Tim Kaine: “I regret it is necessary to re-introduce legislation that prevents a President from withdrawing the United States from…”

“I regret it is necessary to re-introduce legislation that prevents a President from withdrawing the United States from NATO. Recent reports confirm that President Trump has repeatedly proposed doing so over the past year. In addition to concern over U.S. national security, this threat to withdraw also raises important constitutional issues. What is the role of Congress in treaties--not just entering into them, but also leaving them? Particularly with a treaty obligation that is as central to U.S. security as NATO--as repeatedly affirmed by Congress--no president should or can be allowed to unilaterally withdraw without the advice and consent of the Senate. Our allies with whom we have fought alongside since World War II and earlier in some cases, are questioning our allegiance for the first time in the history of the modern international order. President Trump has called our European allies ``foes'' while aligning himself with a brutal authoritarian, Vladimir Putin, over the professional assessment of the U.S. intelligence community. Last year, at the NATO summit in Brussels, the President insulted our allies and threatened to leave the alliance if defense spending was not ramped up. The President has also questioned the U.S. commitment to NATO's mutual defense provision and we still do not know what he discussed with President Putin at their meeting in Helsinki. As such, we are forced to ask what options we have to preserve U.S.…”