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27–649PDF 2006

SHOULDER-FIRED MISSILE THREAT REDUCTION

ACT OF 2006

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND 

NONPROLIFERATION

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON 

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

H.R. 5333

MAY 18, 2006

Serial No. 109–171

Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international—relations 

(II)

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 

HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman 

JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, 

Vice Chairman 

DAN BURTON, Indiana 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California 

PETER T. KING, New York 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado 

RON PAUL, Texas 

DARRELL ISSA, California 

JEFF FLAKE, Arizona 

JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia 

MARK GREEN, Wisconsin 

JERRY WELLER, Illinois 

MIKE PENCE, Indiana 

THADDEUS G. MCCOTTER, Michigan 

KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina 

CONNIE MACK, Florida 

JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska 

MICHAEL MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

TOM LANTOS, California 

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California 

GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

ROBERT WEXLER, Florida 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

BARBARA LEE, California 

JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York 

EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon 

SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada 

GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California 

ADAM B. SCHIFF, California 

DIANE E. WATSON, California 

ADAM SMITH, Washington 

BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota 

BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky 

DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel 

ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND NONPROLIFERATION

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman 

PETER T. KING, New York 

THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado 

DARRELL ISSA, California, Vice Chairman 

MICHAEL MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

JERRY WELLER, Illinois 

J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

ROBERT WEXLER, Florida 

DIANE E. WATSON, California 

ADAM SMITH, Washington 

BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky 

DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

TOM SHEEHY, Subcommittee Staff Director 

DON MACDONALD, Democratic Professional Staff Member 

EDWARD A. BURRIER, Professional Staff Member 

GENELL BROWN, Staff Associate 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

MARKUP OF 

H.R. 5333, To reduce the threat of terrorists acquiring shoulder-fired missiles 2

(1)

SHOULDER-FIRED MISSILE THREAT 

REDUCTION ACT OF 2006

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2006

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM

AND NONPROLIFERATION,

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, 

Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 o’clock p.m. in 

room 2200, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Edward R. Royce 

(Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. ROYCE. Pursuant to notice, I call up the bill H.R. 5333, the 

Shoulder-Fired Missile Threat Reduction Act of 2006, for purposes 

of markup and move its recommendation to the Full Committee. 

Without objection, the bill will be considered as read and open 

for amendment at any point. 

[H.R. 5333 follows:]

2

1

I

109TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5333

To reduce the threat of terrorists acquiring shoulder-fired missiles.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 9, 2006

Mr. ROYCE (for himself, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. WELLER, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. ROSLEHTINEN, Ms. WATSON, Mr. ISSA, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. POE, Mr.

MCCOTTER, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. ISRAEL, and Ms. BEAN)

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on

International Relations

A BILL

To reduce the threat of terrorists acquiring shoulder-fired

missiles.

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 ‘‘Shoulder-Fired Missile

5 Threat Reduction Act of 2006’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) MANPADS.—The term ‘‘MANPADS’’

9 means—


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1 (A) a surface-to-air missile system de2 signed to be man-portable and carried and fired

3 by a single individual; or

4 (B) any other surface-to-air missile system

5 designed to be operated and fired by more than

6 one individual acting as a crew and portable by

7 several individuals.

8 (2) CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS.—The term ‘‘con9 ventional weapons’’ means rocket propelled gre10 nades, landmines, abandoned stocks of munitions,

11 and other weapons the Secretary of State determines

12 the proliferation of which undermines international

13 peace and stability.

14 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

15 Congress finds the following:

16 (1) The global proliferation of man-portable air

17 defense systems (MANPADS) and other conven18 tional weapons poses a direct threat to the national

19 security of the United States.

20 (2) The use of MANPADS and other conven21 tional weapons by terrorists and insurgent groups

22 continues to hamper United States efforts to achieve

23 peace and security in Iraq and Afghanistan.


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1 (3) More than two-dozen terrorist groups, in2 cluding al-Qaeda, are believed to possess

3 MANPADS.

4 (4) On November 28, 2002, in Mombasa,

5 Kenya, two shoulder-fired missiles were fired at a

6 departing civilian airliner in an unsuccessful attack

7 claimed by al-Qaeda.

8 (5) A successful terrorist attack with a shoul9 der-fired missile against a civilian airliner would

10 have devastating human and incalculable economic

11 costs.

12 (6) The Government Accountability Office has

13 estimated that there are between 500,000 and

14 750,000 MANPADS in countries around the world,

15 with a few thousand outside government controls

16 and thousands more under government controls but

17 vulnerable to theft and possible transfer to terrorist

18 groups due to inadequate security.

19 (7) Many countries that possess stocks of

20 MANPADS and other conventional weapons no

21 longer require such weapons for their own security

22 or self-defense, but do not possess the means to

23 eliminate or safeguard such weapons systems.

