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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5523 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Conventional Weapons Destruction and 
Legacy of Senator Patrick Leahy Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Landmines and other unexploded ordnance threaten the 
        safety, health, and lives of civilian populations and create 
        humanitarian and development challenges that have serious and 
        lasting social, economic, and security consequences for 
        affected populations.
            (2) During his 48 years serving in the Senate, Senator 
        Patrick Leahy, of Vermont, was a leading voice in United States 
        foreign policy and championed numerous humanitarian causes, 
        including working to rid the world of the scourge of landmines 
        and other explosive remnants of war.
            (3) Senator Leahy's legacy on this issue includes numerous 
        achievements, including in 1989 what was later named the 
        Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund which provides medical and 
        other assistance to victims of landmines and other war-related 
        disabilities, section 1365 of the National Defense 
        Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 (Public Law 102-484; 22 
        U.S.C. 2778 note) (commonly referred to as the ``Landmine 
        Export Moratorium Act''), which prohibits the export and 
        transfer of antipersonnel landmines, and working to make the 
        United States the world leader in humanitarian demining 
        funding--all of which have saved countless lives and made real 
        improvements in the livelihoods of people recovering from 
        conflict.
            (4) The United States has provided more than $4,600,000,000 
        in conventional weapons destruction assistance to more than 120 
        countries and areas since 1993, including humanitarian demining 
        and weapons security programs by the Department of State, the 
        Department of Defense, and the United States Agency for 
        International Development.
            (5) Conventional weapons destruction assistance has saved 
        countless lives around the world, improves stability and 
        prosperity by clearing landmines and other explosive remnants 
        of war and returning land to productive use, builds trust and 
        deepens relationships with key partners to accelerate 
        achievement of broader United States foreign policy objectives, 
        plays an important role in addressing other global issues and 
        United States interests, including food security and combatting 
        displacement and migration, and provides employment 
        opportunities to women.
            (6) United States humanitarian demining programs, notably 
        those devoted to clearing unexploded bombs and other munitions 
        from the Vietnam War, have played a crucial role in building 
        new partnerships in regions of geopolitical importance.
            (7) Globally, in fiscal year 2022, it is estimated that 
        approximately--
                    (A) 200,100 explosive remnants of war were 
                destroyed, allowing for 60,200 acres of land to be 
                cleared and returned to public use;
                    (B) 37,500 landmines and 9,000 improvised explosive 
                devices were destroyed; and
                    (C) 53,700 civilian survivors of explosive remnants 
                of war injuries were provided assistance and 3,400,000 
                civilians were provided life-saving risk education to 
                help avoid injury.
            (8) Many countries lack the equipment and technical 
        capacity to properly manage government-held weapons and 
        ammunition stockpiles, and conventional weapons destruction 
        assistance enhances United States and international security by 
        destroying and securing small arms and light weapons, including 
        man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), at risk of 
        accidental explosions as well as proliferation to terrorists, 
        insurgents, and other violent non-state actors.
            (9) In fiscal year 2022, approximately 14,100 small arms 
        and light weapons, 223 MANPADS and anti-tank guided missiles 
        systems (ATGMs), and 3,900 metric tons of ammunition were 
        destroyed.

SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF ASSISTANCE RELATING TO SAFEGUARDING AND 
              ELIMINATION OF CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS.

    The Department of State Authorities Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-
472) is amended by inserting after section 11 (22 U.S.C. 2349bb-6) the 
following new section:

``SEC. 11A. PURPOSES OF ASSISTANCE FOR HUMANITARIAN DEMINING AND 
              ELIMINATION OR SECURING OF CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS.

