II 

Calendar No. 281 

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 (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. KIRK, Mr. KAINE, Mrs. CAPITO, 

Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. COONS, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. CRUZ, Ms. MIKULSKI, 

Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. PERDUE, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. RISCH, 

Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. ROUNDS, and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

OCTOBER 27, 2015 

Reported by Mr. CORKER, without amendment 

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’’. 


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•S 1789 RS

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

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

4 Government has provided $3,046,343,000 in assist5 ance to respond to the Syria humanitarian crisis, of 

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

7 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. 

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

9 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 

10 there were 621,937 registered Syrian refugees in 

11 Jordan and 83.8 percent of whom lived outside ref12 ugee camps. 

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

14 signed a free-trade agreement that went into force 

15 in 2001. 

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

17 major non-NATO ally status. 

18 (5) Jordan is suffering from the Syrian refugee 

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

20 the Levant (ISIL). 

21 (6) The Government of Jordan was elected as 

22 a non-permanent member of the United Nations Se23 curity Council for a 2-year term ending in December 

24 2015. 

25 (7) Enhanced support for defense cooperation 

26 with Jordan is important to the national security of 


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•S 1789 RS

1 the United States, including through creation of a 

2 status in law for Jordan similar to the countries in 

3 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Japan, 

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

5 Zealand, with respect to consideration by Congress 

6 of foreign military sales to Jordan. 

7 (8) The Colorado National Guard’s relationship 

8 with the Jordanian military provides a significant 

9 benefit to both the United States and Jordan. 

10 (9) Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh was bru11 tally murdered by ISIL. 

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

13 John Kerry and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser 

14 Judeh signed a new Memorandum of Understanding 

15 that reflects the intention to increase United States 

16 assistance to the Government of Jordan from 

17 $660,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 for each of the 

18 years 2015 through 2017. 

19 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

20 It should be the policy of the United States— 

21 (1) to support the Hashemite Kingdom of Jor22 dan in its response to the Syrian refugee crisis; 

23 (2) to provide necessary assistance to alleviate 

24 the domestic burden to provide basic needs for the 

25 assimilated Syrian refugees; 


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•S 1789 RS

1 (3) to cooperate with Jordan to combat the ter2 rorist threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and the 

3 Levant (ISIL) or other terrorist organizations; and 

4 (4) to help secure the border between Jordan 

5 and its neighbors Syria and Iraq. 

6 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that expeditious consider8 ation of certifications of letters of offer to sell defense arti9 cles, defense services, design and construction services, 

10 and major defense equipment to the Hashemite Kingdom 

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

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

13 States security and foreign policy interests and the objec14 tives of world peace and security. 

15 SEC. 5. ENHANCED DEFENSE COOPERATION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—During the 3-year period begin17 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

18 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan shall be treated as if it 

19 were a country listed in the provisions of law described 

20 in subsection (b) for purposes of applying and admin21 istering such provisions of law. 

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

23 of law described in this subsection are— 


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•S 1789 RS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8 2776); 

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

10 2796a(c)(1)); and 

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

12 SEC. 6. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING. 

13 Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Sec14 retary of State is authorized to enter into a memorandum 

15 of understanding with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 

16 to increase economic support funds, military cooperation, 

17 including joint military exercises, personnel exchanges, 

18 support for international peacekeeping missions, and en19 hanced strategic dialogue. 


srobinson on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 281 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1789 

A BILL 

To improve defense cooperation between the United 

States and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. 

OCTOBER 27, 2015 

Reported without amendment 


srobinson on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS