[110th Congress Public Law 429]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


[DOCID: f:publ429.110]

[[Page 4841]]

                     NAVAL VESSEL TRANSFER AUTHORITY

[[Page 122 STAT. 4842]]

Public Law 110-429
110th Congress

                                 An Act


 
     To authorize the transfer of naval vessels to certain foreign 
   recipients, and for other purposes. <<NOTE: Oct. 15, 2008 -  [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 <<NOTE: Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2008.>> 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 <<NOTE: President.>> 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 <<NOTE: President.>> 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.

[[Page 122 STAT. 4843]]

                  TITLE II--UNITED STATES ARMS EXPORTS

SEC. 201. <<NOTE: President. 22 USC 2776 note.>> 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)

[[Page 122 STAT. 4844]]

        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 <<NOTE: Deadline.>> 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 <<NOTE: 22 USC 2753 note.>> 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.

[[Page 122 STAT. 4845]]

            (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), <<NOTE: 22 USC 2753, 2761, 2776, 2796a, 2796b.>> 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''.

    Approved October 15, 2008.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 7177:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 154 (2008):
            Sept. 27, considered and passed House.
            Oct. 1, considered and passed Senate.

                                  <all>