116 HR 2444 IH: Eastern European Security Act U.S. House of Representatives 2019-05-01 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I116th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 2444IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESMay 1, 2019Mr. McCaul introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign AffairsA BILLTo authorize the Secretary of State to make direct loans under section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Eastern European Security Act.

2.

Sense of Congress

It is the sense of Congress that it is in the national security interest of the United States for member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that were formerly part of the Soviet Eastern Bloc— (1)to have modern and effective defense articles that are in use and easily integrated with those used by the United States and other NATO allies; and (2)not use or be dependent on Russian or former Soviet-era defense articles.

3.

Foreign military loan authority

(a)

In general

Subject to the notification requirements under subsection (b), the President, acting through the Secretary of State, is authorized— (1)to make direct loans under section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763) to NATO countries that joined the alliance after March 1, 1999, notwithstanding the minimum interest rate required by subsection (c)(1) of such section; and (2)to charge fees for such loans under paragraph (1), which shall be collected from borrowers in accordance with section 502(7) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and which may be used to cover the costs of such loans as defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. (b)

Notification

A loan may not be made under the authority provided by subsection (a) unless the Secretary of State submits to the appropriate congressional committees a certification, not fewer than fifteen days before entering into an agreement to make such loan, that— (1)the recipient country is making demonstrable progress toward meeting its spending obligations in accordance with the 2014 NATO Wales Summit; and (2)the government of such recipient country is respecting that country’s constitution and upholds democratic values such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the rule of law, and the rights of religious minorities. (c)

Repayment

A loan made under the authority provided by subsection (a) shall be repaid in not more than 12 years, but may include a grace period of up to one year on the repayment of the principal. (d)

Appropriate congressional committees defined

In this Act, the term appropriate congressional committees means— (1)the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and (2)the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.