II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4946 

To counter Saudi Arabia’s possible pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 2, 2020 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To counter Saudi Arabia’s possible pursuit of weapons of 

mass destruction, 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 ‘‘Stopping Activities Un5 derpinning Development In Weapons of Mass Destruction 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘SAUDI WMD Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress makes the following findings: 

9 (1) The People’s Republic of China (in this Act 

10 referred to as ‘‘China’’), became a full-participant of 


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1 the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2004, committing it 

2 to apply a strong presumption of denial in exporting 

3 nuclear-related items that a foreign country could 

4 divert to a nuclear weapons program. 

5 (2) China also committed to the United States, 

6 in November 2000, to abide by the foundational 

7 principles of the 1987 Missile Technology Control 

8 Regime (MTCR) to not ‘‘assist, in any way, any 

9 country in the development of ballistic missiles that 

10 can be used to deliver nuclear weapons (i.e., missiles 

11 capable of delivering a payload of at least 500 kilo12 grams to a distance of at least 300 kilometers)’’. 

13 (3) In the 1980s, China secretly sold the King14 dom of Saudi Arabia (in this Act referred to as 

15 ‘‘Saudi Arabia’’) conventionally armed DF–3A bal16 listic missiles, and in 2007, reportedly sold Saudi 

17 Arabia dual-use capable DF–21 medium-range bal18 listic missiles of a 300 kilometer, 500-kilogram 

19 range and payload threshold which should have trig20 gered a denial of sale under the MTCR. 

21 (4) The 2020 Department of State Report on 

22 the Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Con23 trol, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agree24 ments and Commitments found that China ‘‘contin25 ued to supply MTCR-controlled goods to missile proVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4946.IS S4946

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1 grams of proliferation concern in 2019’’ and that 

2 the United States imposed sanctions on nine Chinese 

3 entities for covered missile transfers to Iran. 

4 (5) A June 5, 2019, press report indicated that 

5 China allegedly provided assistance to Saudi Arabia 

6 in the development of a ballistic missile facility, 

7 which if confirmed, would violate the purpose of the 

8 MTCR and run contrary to the longstanding United 

9 States policy priority to prevent weapons of mass de10 struction proliferation in the Middle East. 

11 (6) The Arms Export and Control Act of 1976 

12 (Public Law 93–329) requires the President to sanc13 tion any foreign person or government who know14 ingly ‘‘exports, transfers, or otherwise engages in the 

15 trade of any MTCR equipment or technology’’ to a 

16 country that does not adhere to the MTCR. 

17 (7) China concluded two nuclear cooperation 

18 agreements with Saudi Arabia in 2012 and 2017, re19 spectively, which may facilitate China’s bid to build 

20 two reactors in Saudi Arabia to generate 2.9 

21 Gigawatt-electric (GWe) of electricity. 

22 (8) On August 4, 2020, a press report revealed 

23 the alleged existence of a previously undisclosed ura24 nium yellowcake extraction facility in Saudi Arabia 

25 allegedly constructed with the assistance of China, 


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1 which if confirmed, would indicate significant 

2 progress by Saudi Arabia in developing the early 

3 stages of the nuclear fuel cycle that precede uranium 

4 enrichment. 

5 (9) Saudi Arabia’s outdated Small Quantities 

6 Protocol and its lack of an in force Additional Pro7 tocol to its International Atomic Energy Agency 

8 (IAEA) Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement se9 verely curtails IAEA inspections, which has led the 

10 Agency to call upon Saudi Arabia to either rescind 

11 or update its Small Quantities Protocol. 

12 (10) In May 24, 2018, testimony before the 

13 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, Sec14 retary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United 

15 States would insist upon the ‘‘gold standard’’ in any 

16 bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation ‘‘123’’ agree17 ment with Saudi Arabia—no in-country enrichment 

18 of uranium or reprocessing of plutonium—a stand19 ard the United States achieved with the United Arab 

20 Emirates in their own May 2009 bilateral 123 

21 agreement. 

