H.R. 6508 — NATO Act

This section states 18 congressional findings concerning the history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including its founding in 1949 to counter the Soviet Union; US assurances in 1990 against NATO's eastward expansion; NATO's post-Cold War enlargement through 2025, resulting in a 1,500-mile land border with Russia; Russian security concerns over such expansion; NATO members' failure to meet the 2014 Wales Pledge defense spending target of 2% of GDP by nearly one-third of members; the superior combined military and economic capacity of European NATO members relative to Russia; and the determination that US membership in NATO is inconsistent with US national security interests.

This section directs the President to provide notice of denunciation of the North Atlantic Treaty—consistent with Article 13, which permits withdrawal after 20 years with one year's notice—within 30 days of enactment to withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). (Thus, U.S. membership in NATO would terminate one year after receipt of the notice by other parties.)

This section declares that this Act fulfills the congressional authorization requirement of 22 U.S.C. 1928f for suspending, terminating, denouncing, or withdrawing the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty (i.e., the NATO treaty). (Thus, pursuant to current law, the President may take such action under the terms of this Act.)

This section prohibits the use of any funds authorized to be appropriated, appropriated, or otherwise made available by any Act for U.S. contributions to the common-funded budgets of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including the civil budget (for administrative costs), military budget (for operational expenses), and Security Investment Program (for infrastructure).

This section establishes a severability clause, providing that if any provision of the Act or its application to any person or circumstance is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act and the provision's application to other persons or circumstances remains unaffected.