[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5648 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5648

   To improve defense cooperation between the United States and the 
                      Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 18, 2014

 Ms. Ros-Lehtinen introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To improve defense cooperation between the United States and the 
                      Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

    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 ``United States-Jordan Defense 
Cooperation Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) From the $2,400,000,000 in total United States 
        multilateral funding for the Syrian humanitarian crisis, the 
        United States Government has provided $268,000,000 to the 
        Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
            (2) As of August 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner 
        for Refugees estimates there are more than 600,000 registered 
        Syrian refugees in Jordan.
            (3) Jordan estimates that more than 800,000 unregistered 
        refugees are in Jordan living outside of refugee camps, 
        assimilated into local communities, which would bring the total 
        to approximately 1,400,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan.
            (4) In February 2014, President Obama announced that the 
        United States and Jordan will renew the non-binding memorandum 
        of understanding that was signed in 2008 to provide assistance 
        to Jordan over a 5-year period that reinforces the commitment 
        to broaden cooperation and dialogue between the two countries 
        in a variety of areas.
            (5) In 2000, the United States and Jordan signed a free-
        trade agreement that went into force in 2001.
            (6) In 1996, the United States granted Jordan major non-
        NATO ally status.
            (7) Jordan is suffering from the Syrian refugee crisis and 
        the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
            (8) The Government of Jordan was elected as a non-permanent 
        member of the United Nations Security Council beginning in 
        January 2014 and terminating in December 2015.
            (9) Enhanced support for defense cooperation with Jordan is 
        important to the national security of the United States, 
        including through creation of a status in law for Jordan 
        similar to the countries in the North Atlantic Treaty 
        Organization, Japan, Australia, the Republic of Korea, Israel, 
        and New Zealand, with respect to consideration by Congress of 
        foreign military sales to Jordan.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It should be the policy of the United States to support the 
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in its response to the Syrian refugee 
crisis, provide necessary assistance to alleviate the domestic burden 
to provide basic needs for the assimilated Syrian refugees, cooperate 
with Jordan to combat the terrorist threat from the Islamic State of 
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or other terrorist organizations, and help 
secure the border between Jordan and its neighbors Syria and Iraq.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that expeditious consideration of 
certifications of letters of offer to sell defense articles, defense 
services, design and construction services, and major defense equipment 
to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan under section 36(b) of the Arms 
Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776(b)) is fully consistent with United 
States security and foreign policy interests and the objectives of 
world peace and security.

SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO ARMS EXPORT CONTROL ACT.

    The Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 3 (22 U.S.C. 2753)--
                    (A) in subsection (b)(2), by inserting ``the 
                Government of Jordan,'' before ``or the Government of 
                New Zealand''; and
                    (B) in subsection (d)--
                            (i) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting `` 
                        Jordan,'' before ``or New Zealand'';
                            (ii) in paragraph (3)(A)(i), by inserting 
                        `` Jordan,'' before ``or New Zealand''; and
                            (iii) in paragraph (5), by inserting `` 
                        Jordan,'' before ``or New Zealand'';
            (2) in section 21 (22 U.S.C. 2761)--
                    (A) in subsection (e)(2)(A), by inserting `` 
                Jordan,'' before ``or New Zealand''; and
                    (B) in subsection (h)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting `` 
                        Jordan,'' before ``or Israel''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting `` 
                        Jordan,'' before ``or Israel'' both places it 
                        appears;
            (3) in section 36 (22 U.S.C. 2776)--
                    (A) in subsection (b)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting `` 
                        Jordan,'' before `` or New Zealand'';
                            (ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting `` 
                        Jordan,'' before ``or New Zealand''; and
                            (iii) in paragraph (6), by inserting `` 
                        Jordan,'' before ``or New Zealand'';
                    (B) in subsection (c), by inserting `` Jordan,'' 
                before ``or New Zealand'' both places it appears; and
                    (C) in subsection (d)(2)(A), by inserting `` 
                Jordan,'' before ``or New Zealand'';
            (4) in section 62(c)(1) (22 U.S.C. 2796a(c)(1)), by 
        inserting `` Jordan,'' before ``or New Zealand''; and
            (5) in section 63(a)(2) (22 U.S.C. 2796b(a)(2)), by 
        inserting `` Jordan,'' before ``or New Zealand''.

SEC. 6. AMENDMENT TO FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961.

    Section 656(a)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2416(a)(2)) by inserting ``Jordan,'' before ``or New Zealand''.

SEC. 7. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State is authorized, subject to 
the availability of appropriations, to enter into a Memorandum of 
Understanding with Jordan to increase military cooperation, including 
joint military exercises, personnel exchanges, support for 
international peacekeeping missions, and enhanced strategic dialogue.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out subsection (a) not less than $1,000,000,000 
for each of the fiscal years 2015 through 2019.

SEC. 8. FOREIGN MILITARY FINANCING PROGRAM.

    Amounts made available under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) 
program estimated to be outlayed for Jordan during each of the fiscal 
years 2015 through 2019 shall be disbursed to an interest-bearing 
account for Jordan in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York not later 
than 30 days of the date of the enactment of this Act provided that--
            (1) withdrawal of funds from such account shall be made 
        only on authenticated instructions from the Defense Finance and 
        Accounting Service of the Department of Defense;
            (2) in the event such account is closed, the balance of the 
        account shall be transferred promptly to the appropriations 
        account for the Foreign Military Financing Program; and
            (3) none of the interest accrued by such account should be 
        obligated unless the Committee on Appropriations and the 
        Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
        and the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on 
        Foreign Relations of the Senate are notified.
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