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ABM Treaty: U.S. Representatives Sue to Block Treaty Withdrawal By David Ruppe Led by Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), the suit asks the court to require the president to seek the concurrence of Congress before he withdraws from the ABM Treaty or any other treaty. The treaty, which was intended to prevent the United States and the Soviet Union — and now Russia — from deploying national missile defenses, is considered an obstacle to the Bush administration’s multitrack missile defense effort (see GSN, June 11). Prompting Russian objections, U.S. President George W. Bush announced the withdrawal in December last year. The six-month notification period required by the treaty expires Thursday (see GSN, Dec. 13, 2001). “The world’s geopolitical trash bin is already littered with treaties and agreements unilaterally discarded by the United States under this administration,” said Kucinich. “We will not stand idly by while the liberties enshrined in our founding documents are trampled upon. We will not stand idly by while the rule of many is cast aside by the hubris of one.” Not Likely to Succeed Arms control experts said the lawsuit probably will not prevent the withdrawal. “The president has unilateral ability to withdraw without input from Congress,” said John Isaacs, president of the Council for a Livable World. The suit is “clearly a long shot in terms of trying to save the ABM Treaty.” Nevertheless, Isaacs said, Kucinich’s lawsuit raises “important issues about how important the treaty is.” Meanwhile, Senator Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) introduced a nonbinding resolution Monday stating that the Senate does not approve termination of the treaty and that Senate approval is required for termination (see GSN, June 7). “For 30 years, the ABM Treaty has been the foundation upon which our strategic relationship with Russia has rested. So I am troubled that this historic treaty is about to be dissolved without so much as a hearing or even any debate in this body,” Feingold said, speaking on the Senate floor. “I also regret that the president made this important decision without consulting with the Senate. I find this troubling on both constitutional and policy grounds,” he said. Feingold then quoted a passage from Thomas Jefferson’s A Manual of Parliamentary Practice: for the Use of the Senate of the United States. “Treaties are legislative acts. A treaty is the law of the land. It differs from other laws only as it must have the consent of a foreign nation, being but a contract with respect to that nation,” Jefferson wrote. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) effectively blocked consideration of the Feingold resolution by objecting without explanation. Hatch’s objection appears to be a reversal of position on the issue of the president’s authority to withdraw from treaties. In 1979, Hatch signed a resolution by Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) opposing President Jimmy Carter’s decision to terminate, without congressional approval, a mutual defense treaty with Taiwan. That resolution called Carter’s move “a dangerous precedent for executive usurpation of Congress’s historically and constitutionally based powers.” Senators Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) also supported that resolution. Goldwater’s resolution said “treaties are part of the law of the land” and that the president must “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” A federal district court sided with a Goldwater lawsuit to block the withdrawal, but an appeals court overruled. The Supreme Court affirmed the decision to dismiss Goldwater’s suit without directly addressing the question of presidential authority. Click here to see excerpts of the Supreme Court opinions. At yesterday’s press conference, Kucinich said presidents have unilaterally withdrawn the United States from treaties in the past, but only rarely. “In more than two centuries, only a handful of treaties have been unilaterally terminated by the president. In the vast majority of cases, one or both of the houses of Congress consented.” For further information, see: U.S. Fact Sheet on Withdrawal from ABM Treaty
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