24 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

25 It is the sense of Congress that—


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1 (1) where appropriate, the United States Gov2 ernment should provide assistance to countries seek3 ing to secure, remove, or eliminate stocks of

4 MANPADS and other conventional weapons that

5 pose a proliferation threat;

6 (2) where appropriate, the Secretary of State

7 should direct United States Ambassadors to such

8 countries to negotiate with appropriate officials of

9 their host countries to offer assistance to secure, re10 move, and eliminate stocks of MANPADS and other

11 conventional weapons that pose a proliferation

12 threat; and

13 (3) in light of the clear links between global

14 networks of terrorism and global networks of the il15 legal trade in conventional weapons, the United

16 States Government should place consistent, broad,

17 and continued emphasis on combating the prolifera18 tion of MANPADS and other conventional weapons

19 within the broader nonproliferation strategy of the

20 United States.

21 SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

22 It is the policy of the United States to assist the gov23 ernments of other countries to secure, remove, or eliminate

24 stocks of MANPADS and other conventional weapons that


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1 pose a proliferation threat, local or regional security

2 threat, or humanitarian threat.

3 SEC. 6. GLOBAL PROGRAM FOR THE SAFEGUARDING AND

4 ELIMINATION OF MANPADS AND CONVEN5 TIONAL WEAPONS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State is author7 ized to carry out an accelerated global program to secure,

8 remove, or eliminate stocks of MANPADS and other con9 ventional weapons, as well as related equipment and facili10 ties, that are determined by the Secretary to pose a pro11 liferation threat, local or regional security threat, or hu12 manitarian threat.

13 (b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The program authorized

14 under subsection (a) may include the following activities:

15 (1) Programs to assist countries to secure, re16 move, and eliminate MANPADS and other conven17 tional weapons, including programs related to the

18 safe handling and proper storage of such

19 MANPADS and other conventional weapons.

20 (2) Cooperative programs with the North Atlan21 tic Treaty Organization, Organization for Security

22 and Cooperation in Europe, and other international

23 organizations to assist countries in the secure han24 dling and proper storage, removal, or elimination of

25 MANPADS and other conventional weapons.


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1 (3) Programs for the management, including

2 inventory and accounting procedures, of MANPADS

3 and other conventional weapons at locations where

4 United States funds have been used to provide for

5 the security of such weapons.

6 (4) Actions to ensure that equipment and

7 funds, including security upgrades at locations for

8 the storage, removal, or elimination of MANPADS

9 and other conventional weapons and related equip10 ment that are determined by the Secretary of State

11 to pose a proliferation threat, local or regional secu12 rity threat, or humanitarian threat, continue to be

13 used for authorized purposes.

14 SEC. 7. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS TO DETER THE TRANS15 FER OF MANPADS.

16 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—Congress declares that

17 it should be the policy of the United States to hold foreign

18 governments accountable for knowingly transferring

19 MANPADS to state-sponsors of terrorism or terrorist or20 ganizations.

21 (b) DETERMINATION RELATING TO SANCTIONS.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the President determines

23 that a foreign government knowingly transfers

24 MANPADS to a foreign government described in


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1 paragraph (2) or a terrorist organization, the Presi2 dent shall—

3 (A) submit forthwith to the Committee on

4 International Relations of the House of Rep5 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Re6 lations of the Senate a report containing such

7 determination; and

8 (B) impose forthwith on the transferring

9 foreign government the sanctions described in

10 subsection (c).

11 (2) FOREIGN GOVERNMENT DESCRIBED.—A

12 foreign government described in this paragraph is a

13 foreign government that the Secretary of State has

14 determined, for purposes of section 6(j) of the Ex15 port Administration Act of 1979, section 620A of

16 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, section 40 of

17 the Arms Export Control Act, or any other provision

18 of law, is a government that has repeatedly provided

19 support for acts of international terrorism.

20 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions referred

21 to in subsection (b)(1)(B) are the following:

22 (1) Termination of United States Government

23 assistance to the transferring foreign government

24 under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, except


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1 that such termination shall not apply in the case of

2 humanitarian assistance.

3 (2) Termination of United States

4 Government—

5 (A) sales to the transferring foreign gov6 ernment of any defense articles, defense serv7 ices, or design and construction services; and

8 (B) licenses for the export to the transfer9 ring foreign government of any item on the

10 United States Munitions List.

11 (3) Termination of all foreign military financing

12 for the transferring foreign government.

