I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3538

To prohibit United States military assistance and arms transfers to foreign

governments that are undemocratic, do not adequately protect human

rights, are engaged in acts of armed aggression, or are not fully participating in the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 18, 1993

Ms. MCKINNEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Foreign Affairs

JULY 22, 1994

Additional sponsors: Mrs. UNSOELD, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms.

FURSE, Mr. MCCLOSKEY, Mr. EVANS, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. RAHALL,

Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. SHEPHERD, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. KOPETSKI, Mr.

DELLUMS, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. PENNY, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. MARKEY, Mr.

PAYNE of New Jersey, Mr. OLVER, Mr. KREIDLER, Mr. FORD of Tennessee, Mr. STARK, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. MINGE, Mrs.

MALONEY, Mr. BLACKWELL, Mr. WYNN, Mrs. MINK, Mr. JACOBS, Mr.

WYDEN, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. DURBIN, Mr.

FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. CLAY, Mr. MILLER of California, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ,

Miss COLLINS of Michigan, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. EDDIE

BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr.

DEFAZIO, Mrs. MEEK, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. HAMBURG, Mr. EDWARDS of California, Mr. ANDREWS of New Jersey, Mr.

OWENS, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr.

HINCHEY, Mr. WATT, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. MATSUI, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. YATES, Mr. SAWYER, Mr.

PALLONE, Mr. DIXON, Ms. MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY, Mr. TORRES, Mrs.

SCHROEDER, Mr. TUCKER, Mr. LEACH, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. REED, Mr.

BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana, Mr. FILNER, Mr. VENTO, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. FOGLIETTA, Mr.

GUTIERREZ, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. KANJORSKI, Ms. WATERS, Ms. KAPTUR,

Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. NADLER, Mr. ROSE, and Mr. STUDDS
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•HR 3538 SC

A BILL

To prohibit United States military assistance and arms

transfers to foreign governments that are undemocratic,

do not adequately protect human rights, are engaged

in acts of armed aggression, or are not fully participating

in the United Nations Register of 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 ‘‘Code of Conduct on

5 Arms Transfers Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Approximately 40,000,000 people, over 75

9 percent civilians, died as a result of civil and inter10 national wars fought with conventional weapons dur11 ing the 45 years of the cold war, demonstrating that

12 conventional weapons can in fact be weapons of

13 mass destruction.

14 (2) Conflict has actually increased in the post

15 cold war era, with 26 wars in progress during 1992.

16 (3) War is both a human tragedy and an ongo17 ing economic disaster affecting the entire world, in18 cluding the United States and its economy, because

19 it decimates both local investment and potential ex20 port markets.
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1 (4) International trade in conventional weapons

2 increases the risk and impact of war in an already

3 over-militarized world, creating far more costs than

4 benefits for the United States economy through in5 creased United States defense and foreign assistance

6 spending and reduced demand for United States ci7 vilian exports.

8 (5) The newly established United Nations Reg9 ister of Conventional Arms can be an effective first

10 step in support of limitations on the supply of con11 ventional weapons to developing countries and com12 pliance with its reporting requirements by a foreign

13 government can be an integral tool in determining

14 the worthiness of such government for the receipt of

15 United States military assistance and arms trans16 fers.

17 (6) It is in the national security and economic

18 interests of the United States to reduce dramatically

19 the $1,000,000,000,000 that all countries spend on

20 armed forces every year, $200,000,000,000 of which

21 is spent by developing countries, an amount equiva22 lent to 4 times the total bilateral and multilateral

23 foreign assistance such countries receive every year.

24 (7) According to the Congressional Research

25 Service, the United States supplies more conven-
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•HR 3538 SC

1 tional weapons to developing countries than all other

2 countries combined, averaging $15,600,000,000 a

3 year in agreements to supply such weapons to devel4 oping countries since the end of the cold war, com5 pared to $7,000,000,000 a year in such agreements

6 prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

7 (8) In recent years the vast majority of United

8 States arms transfers to developing countries are to

9 countries with an undemocratic form of government

10 whose citizens, according to the Department of State

11 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices do not

12 have the ability to peaceably change their form of

13 government.

14 (9) Although a goal of United States foreign

15 policy should be to work with foreign governments

16 and international organizations to reduce militariza17 tion and dictatorship and therefore prevent conflicts

18 before they arise, during 3 recent deployments of

19 United States Armed Forces—to the Republic of

20 Panama, the Persian Gulf, and Somalia—such

21 Armed Forces faced conventional weapons that had

22 been provided or financed by the United States to

23 undemocratic governments.

24 (10) The proliferation of conventional arms and

25 conflicts around the globe are multilateral problems,
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•HR 3538 SC

1 and the fact that the United States has emerged as

2 the world’s primary seller of conventional weapons,

3 combined with the world leadership role of the Unit4 ed States, signifies that the United States is in a po5 sition to seek multilateral restraints on the competi6 tion for and transfers of conventional weapons.

7 (11) Congress has the constitutional respon8 sibility to participate with the executive branch in

9 decisions to provide military assistance and arms

10 transfers to a foreign government, and in the formu11 lation of a policy designed to reduce dramatically the

12 level of international militarization.

13 (12) A decision to provide military assistance

14 and arms transfers to a government that is undemo15 cratic, does not adequately protect human rights, is

16 currently engaged in acts of armed aggression, or is

17 not fully participating in the United Nations Reg18 ister of Conventional Arms, should require a higher

19 level of scrutiny than does a decision to provide such

20 assistance and arms transfers to a government to

21 which these conditions do not apply.

