[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1555 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1555

    To express the policy of the United States with respect to the 
 adherence by the United States to global standards in the transfer of 
         small arms and light weapons, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 16, 2001

 Mrs. Feinstein (for herself, Mr. Leahy, and Mr. Akaka) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To express the policy of the United States with respect to the 
 adherence by the United States to global standards in the transfer of 
         small arms and light weapons, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

     This Act may be cited as the ``Security and Fair Enforcement in 
Arms Trafficking Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The global proliferation of small arms and light 
        weapons represents a real and pressing threat to peace, 
        development, democracy, human rights, and United States 
        national security interests around the globe.
            (2) The legitimate and responsible transfer of small arms 
        and light weapons, and the application of international 
        standards and legally binding instruments to stem the illicit 
        trade in these weapons, are important elements of United States 
        foreign policy that enhance United States and international 
        security, strengthen United States alliances and partnerships, 
        promotes global peace and freedom, and are critical to efforts 
        to combat terrorism, narco-trafficking, international organized 
        crime, regional and local conflict, and the recruitment and use 
        of child soldiers in these conflicts.
            (3) It is in the United States national interest to promote 
        responsibility and restraint in the transfer of small arms and 
        light weapons, to combat irresponsible practices in such 
        transfers, to ensure that nations engaged in substandard 
        practices are held accountable, and to encourage other members 
        of the international community to meet, as minimum standards, 
        United States law and practice.
            (4) In light of the cruel terror attacks on Washington, 
        D.C., and New York City on September 11, 2001, it is in the 
        United States national interest to take all possible measures 
        to prevent dangerous weapons from falling into the wrong hands. 
        Special emphasis should be placed on combating the 
        proliferation of small arms and light weapons within the 
        broader counter-terrorism strategy given the clear links 
        between the global networks of terrorism, networks of the 
        illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, and states that 
        harbor and support terrorists.
            (5) Small arms and light weapons are the weapons of choice 
        of terrorists and their networks. These groups take advantage 
        of existing licit and illicit channels, and an appropriate 
        international response must therefore target suppliers of these 
        weapons and brokers who facilitate illicit deals and shut down 
        the networks that allow this trade to continue.
            (6) United States military personnel, diplomats, and 
        humanitarian workers, as well as those of the allies of the 
        United States, are threatened by the easy availability of small 
        arms and light weapons in conflict zones.
            (7) The proliferation and ready availability of small arms 
        and light weapons has been a major factor in the devastation in 
        Angola, Cambodia, Liberia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, 
        Somalia, Congo, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Sri Lanka, East 
        Timor, Afghanistan and the violence endemic to narco-
        trafficking in Colombia, Mexico, Thailand, and Myanmar, and has 
        contributed significantly to war crimes and crimes against 
        humanity perpetrated in Cambodia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, East 
        Timor, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
            (8) The case of Afghanistan, where the Taliban and the al 
        Qaeda network have been able to amass a small arms and light 
        weapons arsenal from various actors in the regional and 
        international illicit trade, including links to the 
        international drug trade, other regional terrorist groups, and 
        donations from certain individuals in other countries in the 
        region, and from continued support of the civil war in 
        Afghanistan by various countries, clearly demonstrates how a 
        country can become a threat to regional and even global peace 
        and security if it is continuously flooded by various actors 
        with small arms and light weapons and if arms embargoes are 
        systematically broken.
            (9) The United States and the international community took 
        an important step toward promoting global standards in the 
        transfer of small arms and light weapons in concluding and 
        signing in March 2001, the Protocol on Illicit Firearms 
Trafficking to the United Nations Transnational Organized Crime 
Convention.
            (10) The United States, as a major supplier country, has a 
        special obligation to promote responsible practices in the 
        transfer of small arms and light weapons.
            (11) The United States must abstain from all transfers, for 
        commercial use, of semiautomatic assault weapons or related 
        equipment, the manufacture, transfer, or possession of which is 
        unlawful under section 922 of title 18, United States Code, 
        because such transfers could easily be diverted to terrorist 
        networks.
            (12) To be successful in such efforts the United States 
        must work with other countries to improve effective 
        international standards.
            (13) Because of the United States interest in combating 
        international crime, preventing the diversion of small arms and 
        light weapons to narco-traffickers, international organized 
        criminal networks, terrorists, and recipients engaged in gross 
        and consistent violations of internationally recognized human 
        rights, and promoting fairness in international trade, the 
        United States should enter into negotiations for international 
        agreements on--
                    (A) the marking and tracing of small arms and light 
                weapons;
                    (B) regulations for the activities of arms brokers;
                    (C) greater transparency in licensing and export;
                    (D) a prohibition against the transfer to 
                recipients engaged in gross and consistent violations 
                of internationally recognized human rights and 
                international humanitarian law;
                    (E) a prohibition against the transfer to 
                recipients engaged in breaking international arms 
                control regimes and United Nations arms embargoes;
                    (F) the improved enforcement of United Nations arms 
                embargoes, which are frequently broken by arms brokers 
                and covert state operations; and
                    (G) the establishment of an international regime 
                for the destruction of surplus weapons and the security 
                of stockpiles.
            (14) The United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in 
        Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, held in New 
        York from July 9 to 20, 2001, represented an opportunity to 
        develop better national and international regulations to 
        control the trade in illicit small arms and light weapons. 
        However, the Program of Action did too little to advance 
        international standards in the transfer of small arms and light 
        weapons.

