a member of the U.S. Senate serving Colorado. He sits on the Energy & Natural Resources Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, the Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee, and the Budget Committee, and is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy.