II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1789 

To improve defense cooperation between the United States and the Hashemite 

Kingdom of Jordan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 16, 2015 

Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To improve defense cooperation between the United States 

and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. 

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 ‘‘United States-Jordan 

5 Defense Cooperation Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) As of January 22, 2015, the United States 

9 Government has provided $3,046,343,000 in assist10 ance to respond to the Syria humanitarian crisis, of 


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1 which nearly $467,000,000 has been provided to the 

2 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. 

3 (2) As of January 2015, according to the 

4 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 

5 there were 621,937 registered Syrian refugees in 

6 Jordan and 83.8 percent of whom lived outside ref7 ugee camps. 

8 (3) In 2000, the United States and Jordan 

9 signed a free-trade agreement that went into force 

10 in 2001. 

11 (4) In 1996, the United States granted Jordan 

12 major non-NATO ally status. 

13 (5) Jordan is suffering from the Syrian refugee 

14 crisis and the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and 

15 the Levant (ISIL). 

16 (6) The Government of Jordan was elected as 

17 a non-permanent member of the United Nations Se18 curity Council for a 2-year term ending in December 

19 2015. 

20 (7) Enhanced support for defense cooperation 

21 with Jordan is important to the national security of 

22 the United States, including through creation of a 

23 status in law for Jordan similar to the countries in 

24 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Japan, 

25 Australia, the Republic of Korea, Israel, and New 


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1 Zealand, with respect to consideration by Congress 

2 of foreign military sales to Jordan. 

3 (8) The Colorado National Guard’s relationship 

4 with the Jordanian military provides a significant 

5 benefit to both the United States and Jordan. 

6 (9) Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh was bru7 tally murdered by ISIL. 

8 (10) On February 3, 2015, Secretary of State 

9 John Kerry and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser 

10 Judeh signed a new Memorandum of Understanding 

11 that reflects the intention to increase United States 

12 assistance to the Government of Jordan from 

13 $660,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 for each of the 

14 years 2015 through 2017. 

15 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

16 It should be the policy of the United States— 

17 (1) to support the Hashemite Kingdom of Jor18 dan in its response to the Syrian refugee crisis; 

19 (2) to provide necessary assistance to alleviate 

20 the domestic burden to provide basic needs for the 

21 assimilated Syrian refugees; 

22 (3) to cooperate with Jordan to combat the ter23 rorist threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and the 

24 Levant (ISIL) or other terrorist organizations; and 


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1 (4) to help secure the border between Jordan 

2 and its neighbors Syria and Iraq. 

3 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 It is the sense of Congress that expeditious consider5 ation of certifications of letters of offer to sell defense arti6 cles, defense services, design and construction services, 

7 and major defense equipment to the Hashemite Kingdom 

8 of Jordan under section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control 

9 Act (22 U.S.C. 2776(b)) is fully consistent with United 

10 States security and foreign policy interests and the objec11 tives of world peace and security. 

12 SEC. 5. ENHANCED DEFENSE COOPERATION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—During the 3-year period begin14 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

15 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan shall be treated as if it 

16 were a country listed in the provisions of law described 

17 in subsection (b) for purposes of applying and admin18 istering such provisions of law. 

19 (b) ARMS EXPORT CONTROL ACT.—The provisions 

20 of law described in this subsection are— 

21 (1) subsections (b)(2), (d)(2)(B), (d)(3)(A)(i), 

22 and (d)(5) of section 3 of the Arms Export Control 

23 Act (22 U.S.C. 2753); 

24 (2) subsections (e)(2)(A), (h)(1)(A), and (h)(2) 

25 of section 21 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2761); 


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1 (3) subsections (b)(1), (b)(2), (b)(6), (c), and 

2 (d)(2)(A) of section 36 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 

3 2776); 

4 (4) section 62(c)(1) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 

5 2796a(c)(1)); and 

6 (5) section 63(a)(2) (22 U.S.C. 2796b(a)(2)). 

7 SEC. 6. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING. 

8 Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Sec9 retary of State is authorized to enter into a memorandum 

10 of understanding with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 

11 to increase economic support funds, military cooperation, 

12 including joint military exercises, personnel exchanges, 

13 support for international peacekeeping missions, and en14 hanced strategic dialogue. 

Æ 


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