SEC. 3. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act--
            (1) interferes with the legitimate and lawful ownership and 
        use of guns; or
            (2) limits otherwise authorized activities of the United 
        States Government.

SEC. 4. DECLARATIONS OF POLICY.

    (a) Affirmation of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States--
            (1) to maintain the highest standards for the management 
        of, restraint in, and safety in the export of small arms and 
        light weapons and of safety in the transfer abroad of small 
        arms and light weapons;
            (2) to refrain from exporting small arms and light weapons 
        that might be used for internal repression or international 
        aggression or contribute to regional instability; and
            (3) to increase the number of end-use checks of United 
        States transfers in small arms and light weapons and to improve 
        the quality of end-use monitoring, particularly the cooperation 
        between United States missions abroad and the Office of Defense 
        Trade Control.
    (b) Continuation of Existing Policies.--It is the policy of the 
United States--
            (1) under section 502B(a)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act 
        of 1961, not to provide security assistance, including the 
        transfer of small arms and light weapons, to any recipient that 
        engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of 
        internationally recognized human rights;
            (2) that, in an effort to protect the legitimate trade in 
        small arms and light weapons, and to ensure United States laws 
        are enforced, that individuals subject to the jurisdiction of 
        the United States engaged in arms brokering activities register 
        with the Department of State and obtain a license for each 
        transaction;
            (3) to carry out rigorous end-use checks of transfers in 
        small arms and light weapons in order to prevent illegal 
        retransfers of United States small arms and light weapons;
            (4) not to authorize for export to commercial end-users 
        semiautomatic assault weapons, or related equipment, the 
        manufacture, transfer, or possession of which is unlawful under 
        section 922 of title 18, United States Code; and
            (5) to continue to observe the ``Joint Statement of 
        Principles'', agreed by the United States and the European 
        Union at their Washington summit on December 17, 1999.

SEC. 5. INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS.

