[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8707 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8707

   To require certifications for transfers of certain United States 
     defense articles and defense services, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 30, 2020

Mr. Engel (for himself, Mr. Deutch, Ms. Spanberger, Mr. Malinowski, Mr. 
   Gottheimer, Mr. Schneider, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. Murphy of 
   Florida, Mr. Trone, Mr. Sherman, and Mr. Connolly) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require certifications for transfers of certain United States 
     defense articles and defense services, 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 ``Middle East Advanced Military 
Technology Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In June 2017, the Assistant Secretary of State for 
        Political-Military Affairs testified to Congress, ``Arms 
        transfers are foreign policy. When we transfer a system or a 
        capability to a foreign partner, we are affecting regional--or 
        foreign internal--balances of power; we are sending a signal of 
        support; and we are establishing or sustaining relationships 
        that may last for generations and provide benefits for an 
        extended period of time.''.
            (2) For more than 50 years, the United States has worked to 
        ensure Israel's qualitative military edge when considering the 
        sale or export of defense articles and defense services to 
        Israel or to others in the Middle East region.
            (3) Maintaining a substantial qualitative military edge is 
        critical to preserving Israel's safety and security and has 
        been a vital consideration in all previous sales of weapons to 
        the region.
            (4) Congress codified United States support for Israel's 
        qualitative military edge as United States policy in 2008 in 
        section 201 of Public Law 110-429 (22 U.S.C. 2776 note), which 
        requires that any proposed U.S. arms sale to ``any country in 
        the Middle East other than Israel'' must include a notification 
        to Congress with a ``determination that the sale or export of 
        such would not adversely affect Israel's qualitative military 
        edge over military threats to Israel''.
            (5) In 2016, the United States and Israel signed a 10-year 
        Memorandum of Understanding, in which the United States 
        committed that ``the acquisition of additional U.S.-produced 
        capabilities and technology provide the best means to ensure 
        Israel preserves its Qualitative Military Edge (QME)''.
            (6) In 2015, Vice President Joe Biden announced United 
        States intention to transfer the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to 
        Israel: ``What you may not know is that next year, we will 
        deliver to Israel the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter--our finest--
        making Israel the only country in the Middle East with a fifth-
        generation aircraft. No other.''.
            (7) In 2016, Israel received its first shipment of F-35 
        Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and on the occasion, the Israeli 
        Defense Forces stated, ``As the Middle East grows more and more 
        unstable, and as groups that threaten to destroy us race to 
        stockpile weapons, we need to stay a step ahead of the game. 
        The F-35 gives us the edge we need to take on groups and armies 
        with even the most advanced technology.''.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It shall be the policy of the United States that a proposed sale or 
export of defense articles or defense services must be determined not 
to adversely affect Israel's ability to counter and defeat any credible 
conventional military threat from any individual state or possible 
coalition of states or from non-state actors, while sustaining minimal 
damages and casualties, through the use of superior military means 
possessed in sufficient quantity, including weapons, command, control, 
communication, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance 
capabilities that in their technical characteristics are superior in 
capability to those of such other individual state or possible 
coalition states or non-state actors, consistent with section 36(h) of 
the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776(h)).

SEC. 4. CERTIFICATION ON CRITERIA FOR TRANSFER OF COVERED DEFENSE 
              ARTICLES AND DEFENSE SERVICES.

    (a) In General.--Subject to subsections (c) and (d), and 
notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President may not 
transfer covered defense articles or defense services to any country in 
the Middle East other than Israel until at least 60 days after the date 
on which the President transmits to the appropriate congressional 
committees a certification described in subsection (b) with respect to 
the proposed transfer.
    (b) Certification Described.--A certification described in this 
subsection is a certification in writing of the following:
            (1) The recipient country has signed an agreement of peace 
        or normalization with Israel.
            (2) The transfer of the covered defense articles or defense 
        services includes a determination pursuant to section 36(h) of 
        the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776(h)).
            (3) The transfer of the covered defense articles or defense 
        services does not present a significant danger of compromising 
        the critical military and technological military advantage such 
        articles or services provide to the United States Armed Forces.
            (4) The transfer of the covered defense articles or defense 
        services will not negatively affect Israel's qualitative 
        military edge.
            (5) The covered defense articles have been modified to 
        ensure that Israel is able to identify, locate, and continually 
        track such articles while in flight at a distance that is 
        satisfactory to Israel, and that the recipient country will not 
        alter such modifications.
            (6) The recipient country has provided specific, reliable, 
        and verifiable assurances to the United States that it will 
        protect the covered defense articles and defense services from 
        theft or diversion of sensitive defense technology to any other 
        country or non-state actor.
            (7) The recipient country has provided specific, reliable, 
        and verifiable assurances to the United States that it will not 
        use the covered defense articles or defense services to commit, 
        or enable the commission of, a violation of international 
        humanitarian law or internationally recognized human rights.
            (8) The recipient country has provided specific, reliable, 
        and verifiable assurances to the United States that it will not 
        make transfers of the covered defense articles or defense 
        services to another country or non-state actor without specific 
        authorization from the United States.
            (9) Except as provided in subsection (e), the recipient 
        country has provided specific, reliable, and verifiable 
        assurances to the United States that it will employ the covered 
        defense articles and defense services when armed only after 
        consultation with the United States relating to the mission, 
        flight plan, and purpose of use of the articles and services.
            (10) The President has established procedures to 
        continually monitor and verify the compliance of the recipient 
        country with the requirements described in paragraphs (1) 
        through (8).
    (c) Emergency Circumstances.--If the President determines that an 
emergency exists which requires the proposed transfer of covered 
defense articles or defense services to any country in the Middle East 
other than Israel, the President shall provide the certification 
described in subsection (a) with respect to the proposed transfer not 
later than 10 days before the proposed transfer.
    (d) Failure To Provide Certification.--If the President is unable 
to make the certification described in subsection (a) with respect to a 
proposed transfer of covered defense articles or defense services to 
any country in the Middle East other than Israel, the President may not 
transfer the articles or services to such country.
    (e) Exception.--The requirements of subsection (b)(9) shall not 
apply with respect to the use of the covered defense articles and 
defense services in the airspace of the recipient country.

SEC. 5. ANNUAL CERTIFICATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than February 1 of each calendar year 
following a calendar year in which covered defense articles or defense 
services have been transferred to any country in the Middle East other 
than Israel, the President shall provide a certification to the 
appropriate congressional committees that the country continues to 
comply with the requirements described in paragraphs (1) through (8) of 
section 4(b).
    (b) Failure To Provide Certification.--If the President is unable 
to make the certification described in subsection (a) with respect to a 
calendar year, the President may not provide logistic support, 
maintenance, or supply replacement parts to the recipient country for 
the remainder of such calendar year.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 
        Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
            (2) Covered defense articles and defense services.--The 
        term ``covered defense articles and defense services'' means--
                    (A) the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and 
                associated services;
                    (B) any electronic warfare aircraft and associated 
                services; and
                    (C) any armed unmanned aerial systems and 
                associated services.
            (3) Qualitative military edge.--The term ``qualitative 
        military edge'' has the meaning given that term in section 
        36(h)(3) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776(h)(3)).
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