Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President should not sign the Arms Trade Treaty, and that, if he transmits the Treaty with his signature to the Senate, the Senate should not ratify it; and (2) until the Treaty has been signed by the President, received the advice and consent of the Senate, and has been the subject of implementing legislation by Congress, no federal funds should be appropriated or authorized to implement the Treaty, or any similar agreement, or to conduct activities relevant to the Treaty, or any similar agreement.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 23 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 23
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the conditions for the
United States becoming a signatory to the United Nations Arms Trade
Treaty, or to any similar agreement on the arms trade.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 13, 2013
Mr. Kelly (for himself, Mr. Westmoreland, Mr. Graves of Missouri, Mr.
Griffith of Virginia, Mr. Duncan of South Carolina, Mr. Broun of
Georgia, Mr. Marino, Mr. Carter, Mr. Huelskamp, Mr. Hultgren, Mrs.
Hartzler, Mr. Michaud, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Rahall, Mr. Thompson of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Griffin of Arkansas, Mr. Jones, Mr. Duncan of
Tennessee, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Bishop of Utah, Mr. Gosar, Mr.
Reed, Mr. Barletta, Mr. Luetkemeyer, Mr. Pittenger, Mr. Olson, Mr.
Smith of Nebraska, Mr. Huizenga of Michigan, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mr.
Barton, Mr. Stivers, Mr. Johnson of Ohio, Mr. Gingrey of Georgia, Mr.
Pompeo, Mr. Schweikert, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Burgess, Mr. Fleischmann, Mr.
Weber of Texas, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, Mr. Nunnelee, Mr. Harris, Mr.
Mullin, Mr. Yoder, Mr. Roe of Tennessee, Mr. Stockman, Mr. Franks of
Arizona, Mr. Tiberi, Mr. Perry, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Thornberry, Mr. Brady
of Texas, Mr. Marchant, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Fleming, Mr. Posey, Mr.
Culberson, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Jordan, Mr.
Mulvaney, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Gardner, Mr.
Nugent, Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, Mr. Salmon, Mr. Flores, Mr.
Wittman, Mr. Latta, Mrs. Ellmers, Ms. Jenkins, Mr. Meadows, Mr.
Southerland, Mrs. Bachmann, Mr. Whitfield, Mr. Brooks of Alabama, Mr.
Benishek, Mr. Pearce, Mr. Bucshon, Mr. Bridenstine, Mr. Calvert, Mr.
Shimkus, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Daines, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Ross, Mr. Amodei, Mr.
Kline, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Forbes, Mr. Bentivolio, Mr. Walberg, Mr.
Fincher, Mr. Boustany, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Palazzo, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mr.
Scalise, Mr. DesJarlais, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Garrett, Mr. Womack, Mr. Yoho,
Mr. Young of Florida, Mr. Messer, Mr. Radel, Mr. Lankford, Mr.
Stutzman, Mr. Wenstrup, Mr. McClintock, Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Sessions, Mr.
Farenthold, Mr. Long, Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Neugebauer, Mr. Rothfus, Mrs.
Noem, Mr. Holding, Mr. King of Iowa, and Mr. Hunter) submitted the
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the conditions for the
United States becoming a signatory to the United Nations Arms Trade
Treaty, or to any similar agreement on the arms trade.
Whereas in October 2009, the United States voted in the United Nations General
Assembly to participate in the negotiation of the United Nations Arms
Trade Treaty;
Whereas in July 2012, the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty
convened to negotiate the text of the Arms Trade Treaty;
Whereas in December 2012, the United Nations General Assembly voted to hold a
final negotiating conference on the Arms Trade Treaty in March 2013, on
the basis of the text of July 2012;
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty poses significant risks to the national security,
foreign policy, and economic interests of the United States as well as
to the constitutional rights of United States citizens and United States
sovereignty;
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty fails to expressly recognize the fundamental,
individual right to keep and to bear arms and the individual right of
personal self-defense, as well as the legitimacy of hunting, sports
shooting, and other lawful activities pertaining to the private
ownership of firearms and related materials, and thus risks infringing
on freedoms protected by the Second Amendment;
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty places free democracies and totalitarian regimes
on a basis of equality, recognizing their equal right to transfer arms,
and is thereby dangerous to the security of the United States;
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty's criteria for assessing the potential
consequences of arms transfers are vague, easily politicized, and
readily manipulated;
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty's model for using these criteria is incompatible
with the decisionmaking model for arms transfers employed by the United
States under Presidential Decision Directive 34, which dates from 1995;
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty will create opportunities to engage in ``lawfare''
against the United States via the misuse of the treaty's criteria in
foreign tribunals and international fora;
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty could hinder the United States from fulfilling its
strategic, legal, and moral commitments to provide arms to allies such
as the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the State of Israel;
Whereas the creation of an international secretariat to administer and assist in
the implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty risks the delegation of
authority to a bureaucracy that is not accountable to the people of the
United States;
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty urges the provision of capacity building
assistance from signatory nations to implement the Arms Trade Treaty,
which could create a source of permanent funding to a new international
organization that would be susceptible to waste, fraud, and abuse;
Whereas the Arms Trade Treaty risks imposing costly regulatory burdens on United
States businesses, for example, by creating onerous reporting
requirements that could damage the domestic defense manufacturing base
and related firms;
Whereas an Arms Trade Treaty that has not been signed by the President and
received the advice and consent of the Senate should not bind the United
States in any respect as customary international law, jus cogens, or any
other principle of international law that bypasses the treaty power in
article II, section 2, clause 2 of the Constitution;
Whereas an Arms Trade Treaty that has merely been signed by the President but
has not received the advice and consent of the Senate should not bind
the United States in any respect, including any obligation to refrain
from defeating the object and purpose of the Arms Trade Treaty, under
any provision of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, to which
the United States is not a party;
Whereas an Arms Trade Treaty that has merely been signed by the President but
has not received the advice and consent of the Senate should not bind
the United States in any respect, as an international agreement other
than a treaty, as a sole executive agreement, or in any other way; and
Whereas an Arms Trade Treaty that has been signed by the President and has
received the advice and consent of the Senate, is a non-self-executing
treaty that has no domestic legal effect within the United States,
unless and until it has been adopted by the enactment of implementing
legislation by the Congress: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That it is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the President should not sign the Arms Trade Treaty,
and that, if he transmits the treaty with his signature to the
Senate, the Senate should not ratify the Arms Trade Treaty; and
(2) until the Arms Trade Treaty has been signed by the
President, received the advice and consent of the Senate, and
has been the subject of implementing legislation by the
Congress, no Federal funds should be appropriated or authorized
to implement the Arms Trade Treaty, or any similar agreement,
or to conduct activities relevant to the Arms Trade Treaty, or
any similar agreement.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line