    (a) Adherence to a Prohibition on Exports.--It is the sense of 
Congress that the President should enter into negotiations with foreign 
parties beginning with the European Union and NATO member states for an 
international agreement not to export to commercial end-users 
semiautomatic assault weapons, or related equipment, the manufacture, 
transfer, or possession of which is unlawful under section 922 of title 
18, United States Code.
    (b) Marking of Small Arms and Light Weapons.--It is the sense of 
Congress that the President should make best efforts to conclude an 
international agreement on the marking of small arms and light weapons 
for international export as advocated by the 2001 Protocol on Illicit 
Firearms Trafficking to the United Nations Transnational Organized 
Crime Convention.
    (c) Enforcement of United Nations Arms Embargoes.--It is the sense 
of Congress that the President should enter negotiations at the United 
Nations level in order to improve the enforcement of United Nations 
arms embargoes insofar as they relate to small arms and light weapons. 
The President should propose to the United Nations Security Council the 
establishment of an arms embargo monitoring unit at the United Nations 
headquarters in New York.
    (d) Comprehensive Agreement.--
            (1) In general.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
        President should enter into negotiations on a legally binding 
        international agreement or agreements with foreign parties 
        beginning with the European Union that would comprise the 
        following elements:
                    (A) The marking and tracing of small arms and light 
                weapons.
                    (B) Regulating the activities of arms brokers, 
                including an international register and watchlist of 
                arms brokers.
                    (C) Greater transparency in the licensing and 
                export of small arms and light weapons.
                    (D) A prohibition against the transfer of small 
                arms and light weapons to recipients engaged in gross 
                and consistent violations of internationally recognized 
                human rights and international humanitarian law.
                    (E) Establishment of an international regime for 
                the destruction of surplus weapons and the security of 
                stockpiles.
            (2) Periodic report.--Not later than six months after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, and semiannually thereafter, the 
        Secretary of State shall submit an unclassified report to the 
        appropriate congressional committees describing the progress 
        toward negotiating such an agreement or agreements.
    (e) Establishment of United States-European Union Coordinating 
Group on Small Arms and Light Weapons.--
            (1) In general.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
        President should seek to establish a United States-European 
        Union Coordinating Group on Small Arms and Light Weapons and to 
        encourage the participation of non-European Union NATO member 
        states, to meet at least semiannually, and as the need arises, 
        to negotiate the agreements described in subsections (a), (b), 
        and (c), to assess trends in the flow of small arms and light 
        weapons to regions of conflict, to coordinate United States and 
        European Union activities, and to address concerns as they 
        arise.
            (2) Periodic report.--Not later than six months after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, and semiannually thereafter, the 
        Secretary of State shall submit an unclassified report to the 
        appropriate congressional committees describing the progress 
        toward establishing a United States-European Union Coordinating 
        Group on Small Arms and Light Weapons, together with a list and 
        summary of all contacts during the period covered by each 
        report between the United States and the European Union and 
        European Union member states.
    (f) Implementation of Program of Action of United Nations 
Conference.--
            (1) In general.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
        President should make best efforts to advance international 
        negotiations to implement the Program of Action of the 2001 
        United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms 
        and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, as well as to advance and 
        extend the goals of the Program of Action, including--
                    (A) establishing national regulations and 
                international agreements on arms brokering;
                    (B) establishing national regulations and 
                international agreements on the marking and tracing of 
                small arms and light weapons;
                    (C) promoting greater security for weapons 
                stockpiles held by states;
                    (D) efforts to carry out more effective post-
                conflict disarmament and demobilization programs;
                    (E) criminalizing the production, possession, 
                stockpiling, and trade of illicit small arms and light 
                weapons; and
                    (F) advancing the role of civil society and 
                nongovernmental institutions in addressing the 
                proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
            (2) Periodic report.--Not later than six months after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, and not later than December 31 
        of every year thereafter through 2006, the Secretary of State 
        shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
        report describing the activities undertaken, and the progress 
        made, by the Department of State or other agencies and entities 
        of the United States Government in implementing the goals of 
        the Program of Action.

SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION; SEMIANNUAL REPORTS.

