NATO UP Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3624 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3624

    To limit the use of funds to assert control over the sovereign 
       territory of a NATO member state, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 13, 2026

 Mrs. Shaheen (for herself and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To limit the use of funds to assert control over the sovereign 
       territory of a NATO member state, and for other purposes.

    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 Unity Protection Act'' or the 
``NATO UP Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The unified strength of the North Atlantic Treaty 
        Organization (NATO) is critical to the national security and 
        foreign policy of the United States.
            (2) Any occupation or takeover of the sovereign territory 
        of a NATO ally would violate the Charter of the United Nations 
        and numerous articles of the North Atlantic Treaty, done at 
        Washington April 4, 1949, and approved for ratification by the 
        United States Senate on July 21, 1949 (also known as the 
        ``Washington Treaty'').
            (3) Occupation or similar actions against the sovereign 
        territory of a NATO ally by the United States in circumstances 
        other than to repel a foreign invasion by a non-NATO-member 
        state would put the United States in a conflict with NATO and 
        NATO member states, possibly weakening NATO to the point of it 
        ceasing to be an effective collective security alliance.
            (4) Such an outcome would serve the strategic interests of 
        the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China while 
        significantly undermining the national security and foreign 
        policy objectives of the United States.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON USE OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FUNDS.

    None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available for any 
fiscal year for the Department of Defense may be used to blockade, 
occupy, annex, conduct military operations against, or otherwise assert 
control over the sovereign territory of a NATO member state, other than 
as authorized by that NATO member state or the North Atlantic Council.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON USE OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE FUNDS.

    None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available for any 
fiscal year for the Department of State may be used to develop, 
support, or implement any plan for the United States to blockade, 
occupy, annex, conduct military operations against, or otherwise assert 
control over the sovereign territory of a NATO member state, other than 
as authorized by that NATO member state or the North Atlantic Council.

SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the United States 
from defending itself or an ally from an armed attack or from a 
credible threat of an imminent armed attack.
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