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Rep. Kelly Pledges Continued Opposition to UN Arms Trade Treaty

December 22, 2014

Treaty will enter into force on Christmas Eve

WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) issued the following statement today regarding the imminent entry into force of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which will occur on December 24, 2014 — 90 days, as required, after the 50th nation ratified the treaty. The United States signed the treaty on September 25, 2013, but has never ratified it.

“As the ATT soon enters into force, the United States Congress continues to stand with the American people in total opposition to this dangerous treaty. I applaud my colleagues for continuing to prohibit federal funding for the treaty’s implementation, and am glad to see the president once again sign legislation affirming this important ban. However, even with the ban in place, there are still plans being proposed for the US to pay up to 22 percent of UN ‘activity’ to manage the treaty — even though our Senate (rightly) refuses to ratify it! Going forward, vigilance is crucial. Congress must maintain its strong opposition while ensuring that the Obama administration is not tempted to act unilaterally in the treaty’s favor. We must not stand by and allow the ATT to threaten our constitutional rights at home or our closest allies abroad, as the world’s worst actors are surely counting on.”

BACKGROUND:  Rep. Kelly is a national leader of the movement to stop the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). On March 15, 2013, he introduced H. Con. Res. 23, a bipartisan concurrent resolution expressing opposition to the treaty on behalf of members of Congress. The resolution currently has 149 co-sponsors in the House and 36 supporters in the Senate.

On May 30, 2013, Rep. Kelly submitted a bipartisan letter with 130 co-signers from Congress to both President Obama and Secretary Kerry urging them to reject the treaty. He sent a similar bipartisan letter to the president following Secretary Kerry’s signing of the treaty on October 15, 2013, which was signed by 181 members of Congress, including multiple committee chairmen. A follow-up letterwas sent to the White House on April, 20, 2014.

On June 14, 2013, Rep. Kelly introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2014 to prohibit federal funding for the implementation of the ATT for one year by the Department of Defense. The amendment was adopted unanimously by a voice vote and included in the final passage of the NDAA by the House of Representatives. The House-Senate compromise NDAA, which included an updated version of the Kelly amendment, was passed by the House on December 12, 2013; passed by the Senate on December, 19, 2013; and signed by President Obama on December 26, 2013.

On July 24, 2013, the House Appropriations Committee approved the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2014 which imposes a one-year ban on the use of federal funds for the implementation of the ATT by the State Department. The ban is based on language from a bipartisan letter which Rep. Kelly authored and submitted to the State and Foreign Operations subcommittee on April 18, 2013. A version of this ban was integrated into H.R. 3547, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, which temporarily funded the government between October 1, 2013 and January 15, 2014.

On April 1, 2014, Rep. Kelly authored and submitted four separate letters to the bipartisan leaders of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, and the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies requesting updated and strengthened language prohibiting federal funding of the ATT in each of the subcommittees’ respective appropriation bills for fiscal year 2015, including an explicit ban on the use of funds to engage in domestic prosecutions on the basis of the ATT. Each letter was co-signed by more than 80 members of Congress.

On May 22, 2014, the House passed H.R. 4335, the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2015, which included Rep. Kelly’s amendment to continue the Defense Department’s ban on funding for the ATT.

On May 30, 2014, the House passed the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2015, which included language requested by Kelly to ban ATT funding by the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other related agencies.

On June 20, 2014, the House passedthe Department of Defense Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2015 by a bipartisan vote of 340-73, which included language requested by Rep. Kelly to prohibit any funding by the Department of Defense for the implementation of the ATT for one year. On June 24, 2014, the full Appropriations Committee approved language to ban ATT funds in the FY 2015 State and Foreign Ops bill following Rep. Kelly’s letter to the subcommittee.

On September 5, 2014, Rep. Kelly submitted a letter to President Obama voicing opposition to the planned First Conference of State Parties (CSP) to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) – a UN-backed gathering to shape the future of the ATT – due to its exclusion of any organizations critical of the treaty.

On December 16, 2014, President Obama signed into law the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2015, which includes a ban on federal funding for the ATT’s implementation. The president signed the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2015 (H.R. 3979) on December 19, 2014, which included a similar ban.

 

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