    (a) Congressional Notification of Export License Applications.--
Section 36(c) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776(c)) is 
amended by inserting ``(or, in the case of a defense article that is a 
firearm controlled under category I of the United States Munitions 
List, $1,000,000 or more)'' after ``$50,000,000 or more''.
    (b) Report.--Not later than six months after the date of enactment 
of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall 
submit an unclassified report to the appropriate congressional 
committees on the numbers, range, and findings of end-use monitoring of 
United States transfers in small arms and light weapons.
    (c) Semiannual Reports.--Section 655 of the Foreign Assistance Act 
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2415) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``Not later'' and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), not 
        later''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Exception.--In the case of licenses for the export of 
        defense articles that are firearms controlled under category I 
        of the United States Munitions List, the information required 
        by subsection (b) with respect to those firearms shall be 
        included in a report transmitted to the Committee on Foreign 
        Relations of the Senate and the Committee on International 
        Relations of the House of Representatives not later than 
        February 1 and August 1 of each year covering the period since 
        the last report.''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting before the period at 
        the end the following: ``, including, in the case of defense 
        articles that are firearms controlled under category I of the 
        United States Munitions List, a statement of the aggregate 
        dollar value and quantity of semiautomatic assault weapons, or 
        related equipment, the manufacture, transfer, or possession of 
        which is unlawful under section 922 of title 18, United States 
        Code, that were licensed for export during the period covered 
        by the report''.
    (d) Special Notification.--
            (1) In general.--Not less than 15 days prior to the grant 
        of any license export to any country described in paragraph (2) 
        of any lethal defense article or defense service in the amount 
        $1,000,000 or less, the President shall provide a detailed 
        notification to the Committees on Appropriations and Foreign 
        Relations of the Senate and the Committees on Appropriations 
        and International Relations of the House of Representatives, 
        including a statement describing the purposes for which the 
        article or service is being provided to the country and stating 
        whether or not such article or service has been previously 
        provided to such country.
            (2) Countries defined.--A country described in this 
        paragraph is a country where there is a clear risk that the 
        defense article or defense service will--
                    (A) be used in a breach of peace or act of 
                international aggression--
                            (i) to commit gross violations of human 
                        rights;
                            (ii) to commit gross violations of 
                        international humanitarian law; or
                            (iii) to commit acts of genocide or crimes 
                        against humanity; or
                    (B) be diverted to commit any of the acts described 
                in subparagraph (A).

SEC. 7. REGISTRY OF SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS SERIAL NUMBERS.

    (a) In General.--Section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 
U.S.C. 2778) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(i)(1) The President shall require that, prior to the export of 
any firearm listed in category I of the United States Munition List 
that requires a license for international export under this section, 
the exporter shall provide the President with written identification of 
the serial number of the firearm to be exported.
    ``(2) The President shall establish and maintain a registry of each 
serial number provided under paragraph (1).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to applications for licenses to export filed on or after the date 
of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 8. ANNUAL REPORT ON ARMS BROKERING.

    Not later than six months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit an 
unclassified report to the appropriate congressional committees on 
activities of registered arms brokers, including a list of all 
registered brokers and any violations of the Arms Export Control Act.

SEC. 9. ANNUAL REPORT ON INVESTIGATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, 
              TOBACCO AND FIREARMS.

    Not later than six months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
and annually thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury, shall submit an 
unclassified report to the appropriate congressional committees on 
investigations and other work undertaken by the Bureau of Alcohol, 
Tobacco and Firearms (including the cooperation with other agencies) to 
stop United States-source weapons from being used in terrorist acts, 
insurgency, and international crime.

SEC. 10. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State should 
encourage those countries that have not done so to sign and ratify the 
1997 Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and 
Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunitions, Explosives, and Other Related 
Materials and the 2001 Protocol on Illicit Firearms Trafficking to the 
United Nations Transnational Organized Crime Convention.

SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on 
        International Relations of the House of Representatives.
            (2) President.--The term ``President'' means the President, 
        acting through the Secretary of State.
            (3) Small arms and light weapons.--
                    (A) Covered items.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), the term ``small arms and light 
                weapons'' means revolvers and self-loading pistols, 
                rifles and carbines, submachine guns, assault rifles, 
                light machine guns, heavy machine guns, hand-held 
                underbarrel and mounted grenade launchers, portable 
                anti-aircraft guns, portable antitank guns, recoilless 
                rifles, portable launchers of antitank missiles and 
                rocket systems, portable launchers of anti-aircraft 
                missile systems, mortars of calibers of less than 100 
                millimeter, ammunition and explosives, cartridges and 
                rounds for small arms and light weapons, mobile 
                containers with missiles or shells for single-action 
                anti-aircraft and antitank systems, antipersonnel and 
                antitank hand grenades, landmines, and explosives.
                    (B) Exception.--Subparagraph (A) does not include 
                any antique firearm manufactured before January 1, 
                1900, or any replica of such a firearm.
                                 <all>