[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 155 (Saturday, September 27, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H10276-H10278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   NAVAL VESSEL TRANSFER ACT OF 2008

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 7177) to authorize the transfer of naval vessels to certain 
foreign recipients, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

[[Page H10277]]

                               H.R. 7177

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

                     TITLE I--NAVAL VESSEL TRANSFER

     SECTION 101. SHORT TITLE.

       This title may be cited as the ``Naval Vessel Transfer Act 
     of 2008''.

     SEC. 102. TRANSFER OF NAVAL VESSELS TO CERTAIN FOREIGN 
                   RECIPIENTS.

       (a) Transfers by Grant.--The President is authorized to 
     transfer the vessels specified in paragraphs (1), (3), and 
     (4) of section 501(a) of H.R. 5916 of the 110th Congress, as 
     passed the House of Representatives on May 15, 2008, to the 
     foreign recipients specified in paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) 
     of such section, respectively, on a grant basis under section 
     516 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j).
       (b) Grants Not Counted in Annual Total of Transferred 
     Excess Defense Articles.--The value of a vessel transferred 
     to a recipient on a grant basis pursuant to authority 
     provided by subsection (a) shall not be counted against the 
     aggregate value of excess defense articles transferred in any 
     fiscal year under section 516 of the Foreign Assistance Act 
     of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j).
       (c) Costs of Transfers.--Any expense incurred by the United 
     States in connection with a transfer authorized by this 
     section shall be charged to the recipient (notwithstanding 
     section 516(e) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
     U.S.C. 2321j(e))).
       (d) Repair and Refurbishment in United States Shipyards.--
     To the maximum extent practicable, the President shall 
     require, as a condition of the transfer of a vessel under 
     this section, that the recipient to which the vessel is 
     transferred have such repair or refurbishment of the vessel 
     as is needed, before the vessel joins the naval forces of the 
     recipient, performed at a shipyard located in the United 
     States, including a United States Navy shipyard.
       (e) Expiration of Authority.--The authority to transfer a 
     vessel under this section shall expire at the end of the 2-
     year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
     Act.

                  TITLE II--UNITED STATES ARMS EXPORTS

     SEC. 201. ASSESSMENT OF ISRAEL'S QUALITATIVE MILITARY EDGE 
                   OVER MILITARY THREATS.

       (a) Assessment Required.--The President shall carry out an 
     empirical and qualitative assessment on an ongoing basis of 
     the extent to which Israel possesses a qualitative military 
     edge over military threats to Israel. The assessment required 
     under this subsection shall be sufficiently robust so as to 
     facilitate comparability of data over concurrent years.
       (b) Use of Assessment.--The President shall ensure that the 
     assessment required under subsection (a) is used to inform 
     the review by the United States of applications to sell 
     defense articles and defense services under the Arms Export 
     Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) to countries in the 
     Middle East.
       (c) Reports.--
       (1) Initial report.--Not later than June 30, 2009, the 
     President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional 
     committees a report on the initial assessment required under 
     subsection (a).
       (2) Quadrennial report.--Not later than four years after 
     the date on which the President transmits the initial report 
     under paragraph (1), and every four years thereafter, the 
     President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional 
     committees a report on the most recent assessment required 
     under subsection (a).
       (d) Certification.--Section 36 of the Arms Export Control 
     Act (22 U.S.C. 2776) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(h) Certification Requirement Relating to Israel's 
     Qualitative Military Edge.--
       ``(1) In general.--Any certification relating to a proposed 
     sale or export of defense articles or defense services under 
     this section to any country in the Middle East other than 
     Israel shall include a determination that the sale or export 
     of the defense articles or defense services will not 
     adversely affect Israel's qualitative military edge over 
     military threats to Israel.
       ``(2) Qualitative military edge defined.--In this 
     subsection, the term `qualitative military edge' means the 
     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 or possible 
     coalition of states or non-state actors.''.
       (e) Definitions.--In this section:
       (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) Qualitative military edge.--The term ``qualitative 
     military edge'' has the meaning given the term in section 
     36(h) of the Arms Export Control Act, as added by subsection 
     (d) of this section.

     SEC. 202. IMPLEMENTATION OF MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH 
                   ISRAEL.

