,,ii #aafth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #agdc ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,june #e1 #bjai,mrs4 ,shaheen 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,menendez1 ,mr4 ,schumer1 ,mr4 ,carper1 ,mr4 ,van ,hollen1 ,ms4 ,harris1 ,mr4 ,markey1 ,mr4 ,heinrich1 ,mr4 ,merkley1 ,ms4 ,smith1 ,mr4 ,sanders1 ,mrs4 ,feinstein1 ,mr4 ,booker1 ,ms4 ,hirono1 ,mr4 ,brown1 ,mr4 ,whitehouse1 ,mr4 ,blumenthal1 ,mr4 ,reed1 ,mr4 ,schatz1 ,ms4 ,duckworth1 ,mr4 ,coons1 ,mr4 ,durbin1 ,ms4 ,stabenow1 ,mr4 ,kaine1 ,mrs4 ,murray1 ,ms4 ,hassan1 ,mr4 ,wyden1 ,mr4 ,leahy1 ,mr4 ,udall1 ,mrs4 ,gillibrand1 ,mr4 ,king1 ,mr4 ,cardin1 ,ms4 ,klobuchar1 ,ms4 ,rosen1 ,mr4 ,casey1 ,ms4 ,cortez ,masto1 ,mr4 ,murphy1 ,mr4 ,warner1 ,ms4 ,sinema1 ,ms4 ,baldwin1 ,ms4 ,warren1 ,mr4 ,bennet1 ,mr4 ,peters1 ,mr4 ,tester1 ,mr4 ,jones1 and ,ms4 ,cantwell7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations ,a ,,bill ,to direct the ,president to develop a plan for the ,united ,states to meet its nationally determined contribution under the ,paris ,agreement1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,international ,climate ,accountability ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,in ,paris1 on ,december #ab1 #bjae1 parties to the ,united ,nations ,framework ,convention on ,climate ,change 7,,unfccc7 reached a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future4 7#b7 ,the ,paris ,agreement's central aim is to strengthen-- 7,a7 international cooperation among parties on reducing global greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the threat of climate change by keeping a global average temperature increase below #b degrees ,celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to #a4e degrees ,celsius2 and 7,b7 ambition towards achieving global greenhouse gas emission reductions sufficient to reaching the goals of the ,paris ,agreement by requiring parties to make their own nationally determined contribution 7,,ndc7 of greenhouse gas emission reductions4 7#c7 ,the ,paris ,agreement is the premier intergovernmental forum and mechanism at the disposal of the ,united ,states for protecting and advancing ,united ,states strategic and economic interests in a changing1 low-carbon1 global economy4 7#d7 ,the enhanced transparency and reporting framework established under the ,paris ,agreement will provide an effective means of holding other parties accountable for their commitments4 7#e7 ,the ,united ,states is playing a leading role in the development of procedures and guidelines to implement the transparency framework under the ,paris ,agreement4 7#f7 ,since ,may #ca1 #bjag1 more than #djj ,united ,states mayors have adopted the ,paris ,agreement goals for their cities and #bd ,united ,states governors have formed a bipartisan coalition to realize the ,paris ,agreement goals at the ,state level4 7#g7 ,the ,paris ,agreement-- 7,a7 notes the importance of climate justice when mitigating and adapting to climate change2 and 7,b7 recognizes the need for an effective and progressive response to the urgent threat of climate change4 7#h7 ,the cost of inaction on climate change will have devastating impacts to the ,united ,states economy1 costing billions of dollars in lost ,,gdp4 7#i7 ,the ,paris ,agreement further requires each party to update its nationally determined contribution every #e years1 and these ,,ndc should reflect the party's highest possible ambition4 7#aj7 ,the ,united ,states communicated its first nationally determined contribution to achieve an economy-wide target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by #bf to #bh percent below its #bjje level in #bjbe and to make best efforts to reduce its emissions by #bh percent4 7#aa7 ,a number of existing laws1 regulations1 and other mandatory measures in the ,united ,states are relevant to achieving this target1 including the ,clean ,air ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #gdja et seq471 the ,energy ,policy ,act of #aiib 7,public ,law #ajb-dhf71 and the ,energy ,independence and ,security ,act of #bjjg 7,public ,law #aaj-adj74 