I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1619 

To authorize assistance and training to increase maritime security and domain 

awareness of foreign countries bordering the Persian Gulf, the Arabian 

Sea, or the Mediterranean Sea in order to deter and counter illicit 

smuggling and related maritime activity by Iran, including illicit Iranian 

weapons shipments. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2017 

Mr. RUIZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize assistance and training to increase maritime 

security and domain awareness of foreign countries bordering the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, or the Mediterranean Sea in order to deter and counter illicit smuggling and related maritime activity by Iran, including 

illicit Iranian weapons shipments. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Iran From Smug3 gling Weapons to Terrorists Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE AND TRAIN5 ING TO INCREASE MARITIME SECURITY AND 

6 DOMAIN AWARENESS OF FOREIGN COUN7 TRIES BORDERING THE PERSIAN GULF, ARA8 BIAN SEA, OR MEDITERRANEAN SEA. 

9 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to au10 thorize assistance and training to increase maritime secu11 rity and domain awareness of foreign countries bordering 

12 the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, or the Mediterranean 

13 Sea in order to deter and counter illicit smuggling and 

14 related maritime activity by Iran, including illicit Iranian 

15 weapons shipments. 

16 (b) AUTHORITY.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the purpose of 

18 this section as described in subsection (a), the Sec19 retary of Defense, with the concurrence of the Sec20 retary of State, is authorized— 

21 (A) to provide training to the national mili22 tary or other security forces of Israel, Bahrain, 

23 Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, 

24 Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar that have among 

25 their functional responsibilities maritime secu26 rity missions; and 


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1 (B) to provide training to ministry, agency, 

2 and headquarters level organizations for such 

3 forces. 

4 (2) DESIGNATION.—The provision of assistance 

5 and training under this section may be referred to 

6 as the ‘‘Counter Iran Maritime Initiative’’. 

7 (c) TYPES OF TRAINING.— 

8 (1) AUTHORIZED ELEMENTS OF TRAINING.— 

9 Training provided under subsection (b)(1)(A) may 

10 include the provision of de minimis equipment, sup11 plies, and small-scale military construction. 

12 (2) REQUIRED ELEMENTS OF TRAINING.— 

13 Training provided under subsection (b) shall include 

14 elements that promote the following: 

15 (A) Observance of and respect for human 

16 rights and fundamental freedoms. 

17 (B) Respect for legitimate civilian author18 ity within the country to which the assistance 

19 is provided. 

20 (d) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Of the amount au21 thorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2018 and avail22 able for operation and maintenance for Defense-wide ac23 tivities, $50,000,000 shall be available only for the provi24 sion of assistance and training under subsection (b). 

25 (e) COST SHARING.— 


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1 (1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

2 Congress that, given income parity among recipient 

3 countries, the Secretary of Defense, with the concur4 rence of the Secretary of State, should seek, through 

5 appropriate bilateral and multilateral arrangements, 

6 payments sufficient in amount to offset any training 

7 costs associated with implementation of subsection 

8 (b). 

9 (2) COST-SHARING AGREEMENT.—The Sec10 retary of Defense, with the concurrence of the Sec11 retary of State, shall negotiate a cost-sharing agree12 ment with a recipient country regarding the cost of 

13 any training provided pursuant to subsection (b). 

14 The agreement shall set forth the terms of cost 

15 sharing that the Secretary of Defense determines 

16 are necessary and appropriate, but such terms shall 

17 not be less than 50 percent of the overall cost of the 

18 training. 

19 (3) CREDIT TO APPROPRIATIONS.—The portion 

20 of such cost sharing received by the Secretary of De21 fense pursuant to this subsection may be credited to22 wards appropriations available for operation and 

23 maintenance for Defense-wide activities. 

24 (f) NOTICE TO CONGRESS ON TRAINING.—Not later 

25 than 15 days before exercising the authority under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Mar 22, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1619.IH H1619

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1 section (b) with respect to a recipient country, the Sec2 retary of Defense shall submit to the appropriate congres3 sional committees a notification containing the following: 

4 (1) An identification of the recipient country. 

5 (2) A detailed justification of the program for 

6 the provision of the training concerned, and its rela7 tionship to United States security interests. 

8 (3) The budget for the program, including a 

9 timetable of planned expenditures of funds to imple10 ment the program, an implementation timeline for 

11 the program with milestones (including anticipated 

12 delivery schedules for any assistance and training 

13 under the program), the military department or 

14 component responsible for management of the pro15 gram, and the anticipated completion date for the 

16 program. 

17 (4) A description of the arrangements, if any, 

18 to support recipient country sustainment of any ca19 pability developed pursuant to the program, and the 

20 source of funds to support sustainment efforts and 

21 performance outcomes to be achieved under the pro22 gram beyond its completion date, if applicable. 

23 (5) A description of the program objectives and 

24 an assessment framework to be used to develop caVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Mar 22, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1619.IH H1619

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1 pability and performance metrics associated with 

2 operational outcomes for the recipient force. 

3 (6) Such other matters as the Secretary con4 siders appropriate. 

5 (g) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘appro6 priate congressional committees’’ means— 

7 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

8 Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee 

9 on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

10 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

11 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee 

12 on Appropriations of the House of Representatives. 

13 (h) TERMINATION.—Assistance and training may not 

14 be provided under this section after September 30, 2021. 

Æ 


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