II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4814 

To ensure that sales, exports, or transfers of F–35 aircraft do not compromise 

the qualitative military edge of the United States or Israel, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 20 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To ensure that sales, exports, or transfers of F–35 aircraft 

do not compromise the qualitative military edge of the 

United States or Israel, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Israel and United 

5 States Security Enhancement for F–35 Exports Act of 

6 2020’’ or the ‘‘SECURE F–35 Exports Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ASSESSMENT OF ISRAEL’S QUANTITATIVE MILI2 TARY DISADVANTAGE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201(a) of the Naval Ves4 sel Transfer Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–429; 22 U.S.C. 

5 2776 note) is amended— 

6 (1) by inserting ‘‘, and does not suffer a quan7 titative military disadvantage from,’’ after ‘‘quali8 tative military edge over’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub10 section: 

11 ‘‘(f) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—The report required 

12 under subsection (c) shall be unclassified, without 

13 redactions, and public to the maximum extent possible, 

14 but may also include a classified annex without 

15 redactions.’’. 

16 (b) ASSESSMENTS.— 

17 (1) INITIAL ASSESSMENT AND REPORT.—Not 

18 later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 

19 of this Act, the President shall submit to the appro20 priate congressional committees a report with an as21 sessment of whether Israel suffers from a quan22 titative military disadvantage as described in section 

23 201(a) of the Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2008 

24 (Public Law 110–429; 22 U.S.C. 2776 note), as 

25 amended by subsection (a). The report shall be un26 classified, without redactions and public to the maxVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4814.IS S4814

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1 imum extent possible, but may also include a classi2 fied annex without redactions. 

3 (2) SUBSEQUENT ASSESSMENTS AND RE4 PORTS.—The President shall direct subsequent as5 sessments on Israel’s quantitative military disadvan6 tage be performed every four years, to coincide with 

7 and be included in the quadrennial assessment and 

8 report required under section 201 of the Naval Ves9 sel Transfer Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–429; 22 

10 U.S.C. 2776 note). 

11 (c) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF CERTIFICATION ON

12 SALE OF F–35 TO UAE.—The President shall publicly 

13 disclose, to the maximum extent possible, the certification 

14 required under section 36(h) of the Arms Export Control 

15 Act (22 U.S.C. 2776(h)) relating to any sale, export, or 

16 transfer of F–35 aircraft and associated defense articles 

17 and defense services to the United Arab Emirates. 

18 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF THREAT AGAINST UNITED STATES 

19 QUALITATIVE MILITARY EDGE INHERENT IN 

20 EXPORT OF F–35 AND SUCCESSOR COMBAT 

21 AIRCRAFT. 

22 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR REPORT AND ASSESS23 MENT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 days be25 fore a proposed sale, export, or transfer to a foreign 


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1 country (other than a member state of the North At2 lantic Treaty Organization, Australia, Israel, Japan, 

3 Republic of Korea, or New Zealand) of F–35 air4 craft (including any variant or successor combat air5 craft) is submitted to Congress pursuant to the re6 quirements of section 36 of the Arms Export Con7 trol Act (22 U.S.C. 2776), the President shall sub8 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a 

9 report with an assessment of the risks presented by 

10 such sale, export, or transfer to the security of the 

11 United States, including the critical military and 

12 technological military advantage such aircraft pro13 vide to the United States Armed Forces. 

14 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required 

15 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

16 (A) a comprehensive overview of the poten17 tial compromise of United States military tech18 nology used in F–35 aircraft by potential for19 eign intelligence activities; 

20 (B) a description of the protective meas21 ures that will be taken to safeguard against 

22 such compromise; and 

23 (C) a description of the counter-measures 

24 that could be taken should such compromise 

25 occur. 


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1 (b) CERTIFICATION.—Not later than 15 days before 

2 a proposed sale, export, or transfer described under sub3 section (a)(1), the President shall submit to the Com4 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Com5 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

6 a certification that such sale, export, or transfer does not 

7 present a significant danger of compromising the critical 

8 military and technological military advantage such aircraft 

9 provide to the United States Armed Forces. 

10 (c) FORM.—The assessment and certification re11 quired under this section shall be unclassified, without 

12 redactions and public to the maximum extent possible, but 

13 may also include a classified annex without redactions. 

14 SEC. 4. CERTIFICATIONS RELATED TO SALE OF F–35 AIR15 CRAFT TO COUNTRIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. 