22 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

23 The purpose of this Act is to provide clear policy

24 guidelines and congressional responsibility for determining
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1 the eligibility of foreign governments to be considered for

2 United States military assistance and arms transfers.

3 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF UNITED STATES MILITARY ASSIST4 ANCE AND ARMS TRANSFERS TO CERTAIN

5 FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.

6 (a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in subsections

7 (b) and (c), United States military assistance and arms

8 transfers may not be provided to a foreign government for

9 a fiscal year unless the President certifies to the Congress

10 for that fiscal year that such government meets the follow11 ing requirements:

12 (1) PROMOTES DEMOCRACY.—Such govern13 ment—

14 (A) was chosen in free and fair elections

15 and permits free and fair elections to take

16 place;

17 (B) promotes civilian control of the mili18 tary and security forces, and has civilian insti19 tutions that determine national security policy

20 and control the operations and spending of the

21 armed forces, security forces, and police or

22 other law enforcement forces;

23 (C) promotes the rule of law, equality be24 fore the law, and respect for individual and mi-
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•HR 3538 SC

1 nority rights, including freedom to speak, pub2 lish, associate, and organize;

3 (D) promotes the strengthening of the po4 litical and civil infrastructure of democracy, in5 cluding democratic legislatures and local gov6 ernment structures and institutions of civil soci7 ety that emphasize pluralism and autonomy

8 from the central government; and

9 (E) promotes strong internal and autono10 mous institutions and groups to monitor the

11 conduct of public officials and to combat cor12 ruption.

13 (2) RESPECTS HUMAN RIGHTS.—Such govern14 ment—

15 (A) does not engage in gross violations of

16 internationally recognized human rights, includ17 ing—

18 (i) extra judicial or arbitrary execu19 tions;

20 (ii) disappearances;

21 (iii) torture or severe mistreatment;

22 (iv) prolonged arbitrary imprisonment;

23 (v) systematic official discrimination

24 on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion,

25 gender, or national origin; and
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1 (vi) grave breaches of international

2 laws of war or equivalent violations of the

3 laws of war in internal conflicts;

4 (B) vigorously investigates, disciplines, and

5 prosecutes those responsible for gross violations

6 of internationally recognized human rights;

7 (C) permits access on a regular basis to

8 political prisoners by international humani9 tarian organizations such as the International

10 Committee of the Red Cross;

11 (D) promotes the independence of the judi12 ciary and other official bodies that oversee the

13 protection of human rights;

14 (E) does not impede the free functioning of

15 domestic and international human rights orga16 nizations; and

17 (F) provides access on a regular basis to

18 humanitarian organizations in situations of con19 flict or famine.

20 (3) NOT ENGAGED IN CERTAIN ACTS OF ARMED

21 AGGRESSION.—Such government is not currently en22 gaged in acts of armed aggression in violation of

23 international law.

24 (4) FULL PARTICIPATION IN U.N. REGISTER OF

25 CONVENTIONAL ARMS.—Such government is fully
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1 participating in the United Nations Register of Con2 ventional Arms by annually reporting to such Reg3 ister—

4 (A) the number and type of conventional

5 weapons that such government possessed during

6 the preceding year; and

7 (B) the number and type of conventional

8 weapons transferred to and from the country of

9 such government during the preceding year.

10 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR CONTINUING COMPLI11 ANCE.—Any certification with respect to a foreign govern12 ment for a fiscal year under subsection (a) shall cease to

13 be effective for that fiscal year if the President certifies

14 to the Congress that such government has not continued

15 to comply with the requirements contained in paragraphs

16 (1) through (4) of such subsection.

17 (c) EXEMPTION.—The prohibition contained in sub18 section (a) shall not apply with respect to a foreign govern19 ment for a fiscal year if—

20 (1) the President submits a request for an ex21 emption to the Congress containing a determination

22 that it is in the national security interest of the

23 United States to provide military assistance and

24 arms transfers to such government; and
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1 (2) the Congress enacts a law approving such

2 exemption request.

3 (d) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—The President

4 shall submit to the Congress initial certifications under

5 subsection (a) and requests for exemptions under sub6 section (c) in conjunction with the submission of the an7 nual request for enactment of authorizations and appro8 priations for foreign assistance programs for a fiscal year

9 and shall, where appropriate, submit additional or amend10 ed certifications and requests for exemptions at any time

11 thereafter in the fiscal year.

12 SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

13 It is the sense of the Congress that the Committee

14 on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and

15 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate should

16 hold hearings on controversial certifications submitted

17 under section 4(a) and all requests for exemptions submit18 ted under section 4(c).

19 SEC. 6. UNITED STATES MILITARY ASSISTANCE AND ARMS

20 TRANSFERS DEFINED.

21 For purposes of this Act, the terms ‘‘United States

22 military assistance and arms transfers’’ and ‘‘military as23 sistance and arms transfers’’ mean—

24 (1) assistance under chapter 2 of part II of the

25 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to military
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•HR 3538 SC

1 assistance), including the transfer of excess defense

2 articles under sections 516 through 519 of that Act;

3 (2) assistance under chapter 5 of part II of the

4 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to inter5 national military education and training);

6 (3) assistance under the ‘‘Foreign Military Fi7 nancing Program’’ under section 23 of the Arms Ex8 port Control Act; or

9 (4) the transfer of defense articles, defense

10 services, or design and construction services under

11 the Arms Export Control Act, including defense arti12 cles and defense services licensed or approved for ex13 port under section 38 of that Act.

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