7#ab7 ,on ,june #a1 #bjag1 ,president ,donald ,j4 ,trump announced his intention to withdraw the ,united ,states from the ,paris ,agreement1 negotiate our way back into ,paris1 or negotiate a new deal4 7#ac7 ,withdrawal from the ,paris ,agreement would leave the ,united ,states as the only ,,unfccc member state that is not a signatory to the ,paris ,agreement4 7#ad7 ,dozens of foreign heads of state have expressed support for the ,united ,states to remain a party to the ,paris ,agreement4 7#ae7 ,leading companies across major economic sectors believe that the participation of the ,united ,states in the ,paris ,agreement strengthens ,united ,states employment1 growth1 and competitiveness and that withdrawal from the ,agreement would put ,united ,states companies at a competitive disadvantage4 7#af7 ,under the terms of the ,paris ,agreement1 the earliest possible effective withdrawal date by the ,united ,states is ,november #d1 #bjbj4 ,however1 the ,united ,states is still obligated to maintain certain commitments under the ,united ,nations ,framework ,convention on ,climate ,change1 such as continuing to report its emissions to the ,united ,nations4 #c4 ,prohibition on use of funds to advance the withdrawal of the ,united ,states from the ,paris ,agreement 7a7 ,in general ,notwithstanding any other provision of law1 no funds are authorized to be appropriated1 obligated1 or expended to take any action to advance the withdrawal of the ,united ,states from the ,paris ,agreement4 7b7 ,rule of construction ,subsection 7a7 shall not be construed to constrain or prohibit the ,united ,states ,government from participating in the implementation and execution of the ,paris ,agreement1 including meeting current obligations under the ,paris ,agreements and the ,united ,nations ,framework ,convention on ,climate ,change4 #d4 ,plan for the ,united ,states to meet its nationally determined contribution under the ,paris ,agreement 7a7 ,in general ,not later than #abj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,president shall develop and submit to the appropriate congressional committees and make available to the public a plan for the ,united ,states to meet its nationally determined contribution under the ,paris ,agreement4 ,the plan shall describe-- 7#a7 how the ,united ,states will achieve an economy-wide target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by #bf to #bh percent below its #bjje level by #bjbe2 and 7#b7 how the ,united ,states will use the ,paris ,agreement's transparency provisions to confirm that other parties to the ,agreement with major economies are fulfilling their announced contributions to the ,agreement4 7b7 ,updates to plan ,not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 and annually thereafter1 the ,president shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and make available to the public an updated plan under subsection 7a74 7c7 ,successive nationally determined contributions ,the updated plan developed pursuant to subsection 7c7 may serve as the ,united ,states' successive ,,ndc1 in accordance with ,article #d4c of the ,paris ,agreement1 and may be communicated to the ,united ,nations ,secretary-,general in accordance with ,article #d4i of the ,paris ,agreement4 7d7 ,appropriate congressional committees defined ,in this section1 the term appropriate congressional committees means-- 7#a7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations1 the ,committee on ,environment and ,public ,works1 the ,committee on ,energy and ,natural ,resources1 the ,committee on ,agriculture1 ,nutrition1 and ,forestry1 and the ,committee on ,appropriations of the ,senate2 and 7#b7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs1 the ,committee on ,energy and ,commerce1 the ,committee on ,agriculture1 and the ,committee on ,appropriations of the ,house of ,representatives4 #e4 ,paris ,agreement defined ,in this ,act1 the term ,paris ,agreement means the decision by the ,united ,nations ,framework ,convention on ,climate ,change's #bast ,conference of ,parties in ,paris1 ,france1 adopted ,december #ab1 #bjae4