II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5523 

To provide clarification of assistance related to safeguarding and the elimination of landmines, other explosive remnants of war, and conventional 

arms. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 12, 2024 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. 

MURRAY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following 

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

A BILL 

To provide clarification of assistance related to safeguarding 

and the elimination of landmines, other explosive remnants of war, and conventional arms. 

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 ‘‘Conventional Weapons 

5 Destruction and Legacy of Senator Patrick Leahy Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Landmines and other unexploded ordnance 

2 threaten the safety, health, and lives of civilian pop3 ulations and create humanitarian and development 

4 challenges that have serious and lasting social, eco5 nomic, and security consequences for affected popu6 lations. 

7 (2) During his 48 years serving in the Senate, 

8 Senator Patrick Leahy, of Vermont, was a leading 

9 voice in United States foreign policy and cham10 pioned numerous humanitarian causes, including 

11 working to rid the world of the scourge of landmines 

12 and other explosive remnants of war. 

13 (3) Senator Leahy’s legacy on this issue in14 cludes numerous achievements, including in 1989 

15 what was later named the Patrick J. Leahy War 

16 Victims Fund which provides medical and other as17 sistance to victims of landmines and other war-re18 lated disabilities, section 1365 of the National De19 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 (Pub20 lic Law 102–484; 22 U.S.C. 2778 note) (commonly 

21 referred to as the ‘‘Landmine Export Moratorium 

22 Act’’), which prohibits the export and transfer of 

23 antipersonnel landmines, and working to make the 

24 United States the world leader in humanitarian 

25 demining funding—all of which have saved countless 


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1 lives and made real improvements in the livelihoods 

2 of people recovering from conflict. 

3 (4) The United States has provided more than 

4 $4,600,000,000 in conventional weapons destruction 

5 assistance to more than 120 countries and areas 

6 since 1993, including humanitarian demining and 

7 weapons security programs by the Department of 

8 State, the Department of Defense, and the United 

9 States Agency for International Development. 

10 (5) Conventional weapons destruction assistance 

11 has saved countless lives around the world, improves 

12 stability and prosperity by clearing landmines and 

13 other explosive remnants of war and returning land 

14 to productive use, builds trust and deepens relation15 ships with key partners to accelerate achievement of 

16 broader United States foreign policy objectives, plays 

17 an important role in addressing other global issues 

18 and United States interests, including food security 

19 and combatting displacement and migration, and 

20 provides employment opportunities to women. 

21 (6) United States humanitarian demining pro22 grams, notably those devoted to clearing unexploded 

23 bombs and other munitions from the Vietnam War, 

24 have played a crucial role in building new partner25 ships in regions of geopolitical importance. 


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1 (7) Globally, in fiscal year 2022, it is estimated 

2 that approximately— 

3 (A) 200,100 explosive remnants of war 

4 were destroyed, allowing for 60,200 acres of 

5 land to be cleared and returned to public use; 

6 (B) 37,500 landmines and 9,000 impro7 vised explosive devices were destroyed; and 

8 (C) 53,700 civilian survivors of explosive 

9 remnants of war injuries were provided assist10 ance and 3,400,000 civilians were provided life11 saving risk education to help avoid injury. 

12 (8) Many countries lack the equipment and 

13 technical capacity to properly manage government14 held weapons and ammunition stockpiles, and con15 ventional weapons destruction assistance enhances 

16 United States and international security by destroy17 ing and securing small arms and light weapons, in18 cluding man-portable air defense systems 

19 (MANPADS), at risk of accidental explosions as well 

20 as proliferation to terrorists, insurgents, and other 

21 violent non-state actors. 

22 (9) In fiscal year 2022, approximately 14,100 

23 small arms and light weapons, 223 MANPADS and 

24 anti-tank guided missiles systems (ATGMs), and 

25 3,900 metric tons of ammunition were destroyed. 


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1 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF ASSISTANCE RELATING TO 

2 SAFEGUARDING AND ELIMINATION OF CON3 VENTIONAL WEAPONS. 

4 The Department of State Authorities Act of 2006 

5 (Public Law 109–472) is amended by inserting after sec6 tion 11 (22 U.S.C. 2349bb–6) the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 11A. PURPOSES OF ASSISTANCE FOR HUMANITARIAN 

8 DEMINING AND ELIMINATION OR SECURING 

9 OF CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS. 

10 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) Landmines and other explosive remnants 

12 of war threaten populations after conflicts end, and 

13 humanitarian demining is a fundamental part of re14 covery from conflict. 

15 ‘‘(2) Clearing the land of explosive remnants of 

16 war provides quantifiable threat reduction and al17 lows affected persons to return to their homes and 

18 utilize the land. 