       (a) In General.--Of the amount made available for fiscal 
     year 2009 for assistance under the program authorized by 
     section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763) 
     (commonly referred to as the ``Foreign Military Financing 
     Program''), the amount specified in subsection (b) is 
     authorized to be made available on a grant basis for Israel.
       (b) Computation of Amount.--The amount referred to in 
     subsection (a) is the amount equal to--
       (1) the amount specified under the heading ``Foreign 
     Military Financing Program'' for Israel for fiscal year 2008; 
     plus
       (2) $150,000,000.
       (c) Other Authorities.--
       (1) Availability of funds for advanced weapons systems.--To 
     the extent the Government of Israel requests the United 
     States to provide assistance for fiscal year 2009 for the 
     procurement of advanced weapons systems, amounts authorized 
     to be made available for Israel under this section shall, as 
     agreed to by Israel and the United States, be available for 
     such purposes, of which not less than $670,650,000 shall be 
     available for the procurement in Israel of defense articles 
     and defense services, including research and development.
       (2) Disbursement of funds.--Amounts authorized to be made 
     available for Israel under this section shall be disbursed 
     not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of an 
     Act making appropriations for the Department of State, 
     foreign operations, and related programs for fiscal year 
     2009, or October 31, 2008, whichever occurs later.

     SEC. 203. SECURITY COOPERATION WITH THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) Close and continuing defense cooperation between the 
     United States and the Republic of Korea continues to be in 
     the national security interest of the United States.
       (2) The Republic of Korea was designated a major non-NATO 
     ally in 1987, the first such designation.
       (3) The Republic of Korea has been a major purchaser of 
     United States defense articles and services through the 
     Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, totaling $6,900,000,000 
     in deliveries over the last 10 years.
       (4) Purchases of United States defense articles, services, 
     and major defense equipment facilitate and increase the 
     interoperability of Republic of Korea military forces with 
     the United States Armed Forces.
       (5) Congress has previously enacted important, special 
     defense cooperation arrangements for the Republic of Korea, 
     as in the Act entitled ``An Act to authorize the transfer of 
     items in the War Reserves Stockpile for Allies, Korea'', 
     approved December 30, 2005 (Public Law 109-159; 119 Stat. 
     2955), which authorized the President, notwithstanding 
     section 514 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
     2321h), to transfer to the Republic of Korea certain defense 
     items to be included in a war reserve stockpile for that 
     country.
       (6) Enhanced support for defense cooperation with the 
     Republic of Korea is important to the national security of 
     the United States, including through creation of a status in 
     law for the Republic of Korea similar to the countries in the 
     North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Japan, Australia, and New 
     Zealand, with respect to consideration by Congress of foreign 
     military sales to the Republic of Korea.
       (b) Special Foreign Military Sales Status for Republic of 
     Korea.--The Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) 
     is amended--
       (1) in sections 3(d)(2)(B), 3(d)(3)(A)(i), 3(d)(5), 
     21(e)(2)(A), 36(b), 36(c), 36(d)(2)(A), 62(c)(1), and 
     63(a)(2), by inserting ``the Republic of Korea,'' before ``or 
     New Zealand'' each place it appears;
       (2) in section 3(b)(2), by inserting ``the Government of 
     the Republic of Korea,'' before ``or the Government of New 
     Zealand'';
       (3) in section 21(h)(1)(A), by inserting ``the Republic of 
     Korea,'' before ``or Israel''; and
       (4) in section 21(h)(2), by striking ``or to any member 
     government of that Organization if that Organization or 
     member government'' and inserting ``, to any member 
     government of that Organization, or to the Governments of the 
     Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, or Israel 
     if that Organization, member government, or the Governments 
     of the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, or 
     Israel''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Berman) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill reflects the bipartisan text agreed by the 
other body that incorporates several provisions from H.R. 5916, the 
Berman/Ros-

[[Page H10278]]

