[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9682]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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     SENATE RESOLUTION 508--EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE EXPEDITIOUS 
    CONSIDERATION AND FINALIZATION OF A NEW, ROBUST, AND LONG-TERM 
 MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO ISRAEL BETWEEN 
       THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL

  Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. Coons, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. Casey, Mr. Kirk, 
Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Booker, Mr. Perdue, Mr. Kaine, Mr. 
Cotton, Mr. Peters, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Warner, 
Mr. Boozman, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr. Roberts) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                               S. Res 508

       Whereas in April 1998 the United States designated Israel 
     as a ``major non-NATO ally'';
       Whereas, on August 16, 2007, the United States and Israel 
     signed a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on United 
     States military assistance to Israel, under which total 
     assistance would equal $30,000,000,000;
       Whereas, since the signing of the 2007 Memorandum of 
     Understanding, intelligence and defense cooperation has 
     continued to grow;
       Whereas, on October 15, 2008, the Naval Vessel Transfer Act 
     of 2008 was signed into law (Public Law 110-429), defining 
     Israel's qualitative military edge (QME) as ``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 damage 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'';
       Whereas, on July 27, 2012, the United States-Israel 
     Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-
     150) declared it to be the policy of the United States ``to 
     help the Government of Israel preserve its qualitative 
     military edge amid rapid and uncertain regional political 
     transformation'';
       Whereas Israel faces immediate threats to its security from 
     the United States-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, 
     Hezbollah, and its missile and rocket stockpile estimated to 
     number around 150,000, and from the United States-designated 
     Foreign Terrorist Organization, Hamas, which continues to 
     attempt to rebuild its tunnel network to infiltrate Israel 
     and restock its own missile and rocket stockpiles;
       Whereas Israel also faces immediate threats to its security 
     from the ongoing regional instability in the Middle East, 
     especially from the ongoing conflict in Syria and from 
     militant groups in the Sinai;
       Whereas Iran remains a threat to Israel, as demonstrated by 
     Iran's continued bellicosity, including several hostile and 
     provocative tests of ballistic missiles capable of carrying 
     nuclear warheads, even reportedly marking several of these 
     weapons with Hebrew words declaring ``Israel must be wiped 
     out'';
       Whereas the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
     Year 2016 (Public Law 114-92) authorized funds to be 
     appropriated for Israeli cooperative missile defense program 
     codevelopment and coproduction, including funds to be 
     provided to the Government of Israel to procure the David's 
     Sling weapon system as well as the Arrow 3 Upper Tier 
     Interceptor Program; and
       Whereas, on December 19, 2014, President Barack Obama 
     signed into law the United States-Israel Strategic 
     Partnership Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-296), which stated 
     the sense of Congress that Israel is a major strategic 
     partner of the United States and declared it to be the policy 
     of the United States ``to continue to provide Israel with 
     robust security assistance, including for the procurement of 
     the Iron Dome Missile Defense System'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) reaffirms that Israel is a major strategic partner of 
     the United States;
       (2) reaffirms that it is the policy and law of the United 
     States to ensure that Israel maintains its qualitative 
     military edge and has the capacity and capability to defend 
     itself from all credible military threats;
       (3) reaffirms United States support of a robust Israeli 
     tiered missile defense program;
       (4) supports continued discussions between the United 
     States Government and the Government of Israel for a robust 
     and long-term Memorandum of Understanding on United States 
     military assistance to Israel;
       (5) urges the expeditious finalization of a new Memorandum 
     of Understanding between the United States Government and the 
     Government of Israel; and
       (6) supports a robust and long-term Memorandum of 
     Understanding negotiated between the United States and Israel 
     regarding military assistance that increases the amount of 
     aid from previous agreements and significantly enhances 
     Israel's military capabilities.

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