13 (d) WAIVER.—Notwithstanding any other provision

14 of law, sanctions shall not be imposed on a transferring

15 foreign government under this section if the President de16 termines and certifies in writing to the Committee on

17 International Relations of the House of Representatives

18 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate

19 that the furnishing of the assistance, sales, licensing, or

20 financing that would otherwise be suspended as a result

21 of the imposition of such sanctions is important to the

22 national security interests of the United States.

23 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:


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1 (1) DEFENSE ARTICLE.—The term ‘‘defense ar2 ticle’’ has the meaning given the term in section

3 47(3) of the Arms Export Control Act.

4 (2) DEFENSE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘defense

5 service’’ has the meaning given the term in section

6 47(4) of the Arms Export Control Act.

7 (3) DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES.—

8 The term ‘‘design and construction services’’ has the

9 meaning given the term in section 47(8) of the Arms

10 Export Control Act.

11 (4) FOREIGN GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘for12 eign government’’ includes any agency or instrumen13 tality of a foreign government.

14 SEC. 8. MULTILATERAL EFFORTS TO LIMIT THE AVAIL15 ABILITY AND TRANSFER OF MANPADS.

16 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

17 (1) The United States Government has begun

18 to pursue commitments from countries in multilat19 eral forums to limit the availability, transfer, and

20 proliferation of MANPADS worldwide.

21 (2) However, multilateral forums lack mecha22 nisms for assessing member countries’ compliance

23 with such diplomatic commitments.

24 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con25 gress that the United States Government should continue


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1 to pursue strengthened international diplomatic efforts in

2 the appropriate fora to limit the availability, transfer, and

3 proliferation of MANPADS worldwide and to exert appro4 priate diplomatic pressure to influence member country

5 compliance with such efforts.

6 SEC. 9. REPORT ON MANPADS AND CONVENTIONAL WEAP7 ONS THREAT REDUCTION.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the

9 date of the enactment of this Act and as circumstances

10 warrant thereafter, the Secretary of State, in consultation

11 with other appropriate government agencies, shall submit

12 to the Committee on International Relations and the Com13 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives

14 and the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Com15 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate a report on

16 MANPADS and other conventional weapons threat reduc17 tion.

18 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required under sub19 section (a) shall include the following information for the

20 period preceding each such report:

21 (1) A description of efforts undertaken by the

22 Secretary of State regarding MANPADS and other

23 conventional weapons threat reduction.

24 (2) A description, on a country-by-country

25 basis, of the implementation of a global strategy for


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1 the storage, removal, and elimination of MANPADS

2 and other conventional weapons, including, to the

3 extent possible, a prioritization of such storage, re4 moval, and elimination efforts with respect to the

5 proliferation sensitivity of such weapons in each

6 country and the potential impact of such efforts on

7 local and regional security.

8 (3) A description of multilateral efforts pursued

9 by the United States Government to limit the avail10 ability, transfer, and proliferation of MANPADS

11 worldwide, and a strategy to establish mechanisms

12 to monitor and report on—

13 (A) countries’ implementation of their

14 commitments to limit such availability, transfer,

15 and proliferation; and

16 (B) the impact such implementation of

17 commitments has on the flow of MANPADS to

18 black and gray markets.

19 (4) A description and evaluation of the access

20 of terrorists, non-state actors, and state sponsors of

21 terrorism to MANPADS, their methods to acquire

22 MANPADS, and a strategy for disrupting future ac23 cess to MANPADS.

24 (5) An evaluation of the extent to which activi25 ties authorized by this Act and other United States


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1 Government programs are integrated to ensure that

2 the conventional weapons threat reduction efforts of

3 the United States Government are consistent with

4 United States policy and goals in countries receiving

5 assistance through such activities.

6 (c) FORM.—The report required under subsection (a)

7 shall be in unclassified form, but shall contain a classified

8 annex, as appropriate.

9 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts that are

11 otherwise authorized to be appropriated to the Non12 proliferation, Anti-Terrorism, Demining, and Related Pro13 grams account of the Department of State, there is au14 thorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for fiscal year

15 2007 and $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 for activities

16 related to the securing, removal, or elimination of stocks

17 of MANPADS and other conventional weapons and re18 lated equipment and facilities.

19 (b) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.—Amounts appro20 priated pursuant to subsection (a)—

21 (1) are authorized to be made available notwith22 standing any other provision of law; and

23 (2) are authorized to remain available until ex24 pended.

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Mr. ROYCE. I would like to recognize myself for a brief opening 

statement. 

Members will recall the Subcommittee’s hearing with Assistant 

Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, John Hillen, where 

the threat of terrorists acquiring shoulder-fired missiles or 

MANPADS was addressed. At that hearing, a draft of a bill authored by myself and the Ranking Member, Mr. Sherman, was discussed. That bill became H.R. 5333, the Shoulder-Fired Missile 

Threat Reduction Act of 2006 which enjoys bipartisan support, including from many Members of the Subcommittee. 

