Sense of Congress

Congress— (1)believes the expeditious delivery of defense articles and services to allies and partners strengthens American national security; (2)notes that the Department of Defense contracting process often adds significant amounts of time to the delivery of defense articles and services to allies and partners, and in some cases these articles and services could be appropriately transferred more quickly using direct commercial sales; and (3)supports the ongoing and periodic review of the FMS-Only List to ensure that defense articles and services that can be appropriately transferred using direct commercial sales are not included on the FMS-Only list.

Review and report

(a)

Review

(1)

In general

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall carry out a review of defense articles and defense services that are eligible to be provided under the foreign military sales program under chapter 2 of the Arms Export Control Act, but not eligible to be provided under direct commercial sales under section 38 of such Act, in order to identify those articles and services that should also be eligible to be provided under direct commercial sales. (2)

Matters to be addressed

The review required by this subsection shall address the following with respect to each defense article and defense services identified under this subsection: (A)The average length of time to complete a transfer of the article or service under the foreign military sales program compared to such a transfer under a direct commercial sale, measured from the initial submission of the letter of request to the delivery of the article or service. (B)The impact on the workload for the Department of State and Department of Defense by reason of a transfer of the article or service under a direct commercial sale. (C)The benefits to United States national security and United States competitiveness by reason of a transfer of the article or service under a direct commercial sale. (b)

Report

(1)

In general

Not later than 30 days after the completion of each review required by subsection (a), the Secretary of State, in coordination of the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that contains the results of the review, including— (A)the average time to transfer the reviewed defense articles or services during the previous reporting period through the foreign military sales program and through direct commercial sales and how those averages compare to the averages reported in the previous reporting period; (B)the leading causes of delays; (C)any steps taken to reduce those delays; and (D)any defense articles and services added to or removed from the FMS-Only list during the preceding reporting period, as well as the justification for such decisions. (2)

Form

The report required by this subsection shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex. (3)

Definitions

In this subsection— (A)the term appropriate congressional committees means— (i)the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives; and (ii)the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; and (B)the term FMS-only list means the list maintained by the Secretary of State of defense articles and defense services that are eligible to be provided under the foreign military sales program under chapter 2 of the Arms Export Control Act, but not eligible to be provided under direct commercial sales under section 38 of such Act.