    ``(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            ``(1) Landmines and other explosive remnants of war 
        threaten populations after conflicts end, and humanitarian 
        demining is a fundamental part of recovery from conflict.
            ``(2) Clearing the land of explosive remnants of war 
        provides quantifiable threat reduction and allows affected 
        persons to return to their homes and utilize the land.
            ``(3) Agriculture is disproportionately impacted by 
        unexploded ordnance, endangering farmers and exacerbating food 
        security. Subsistence farming, larger-scale agriculture, 
        grazing, and other related activities are improved through 
        humanitarian demining.
            ``(4) Decontaminated land can be returned to use for 
        critical infrastructure development, and many other uses that 
        enhance sustainable recovery and development.
            ``(5) Risk education bolsters the life-saving benefits of 
        humanitarian demining activities, helping to minimize 
        preventable injuries through community engagement, which in 
        turn creates local buy-in and awareness of this vital 
        assistance being provided by the United States.
            ``(6) Many countries lack the equipment, resources and 
        facilities, and technical capacity to properly manage weapons 
        and ammunition stockpiles. Weapons and Ammunition Management 
        (WAM) or Physical Security and Stockpile Management (PSSM) 
        programs are security sector partnerships based on the shared 
        objectives of preventing the diversion of weapons, ammunition, 
        and explosives, as well as unplanned explosions.
            ``(7) These projects include armory and munitions store 
        construction and rehabilitation, and other security 
        improvements, weapons and ammunition disposal, stockpile 
        management training and guidelines, needs assessments, 
        stockpile risk assessments, mitigation and management plans, 
        and marking and record-keeping.
            ``(8) This assistance, provided to a range of security 
        forces including local police, is focused on providing 
        necessary equipment and technical expertise in a sustainable 
        way, allowing partners to establish, implement, and train in 
        WAM/PSSM best practices and compliance, as well as conduct 
        their own safe disposal of obsolete weapons, ammunition, and 
        munitions.
            ``(9) These programs not only reduce instability and 
        civilian harm from armed violence caused by weapons diversion, 
        but also provide the United States with key security 
        partnerships. By reducing armed violence and instability, these 
        programs can play a crucial role in addressing the root causes 
        of migration and forced displacement, of particular interest to 
        the United States as it pertains to its southern border.
            ``(10) Risk education expands the scope of WAM/PSSM 
        programs beyond the principal partnerships, providing training 
        to local police and communities on safer and more secure 
        weapons storage and salvage through community engagement that 
        also saves lives and creates buy-in and awareness of this vital 
        assistance that is being provided by the United States.
    ``(b) Purposes of Humanitarian Demining and Conventional Weapons 
Elimination or Securing Activities.--
            ``(1) Humanitarian demining activities.--The purposes of 
        the activities authorized in section 11(b)(1) are--
                    ``(A) to ensure the return of affected populations 
                to the safe access to their homes and land;
                    ``(B) to enable affected populations to safely and 
                productively utilize land for agriculture;
                    ``(C) to clear threats from land to permit and 
                encourage critical infrastructure and other 
                development;
                    ``(D) to educate affected populations about the 
                dangers of landmines and other unexploded ordnance as 
                well as United States efforts to provide the lifesaving 
                benefits of humanitarian demining activities; and
                    ``(E) to integrate humanitarian demining and 
                related activities with other assistance to ensure 
                effective recovery from conflict.
            ``(2) Conventional weapons elimination or securing 
        activities.--The purposes of the activities authorized in 
        section 11(b)(3) are--
                    ``(A) to ensure the safe securing and diversion 
                prevention of weapons, ammunition, and explosives in 
                the stores of foreign partners;
                    ``(B) to build the capacity of the security sectors 
                of foreign partners to properly eliminate or manage 
                weapons and ammunition stockpiles through WAM, PSSM, 
                and related programs;
                    ``(C) to educate local police and other officials 
                and the wider population at the local level on safer 
                and more secure weapons storage and salvage as well as 
                United States efforts to provide the lifesaving 
                benefits of conventional weapons elimination, securing, 
                and management;
                    ``(D) to establish and strengthen security 
                cooperation with foreign partners to reduce armed 
                violence and instability in support of important United 
                States national security and foreign policy objectives; 
                and
                    ``(E) to integrate conventional weapons elimination 
                and securing and related activities with other 
                assistance to ensure effective recovery from 
                conflict.''.
                                 <all>
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