The goal of our legislation is to provide the State Department the 

authority and resources to undertake a robust effort to either destroy or to secure MANPADS around the world. As I said at our 

hearing, ‘‘the best defense is a good offense,’’ so this proactive effort 

makes sense. 

At the hearing, one question raised by Members was, ‘‘Is there 

a way for deterrence to be used against this threat?’’ In response, 

Assistant Secretary Hillen noted we can put producing and proliferating countries on notice that we consider this a significant 

threat. 

So, what we have done is to add or incorporate this into H.R. 

5333. We have incorporated a section that sanctions countries that 

knowingly transfer MANPADS to state sponsors of terrorism or to 

terrorist organizations. 

The administration has expressed a concern with this provision 

despite the waiver authority granted by the legislation. However, 

I think Members will agree that this is an important part of the 

bill. I believe this bill will greatly enhance our government’s ability 

to combat this threat to our national security. 

I urge my colleagues to support it. 

I want to recognize our Ranking Member, or frankly anyone who 

wishes to offer an opening statement. Mr. Sherman. 

Mr. SHERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for bringing this bill to our Subcommittee dealing with man-portable shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, or MANPADS. 

I am very pleased to cosponsor the bill with you. We have at 

least 29 other cosponsors. The MANPAD is obviously an ideal 

weapon for terrorists, not only to kill Americans in the air, but to 

hurt our economy should the attack be successful or even if the attack is unsuccessful. And of course, MANPADS are relatively cheap 

and obtainable. 

There have been no attacks in the U.S. using MANPADS. However, there have been several attempts to bring those weapons into 

the United States or to acquire them for use in the United States. 

We all watched what happened in Kenya where there was an attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner. We know at least 25 terrorist organizations probably have MANPADS, including al Qaeda 

and Hezbollah. And even if law enforcement is 100 percent effective in the future, it is already too late to prevent at least some 

MANPADS from falling into the hands of the some of the world’s 

most dangerous terrorists. 

We are not only vulnerable here in the United States, but we are 

vulnerable abroad. If a U.S. commercial jet were to hit in Rome, 

it might have many of the same effects, both in terms of the numVerDate Mar 21 2002 11:01 Jul 13, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\ITN\051806M\27649.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL
15

ber of Americans killed on the plane, and also on the economy. So 

the solution is not only to protect our borders to try to prevent 

MANPADS from coming into the United States, but to try to keep 

MANPADS out of the wrong hands around the world. And also to 

help those countries with MANPADS to make sure that they are 

safeguarded and don’t fall into the wrong hands. 

I think that this bill goes a long way. It would authorize $15 million for 2007, $20 million for 2008. I am pleased to work with you 

to urge the appropriators to fully fund the administration’s request 

at $8.75 million, and I think even more should be spent on this effort to take these weapons out of illegal circulation. 

I agree with you there should be sanctions on those who create 

these weapons and then transfer them to terrorist organizations or 

terrorist-supporting states. I want to use this opportunity to call on 

the Department of Homeland Security to designate the kinds of 

countermeasures that U.S. airliners should have and to mandate 

their deployment and to urge the State Department to begin negotiating treaties with those countries into which our aircraft fly so 

that those planes are safe from spying while on the ground in these 

foreign airports. 

We can’t really have a regime of having countermeasures on our 

planes if there is no way to fly that plane to, say, Beijing without 

the Chinese looking at the countermeasure and perhaps designing 

their own MANPADS to avoid it or evade it. 

So we have work to do not only in passing this bill, but also in 

getting State to make sure that our planes are secure from spying 

on the ground and to make sure that Homeland Security mandates 

countermeasures for both domestic and international flights. 

I thank you for your work on this bill. I yield back. 

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Weller, do you have an opening statement? 

Mr. WELLER. No, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chandler? 

Mr. CHANDLER. Mr. Chairman, I support this bill very much. I 

thank you for your work on it. My only disappointment with it is 

that I am not a cosponsor, and I would like to become one. It is 

a very good bill. 

Mr. ROYCE. We can rectify that. Without objection. 

Mr. CHANDLER. I appreciate that. I support it wholeheartedly. 

Mr. ROYCE. Are there any amendments to the underlying bill 

that anyone would like to make? 

If not, the question occurs on the motion to report the bill, H.R. 

5333, the Shoulder-Fired Missile Threat Reduction Act, favorably. 

All those in favor say ‘‘aye.’’ All opposed ‘‘no.’’ The ‘‘ayes’’ have 

it. The motion is approved. 

The bill is reported favorably and the staff is directed to make 

any technical and conforming amendments. I appreciate it. Let me 

share with the panel, thank you for your cooperation on this. The 

hearing stands adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 2:11 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

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