16 (a) CERTIFICATIONS BEFORE SALE.—Not later than 

17 30 days before concluding a Letter of Offer and Accept18 ance (or corresponding agreement or contract) for the sale 

19 of, or concluding a contract for the manufacture of, F– 

20 35 aircraft to be transferred to any country in the Middle 

21 East other than Israel, the President shall submit to the 

22 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 

23 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa24 tives a certification, together with a report providing a de25 tailed justification therefor, that— 


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1 (1) the transfer of F–35 aircraft to the recipi2 ent country will not compromise or undermine 

3 Israel’s qualitative military edge, as defined in sec4 tion 36(h) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 

5 U.S.C. 2776(h)); 

6 (2) the recipient country has provided specific, 

7 reliable, and verifiable assurances to the United 

8 States that it will not use these aircraft in activities 

9 or operations inimical to the security of Israel, or to 

10 the foreign policy and national security interests of 

11 the United States, including that the recipient coun12 try will— 

13 (A) not utilize them against allies and 

14 partners of the United States; 

15 (B) not transfer or share any component 

16 technology of the F–35 aircraft to any third 

17 party or third country; and 

18 (C) ensure sufficient security against hos19 tile technical collection efforts against the air20 craft that could compromise militarily signifi21 cant or otherwise sensitive information; 

22 (3) the recipient country has provided specific, 

23 reliable, and verifiable assurances to the United 

24 States that it will not use these aircraft to commit, 

25 or enable the commission of, a violation of interVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4814.IS S4814

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1 national humanitarian law or internationally recog2 nized human rights; 

3 (4) if the recipient country violates such assur4 ances, the United States will have the means to ad5 dress and ameliorate these violations to reduce the 

6 impact on the security of Israel or on the foreign 

7 policy and national security interests of the United 

8 States, including a listing of such means; and 

9 (5) the United States will require technology se10 curity measures on the delivery, operation, storage, 

11 and servicing of such aircraft sufficient to signifi12 cantly reduce the danger of compromise of the mili13 tary technology. 

14 (b) CERTIFICATIONS BEFORE DELIVERY.—Not later 

15 than 45 days before permitting the delivery of any F–35 

16 aircraft to any country in the Middle East other than 

17 Israel, the President shall submit to the Committee on 

18 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on 

19 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a certifi20 cation, together with a report providing a detailed jus21 tification therefor, that— 

22 (1) the transfer of F–35 aircraft will not com23 promise or undermine Israel’s qualitative military 

24 edge, as defined in section 36(2) of the Arms Export 

25 Control Act; 


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1 (2) the United States has instituted technology 

2 security measures on the delivery, operation, storage, 

3 and servicing of such aircraft sufficient to signifi4 cantly reduce the danger of compromise of the mili5 tary; 

6 (3) such country has not, since the Letter of 

7 Offer and Acceptance (or corresponding agreement 

8 or contract) for such aircraft was concluded, en9 gaged in military, paramilitary, or intelligence oper10 ations inimical to the security of Israel or to the for11 eign policy and national security interests of the 

12 United States, including— 

13 (A) transferring any United States-origin 

14 equipment, directly or indirectly, to a United 

15 States-designated terrorist organization or to 

16 adversaries of Israel or the United States; 

17 (B) providing weapons, directly or indi18 rectly, from any source country, including 

19 China, to armed militias fighting against part20 ners and allies of the United States; 

21 (C) conducting surveillance on any private 

22 United States citizen; or 

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1 tarian law or internationally recognized human 

2 rights; and 

3 (4) the recipient country has not purchased or 

4 otherwise acquired foreign technology, equipment, or 

5 defense articles or services, including from the Rus6 sian Federation or the People’s Republic of China, 

7 that could be used to compromise the technology of 

8 such aircraft and put United States troops or mili9 tary strategies at risk, unless such technology is also 

10 subject to monitoring by United States personnel. 

11 (c) SUBSEQUENT CERTIFICATIONS.—The President 

12 shall, not later than 180 days after the date on which the 

13 first F–35 combat aircraft transferred to a country in the 

14 Middle East other than Israel arrives in its territory, and 

15 annually thereafter for 10 years, certify to the appropriate 

16 committees of Congress that— 

17 (1) the transfer of F–35 aircraft to such coun18 try has not compromised or undermined Israel’s 

19 qualitative military edge, as defined in section 

20 36(h)(3) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 

21 2776(h)(3)); 

22 (2) the United States continues to institute 

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1 cient to significantly reduce the danger of com2 promise of the military technology of such aircraft; 

3 (3) such country has not engaged in military, 

4 paramilitary, or intelligence operations inimical to 

5 the security of Israel or to the foreign policy and na6 tional security interests of the United States within 

7 the prior year as outlined in subparagraphs (A) 

8 through (C) of subsection (b)(3); and 

9 (4) such country has not committed, or enabled 

10 the commission of, a violation of international hu11 manitarian law or internationally recognized human 

12 rights. 

13 (d) FORM.—The certifications and justifications sub14 mitted under this section shall be unclassified, without 

15 redactions and public to the maximum extent possible, but 

16 may also include a classified annex without redactions. 

17 SEC. 5. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE18 FINED. 

19 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com20 mittees’’ means— 

21 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 

22 Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee 

23 on Appropriations of the Senate; and 


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1 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

2 Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee 

3 on Appropriations of the House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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