19 ‘‘(3) Agriculture is disproportionately impacted 

20 by unexploded ordnance, endangering farmers and 

21 exacerbating food security. Subsistence farming, 

22 larger-scale agriculture, grazing, and other related 

23 activities are improved through humanitarian 

24 demining. 

25 ‘‘(4) Decontaminated land can be returned to 

26 use for critical infrastructure development, and 


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1 many other uses that enhance sustainable recovery 

2 and development. 

3 ‘‘(5) Risk education bolsters the life-saving ben4 efits of humanitarian demining activities, helping to 

5 minimize preventable injuries through community 

6 engagement, which in turn creates local buy-in and 

7 awareness of this vital assistance being provided by 

8 the United States. 

9 ‘‘(6) Many countries lack the equipment, re10 sources and facilities, and technical capacity to prop11 erly manage weapons and ammunition stockpiles. 

12 Weapons and Ammunition Management (WAM) or 

13 Physical Security and Stockpile Management 

14 (PSSM) programs are security sector partnerships 

15 based on the shared objectives of preventing the di16 version of weapons, ammunition, and explosives, as 

17 well as unplanned explosions. 

18 ‘‘(7) These projects include armory and muni19 tions store construction and rehabilitation, and other 

20 security improvements, weapons and ammunition 

21 disposal, stockpile management training and guide22 lines, needs assessments, stockpile risk assessments, 

23 mitigation and management plans, and marking and 

24 record-keeping. 


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1 ‘‘(8) This assistance, provided to a range of se2 curity forces including local police, is focused on pro3 viding necessary equipment and technical expertise 

4 in a sustainable way, allowing partners to establish, 

5 implement, and train in WAM/PSSM best practices 

6 and compliance, as well as conduct their own safe 

7 disposal of obsolete weapons, ammunition, and mu8 nitions. 

9 ‘‘(9) These programs not only reduce instability 

10 and civilian harm from armed violence caused by 

11 weapons diversion, but also provide the United 

12 States with key security partnerships. By reducing 

13 armed violence and instability, these programs can 

14 play a crucial role in addressing the root causes of 

15 migration and forced displacement, of particular in16 terest to the United States as it pertains to its 

17 southern border. 

18 ‘‘(10) Risk education expands the scope of 

19 WAM/PSSM programs beyond the principal partner20 ships, providing training to local police and commu21 nities on safer and more secure weapons storage and 

22 salvage through community engagement that also 

23 saves lives and creates buy-in and awareness of this 

24 vital assistance that is being provided by the United 

25 States. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES OF HUMANITARIAN DEMINING AND

2 CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS ELIMINATION OR SECURING

3 ACTIVITIES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) HUMANITARIAN DEMINING ACTIVITIES.— 

5 The purposes of the activities authorized in section 

6 11(b)(1) are— 

7 ‘‘(A) to ensure the return of affected popu8 lations to the safe access to their homes and 

9 land; 

10 ‘‘(B) to enable affected populations to safe11 ly and productively utilize land for agriculture; 

12 ‘‘(C) to clear threats from land to permit 

13 and encourage critical infrastructure and other 

14 development; 

15 ‘‘(D) to educate affected populations about 

16 the dangers of landmines and other unexploded 

17 ordnance as well as United States efforts to 

18 provide the lifesaving benefits of humanitarian 

19 demining activities; and 

20 ‘‘(E) to integrate humanitarian demining 

21 and related activities with other assistance to 

22 ensure effective recovery from conflict. 

23 ‘‘(2) CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS ELIMINATION

24 OR SECURING ACTIVITIES.—The purposes of the ac25 tivities authorized in section 11(b)(3) are— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to ensure the safe securing and diver2 sion prevention of weapons, ammunition, and 

3 explosives in the stores of foreign partners; 

4 ‘‘(B) to build the capacity of the security 

5 sectors of foreign partners to properly eliminate 

6 or manage weapons and ammunition stockpiles 

7 through WAM, PSSM, and related programs; 

8 ‘‘(C) to educate local police and other offi9 cials and the wider population at the local level 

10 on safer and more secure weapons storage and 

11 salvage as well as United States efforts to pro12 vide the lifesaving benefits of conventional 

13 weapons elimination, securing, and manage14 ment; 

15 ‘‘(D) to establish and strengthen security 

16 cooperation with foreign partners to reduce 

17 armed violence and instability in support of im18 portant United States national security and for19 eign policy objectives; and 

20 ‘‘(E) to integrate conventional weapons 

21 elimination and securing and related activities 

22 with other assistance to ensure effective recov23 ery from conflict.’’. 

Æ 


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