,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bagd  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,june #be      
7legislative day1 ,june #bd71 #bjbe ,mr4
 ,lee introduced the following bill2    
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,foreign ,relations  ,a  
,,bill  ,to require the ,president to   
give notice of denunciation of the      
,north ,atlantic ,treaty for purposes of
 withdrawing the ,united ,states from   
the ,north ,atlantic ,treaty            
,organization1 and for other purposes4  
#a4  ,short title  ,this ,act may be    
cited as the ,not ,a ,trusted           
,organization ,act or the ,,nato ,act4  
#b4  ,findings  ,congress makes the     
following findings3 7#a7 ,the ,north    
,atlantic ,treaty 7also known as the    
,washington ,treaty7 was signed on      
,april #d1 #aidi1 in ,washington1 ,,dc1 
and created the ,north ,atlantic ,treaty
 ,organization 7,,nato74  7#b7 ,,nato   
was intended to counterbalance the      
political and military power of the     

,soviet ,union in ,eastern ,europe and  
was originally composed of #ab member   
states representing ,western ,europe and
 its transatlantic partners4  7#c7 ,the 
preamble to the ,washington ,treaty     
affirms that the ,parties will unite    
their efforts for collective defense4   
,similarly1 ,article #c of the          
,washington ,treaty provides that each  
,party will maintain and develop their  
individual and collective capacity to   
resist armed attack4  7#d7 ,the ,warsaw 
,pact served as the collective defense  
bloc of the ,soviet ,union and collapsed
 in #aiia1 followed by the collapse of  
the ,soviet ,union itself by the end of 
that year4  7#e7 ,shortly before the    
collapse of the ,soviet ,union1 ,united 
,states ,secretary of ,state ,james     
,baker made assurances to ,soviet ,union
 leader ,mikhail ,gorbachev that ,,nato 
would not expand eastward4  7#f7 ,the   
dissolution of both the ,warsaw ,pact   
and the ,soviet ,union fundamentally    
altered the security environment in     

,europe and rendered ,,nato's founding  
collective defense mission irrelevant4  
7#g7 ,despite its waning relevance and  
prior assurances to the contrary1 ,,nato
 began a profound eastward expansion in 
#aiii1 which1 as of #bjbe1 culminated in
 a land border with the ,russian        
,federation that exceeds #a1ejj miles   
and encircles the ,baltic ,sea4  7#h7   
,successive ,national ,military         
,doctrines and ,national ,security      
,strategies of the ,russian ,federation 
have framed the expansion of ,,nato as a
 pervasive threat to ,russian security4 
7#i7 ,in a speech before the ,munich    
,security ,conference in #bjjg1         
,president of the ,russian ,federation  
,vladimir ,putin described ,,nato       
expansion as a serious provocation and  
referenced the assurances previously    
made by the ,united ,states4  7#aj7 ,the
 invasion of ,ukraine by the ,russian   
,federation in #bjbb demonstrates the   
,russian ,federation's willingness to   
employ military action in response to   

perceived security threats4  7#aa7      
,,nato members have refused to rule out 
further expansion4  7#ab7 ,since the    
founding of ,,nato1 the ,united ,states 
has shouldered the burden of what was   
characterized as a collective security  
alliance1 as the largest financial and  
hard power contributor4  7#ac7 ,at the  
,wales ,summit in #bjad1 ,,nato members 
pledged to spend #b percent of their    
gross domestic product on defense1 known
 as the ,wales ,pledge4  7#ad7 ,more    
than a decade later1 nearly #a_/c of    
,,nato members fail to meet the ,wales  
,pledge4  7#ae7 ,consistent with ,united
 ,states national security interests1   
,europe is not a priority theater for   
,united ,states engagement4 ,the        
principal interest of the ,united       
,states in ,europe is preventing the    
emergence of a regional hegemon4  7#af7 
,the combined military and economic     
capacity of ,european ,,nato members    
exceeds that of the ,russian            
,federation1 serving as a sufficient    

counterweight to a prospective regional 
hegemon without ,united ,states         
engagement4  7#ag7 ,while the ,united   
,states continues to subsidize ,european
 security1 ,european ,,nato members are 
disincentivized from forward movement on
 burden shifting in the ,european       
theater4  7#ah7 ,membership of the      
,united ,states in ,,nato is            
inconsistent with the national security 
interests of the ,united ,states4  #c4  
,denunciation of ,north ,atlantic       
,treaty  ,consistent with ,article #ac  
of the ,north ,atlantic ,treaty1 done at
 ,washington ,april #d1 #aidi1 not later
 than #cj days after the date of the    
enactment of this ,act1 the ,president  
shall give notice of denunciation of the
 ,north ,atlantic ,treaty for purposes  
of withdrawing the ,united ,states from 
the ,north ,atlantic ,treaty            
,organization4  #d4  ,fulfillment of    
requirement of section #abej;,a of the  
,national ,defense ,authorization ,act  
for ,fiscal ,year #bjbd  ,this ,act     

satisfies the requirement of section    
#abej;,a of the ,national ,defense      
,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year   
#bjbd 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #aibh;f7 for       
congressional authorization of          
suspension1 termination1 denunciation1  
or withdrawal from the ,north ,atlantic 
,treaty4  #e4  ,prohibition on the use  
of funds  ,no funds authorized to be    
appropriated1 appropriated1 or otherwise
 made available by any ,act may be used 
to fund1 directly or indirectly1 ,united
 ,states contributions to the           
common-funded budgets of the ,north     
,atlantic ,treaty ,organization1        
including the civil budget1 the military
 budget1 or the ,security ,investment   
,program4  #f4  ,severability  ,if any  
provision of this ,act or the           
application of such provision to any    
person or circumstance is held to be    
unconstitutional1 the remainder of this 
,act and the application of the         
provision to any other person or        
circumstance shall not be affected4