Lehtinen/Sherman/Manzullo Security Assistance and Arms Export Control 
Reform Act of 2008 that the House passed in May.
  It authorizes the Department of the Navy to transfer surplus U.S. 
Navy vessels to friendly countries which Congress does on an annual 
basis. It strengthens the vital security relationship with our close 
friends and allies, South Korea and Israel. Building on the work of 
Representative Royce, U.S. law will now add South Korea to the list of 
countries in the Arms Export Control in the same way as NATO, 
Australia, New Zealand and Japan. This is a significant symbolic 
recognition of the critical importance of South Korea to U.S. national 
security and to peace and stability throughout East Asia.
  It also requires the administration to empirically assess on an 
ongoing basis the State of Israel's ``Qualitative Military Edge,'' we 
call it QME, against conventional or nonconventional security threats, 
to report that assessment to Congress every 4 years, and to use that 
assessment when reviewing arms exports to other countries in the Middle 
East.
  Every President since Lyndon Johnson has affirmed the U.S. commitment 
to Israel's Qualitative Military Edge against potential enemies. But 
unfortunately it has become clear the administration uses subjective 
judgment when evaluating Israel's QME. The State and Defense officials 
have admitted there is no objective empirical method for evaluating 
this critical measure of whether or not Israel maintains a qualitative 
superiority over potential threats to its security.
  It is also clear that by such subjective evaluations are performed 
sale by sale and country by country without clear, overall 
consideration of the balance of capabilities possessed throughout the 
region that conceivably affect Israel's security.
  This provision would remedy this glaring lack of a robust mechanism 
to make security and export decisions that could undermine the security 
of one of the most important friends and allies that we have in the 
Middle East. The bill also authorizes security assistance to Israel, 
including implementing the recent U.S.-Israel Memorandum of 
Understanding Regarding Security Assistance.
  It is fitting that on the 60th anniversary of Israel, the U.S. renews 
and strengthens its relationship with a most important friend in the 
region. It deserves all the support we can muster.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank my good friend, the 
chairman of our committee, Howard Berman. It is a delight to work with 
him in a bipartisan manner, and I appreciate the close cooperation that 
we've enjoyed in these months.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7177, a measure to authorize 
certain naval vessel transfers, to strengthen U.S. security assistance 
to Israel and to upgrade the foreign military sale status of our allies 
in the Republic of Korea. Mr. Speaker, this bill contains many 
provisions identical or similar to those contained a bill previously 
passed by this House this spring, H.R. 5916, the Security Assistance 
and Arms Export Control Reform Act of 2008.
  The bill before us strengthens the U.S. commitment to the security of 
our dear friends in Israel by requiring an objective analysis of 
Israel's military capability with respect to conventional and 
unconventional threats while authorizing an increase in U.S. foreign 
military financing that is consistent with the August 2007 U.S.-Israel 
memorandum on military assistance. These provisions are of vital 
importance because as we all know, Israel is surrounded by a number of 
threats which threaten its very survival.
  Thus, the provisions in this bill enhancing our relationship with 
Israel are critical to Israel's security but also to our vital 
interests in the region.
  This legislation also upgrades the Foreign Military Sales status of 
our staunch ally, the Republic of Korea. Elements of this provision 
were included in H.R. 5443 which passed the House earlier this week. 
This upgrade is an important symbol of a renewed and transformed U.S.-
ROK alliance. It reaffirms that South Korea continues to be a close and 
a much-valued strategic ally of the United States in a relationship 
that is, and must remain, a bedrock of stability in Northeast Asia.
  Mr. Speaker, our actions here tonight will help to advance a new 
strategic framework for the alliance, not only for the purpose of 
managing a range of North Korea contingencies, but also to cement a 
common, democratic partnership for the 21st century.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, this bill authorizes the grant of surplus Navy 
vessels. According to our Secretary of the Navy, these proposed 
transfers would improve our political and military relationship with 
these countries.

                              {time}  2000

  The United States would also incur no cost in transferring these 
vessels, as the recipients would be responsible for all costs 
associated with the transfers.
  I urge support for this important measure, Mr. Speaker.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I 
simply want to express my deep appreciation to my ranking member. We 
have been working together now for 7 or so months. We are not always 
perfect in our dealings, but it is a lot more good than bad, and 
getting better. I am grateful for her support and understanding of all 
the different shifts in these kinds of things, and I am glad to have 
her support for this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to reiterate the 
warm friendship and great cooperation that we have gotten from our 
chairman, both as Members and as members of our staff coordinate these 
sometimes thorny bills, controversial measures, and we are able to 
compromise and come to an agreement and understanding and help the 
House develop a good foreign policy for this greatest nation in the 
world, the United States of America. It is an honor for me to work with 
Chairman Berman.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Berman) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 7177.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________