22 (11) On March 15, 2018, the Crown Prince of 

23 Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin-Salman, stated that 

24 ‘‘if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we would follow 

25 suit as soon as possible,’’ raising questions about 


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1 whether a Saudi Arabian nuclear program would re2 main exclusively peaceful, particularly in the absence 

3 of robust international IAEA safeguards. 

4 (12) An August 9, 2019, study by the United 

5 Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 

6 found that the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition 

7 airstrikes in Yemen and its restrictions on the flow 

8 of humanitarian assistance to the country, both of 

9 which have disproportionately impacted civilians, 

10 may be violations of international humanitarian law. 

11 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF POSSIBLE MTCR TRANSFERS 

12 TO SAUDI ARABIA. 

13 (a) MTCR TRANSFERS.—Not later than 30 days 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

15 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

16 a written determination, and any documentation to sup17 port that determination detailing— 

18 (1) whether any foreign person knowingly ex19 ported, transferred, or engaged in trade of any item 

20 designated under Category I of the MTCR Annex 

21 item with Saudi Arabia in the previous three fiscal 

22 years; and 

23 (2) the sanctions the President has imposed or 

24 intends to impose pursuant to section 11B(b) of the 

25 Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. 


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1 4612(b)) against any foreign person who knowingly 

2 engaged in the export, transfer, or trade of that item 

3 or items. 

4 (b) WAIVER.—Notwithstanding any provision of 

5 paragraphs (3) through (7) of section 11(B)(b) of the Ex6 port Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. 4612(b)), the 

7 President may only waive the application of sanctions 

8 under such section with respect to Saudi Arabia if that 

9 country is verifiably determined to no longer possess an 

10 item designated under Category I of the MTCR Annex re11 ceived in the previous three fiscal years. 

12 (c) FORM OF REPORT.—The determination required 

13 under subsection (a) shall be unclassified with a classified 

14 annex. 

15 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON UNITED STATES ARMS SALES TO 

16 SAUDI ARABIA IF IT IMPORTS NUCLEAR 

17 TECHNOLOGY WITHOUT SAFEGUARDS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The United States shall not sell, 

19 transfer, or authorize licenses for export of any item des20 ignated under Category III, IV, VII, or VIII on the United 

21 States Munitions List pursuant to section 38(a)(1) of the 

22 Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778(a)(1)) to Saudi 

23 Arabia, other than ground-based missile defense systems, 

24 if Saudi Arabia has, in the previous 3 fiscal years— 


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1 (1) knowingly imported any item classified as 

2 ‘‘plants for the separation of isotopes of uranium’’ 

3 or ‘‘plants for the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear 

4 reactor fuel elements’’ under Part 110 of the Nu5 clear Regulatory Commission export licensing au6 thority; or 

7 (2) engaged in nuclear cooperation related to 

8 the construction of any nuclear-related fuel cycle fa9 cility or activity that has not been notified to the 

10 IAEA and would be subject to complementary access 

11 if an Additional Protocol was in force. 

12 (b) WAIVER.—The Secretary of State may waive the 

13 prohibition under subsection (a) with respect to a foreign 

14 country if the Secretary submits to the appropriate com15 mittees of Congress a written certification that contains 

16 a determination, and any relevant documentation on which 

17 the determination is based, that Saudi Arabia— 

18 (1) has brought into force an Additional Pro19 tocol to the IAEA Comprehensive Safeguards Agree20 ment based on the model described in IAEA 

21 INFCIRC/540; 

22 (2) has concluded a civilian nuclear cooperation 

23 agreement with the United States under section 123 

24 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153) 

25 or another supplier that prohibits the enrichment of 


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1 uranium or separation of plutonium on its own terri2 tory; and 

3 (3) has rescinded its Small Quantities Protocol 

4 and is not found by the IAEA Board of Governors 

5 to be in noncompliance with its Comprehensive Safe6 guards Agreement. 

7 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

8 shall be construed as superseding the obligation of the 

9 President under section 502B(a)(2) or section 620I(a) of 

10 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

11 2304(a)(2), 22 U.S.C. 2378–1(a)), respectively, to not 

12 furnish security assistance to Saudi Arabia or any country 

13 if it— 

14 (1) engages in a consistent pattern of gross vio15 lations of internationally recognized human rights; 

16 or 

17 (2) prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or 

18 indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States 

19 humanitarian assistance. 

20 SEC. 5. MIDDLE EAST NONPROLIFERATION STRATEGY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

23 the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Energy, in 

24 consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, 

25 shall provide the appropriate committees of Congress, as 


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1 an appendix to the Report on the Adherence to and Com2 pliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disar3 mament Agreements and Commitments, a report on 

4 MTCR compliance and the United States Middle East 

5 nonproliferation strategy. 

6 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required under sub7 section (a) shall include the following elements: 

8 (1) An assessment of China’s compliance, in the 

9 previous fiscal year, with its November 2000 com10 mitment to abide by the MTCR and United States 

11 diplomatic efforts to address non-compliance. 

12 (2) A description of every foreign person that, 

13 in the previous fiscal year, engaged in the export, 

14 transfer, or trade of MTCR items to a country that 

15 is a non-MTCR adherent, and a description of the 

16 sanctions the President imposed pursuant to section 

17 11B(b) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 

18 (50 U.S.C. 4612(b)). 

19 (3) A detailed strategy to prevent the prolifera20 tion of ballistic missile and sensitive nuclear tech21 nology in the Middle East and North Africa from 

22 China and other foreign countries, including the fol23 lowing elements: 

24 (A) An assessment of the proliferation 

25 risks associated with concluding or renewing a 


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1 civilian nuclear cooperation ‘‘123’’ agreement 

2 with any country in the Middle-East and North 

3 Africa and the risks of such if that same equip4 ment and technology is sourced from a foreign 

5 state. 

6 (B) An update on United States bilateral 

7 and multilateral diplomatic actions to com8 mence negotiations on a Weapons of Mass De9 struction Free Zone (WMDFZ) since the 2015 

10 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Con11 ference. 

12 (C) A description of United States Govern13 ment efforts to achieve global adherence and 

14 compliance with the Nuclear Suppliers Group, 

15 MTCR, and the 2002 International Code of 

16 Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation 

17 guidelines. 

18 (4) An account of the briefings to the appro19 priate committees of Congress in the reporting pe20 riod detailing negotiations on any new or renewed ci21 vilian nuclear cooperation ‘‘123’’ agreement with any 

22 country consistent with the intent of the Atomic En23 ergy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 

24 (c) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required under 

25 subsection (a) shall be unclassified with a classified annex. 


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1 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON4 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con5 gress’’ means— 

6 (A) the Select Committee on Intelligence of 

7 the Senate; 

8 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

9 the Senate; 

10 (C) the Select Committee on Intelligence of 

11 the House of Representative; and 

12 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

13 the House of Representatives. 

14 (2) FOREIGN PERSON; PERSON.—The terms 

15 ‘‘foreign person’’ and ‘‘person’’ mean— 

16 (A) a natural person that is an alien; 

17 (B) a corporation, business association, 

18 partnership, society, trust, or any other non19 governmental entity, organization, or group, 

20 that is organized under the laws of a foreign 

21 country or has its principal place of business in 

22 a foreign country; 

23 (C) any foreign governmental entity oper24 ating as a business enterprise; and 


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1 (D) any successor, subunit, or subsidiary 

2 of any entity described in subparagraph (B) or 

3 (C). 

4 (3) MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA.—The 

5 term ‘‘Middle East and North Africa’’ means those 

6 countries that are included in the Area of Responsi7 bility of the Assistant Secretary of State for Near 

8 Eastern Affairs. 

Æ 


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