I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6618 

To require the transfer of regulatory control of certain munitions exports 

from the Department of Commerce to the Department of State, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 6, 2023 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. GOLDMAN

of New York, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ, Ms. TITUS, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. OMAR, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, and Mr. MAGAZINER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the transfer of regulatory control of certain munitions exports from the Department of Commerce to the 

Department of State, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Americas Regional 

5 Monitoring of Arms Sales Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘ARMAS 

6 Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Violence in Mexico, Central America, and 

4 the Caribbean is exacerbated by firearms originating 

5 in the United States. 

6 (2) While firearms are trafficked to Mexico 

7 from a variety of countries, firearms originating in 

8 the United States account for 70 percent of the fire9 arms recovered and traced from crimes in Mexico, 

10 according to the 2021 Government Accountability 

11 Office (GAO) report published by the Comptroller 

12 General of the United States titled ‘‘Firearms Traf13 ficking: U.S. Efforts to Disrupt Gun Smuggling into 

14 Mexico Would Benefit from Additional Data and 

15 Analysis’’. 

16 (3) United States-origin firearm flows con17 tribute to human rights violations, organized crime 

18 and gang violence, extrajudicial killings, high homi19 cide rates, domestic violence, and femicides in Mex20 ico, Central America, and the Caribbean. 

21 (4) Firearms trafficking from the United States 

22 and firearm violence are key drivers of immigration 

23 and asylum claims from Central America. 

24 (5) According to the United Nations Regional 

25 Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in 

26 Latin America and the Caribbean, firearms are used 


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1 in 70 percent of homicides in the Caribbean com2 pared to 30 percent globally, and while the Carib3 bean constitutes less than one percent of the global 

4 population, it is responsible for 23 percent of all re5 corded homicides. 

6 (6) In an August 2022 press conference, United 

7 States officials of Homeland Security Investigations 

8 reported a ‘‘marked uptick in the number of weap9 ons’’, and an increase in the caliber and type of 

10 weapons, being illegally trafficked to Haiti and the 

11 rest of the Caribbean. 

12 (7) The Caribbean Basin Security Initiative of 

13 the Department of State that commenced in 2009 is 

14 the regional foreign assistance program of the 

15 United States that seeks to reduce illicit trafficking 

16 in the Caribbean region and advance public safety 

17 and security. The program includes improving the 

18 capacity of Caribbean countries to intercept smug19 gled weapons at airports and seaports, as well as 

20 support for forensic ballistics and firearms destruc21 tion and stockpile management. Assistance under 

22 the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative has also in23 cluded support for regional organizations, includ24 ing— 


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1 (A) the Caribbean Community Implemen2 tation Agency for Crime and Security 

3 (CARICOM IMPACS), based in Trinidad and 

4 Tobago, the lead agency involved in the issue of 

5 illicit firearms trafficking and increasing the ca6 pacity of member states to detect and prevent 

7 firearms trafficking; and 

8 (B) the Eastern Caribbean’s Regional Se9 curity System, based in Barbados. 

10 (8) Two GAO reports (published in 2021 and 

11 2022, respectively) on firearms trafficking have af12 firmed that firearms trafficking to Mexico and Cen13 tral America continues to represent a security con14 cern to the United States, as United States-origin 

15 firearms are diverted from legitimate owners and 

16 end up in the hands of violent criminals, including 

17 drug traffickers and other transnational criminal or18 ganizations. A GAO report on the effect of firearms 

19 trafficking in the Caribbean has not yet been com20 piled. 

21 (9) In these reports, the Comptroller General 

22 found that Federal departments and agencies lacked 

23 information and analysis of the firearms trafficking 

24 networks in Mexico and Central America, that few 

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1 gion focused on firearms trafficking, and that, as a 

2 result, such agencies lack a detailed understanding 

3 of the firearms trafficking that fuels violence and 

4 enables criminals in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, 

5 Honduras, and Mexico. 

6 (10) Firearms used to kidnap and kill a group 

7 of United States citizens traveling in Matamoros, 

8 Mexico were illegally smuggled from the United 

9 States into Mexico. The suspect in these killings ad10 mitted to federal agents that he purchased firearms 

11 in the United States, smuggled them across the bor12 der, and knowingly provided them to members of the 

13 Gulf Cartel. 

14 (11) As the incident specified in paragraph (11) 

15 demonstrates, United States-sourced firearms are 

16 being smuggled and diverted to cartels implicated in 

17 the supply and flow of illegal fentanyl and other 

18 dangerous drugs, threatening the public health and 

19 safety of United States citizens. 

20 (12) In the 2022 GAO report ‘‘Firearms Traf21 ficking: More Information Needed to Inform U.S. 

22 Efforts in Central America’’, the Comptroller Gen23 eral found that efforts of the United States Govern24 ment focused on firearms trafficking in Belize, El 

25 Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras lacked informaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Dec 19, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6618.IH H6618

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1 tion about relevant country conditions and perform2 ance measures to ensure such efforts were designed 

3 and implemented to achieve the intended objectives 

4 and, as a result, the Comptroller General rec5 ommended that the Secretary of State obtain infor6 mation about the conditions in such countries, to 

7 support the development of effective programs to re8 duce the availability of illicit firearms. 

9 (13) Data on firearms trafficking is limited and 

10 to understand the problem, data compilation is cru11 cial. 

12 (14) As of the date of the publication of the re13 port specified in paragraph (12), the Secretary of 

14 Commerce had not assigned any agents to Central 

15 America on permanent assignment. 

16 (15) In 2021 and 2022, the annual Country 

17 Reports on Human Rights Practices of the Depart18 ment of State included ‘‘unlawful and arbitrary 

19 killings’’ as a significant human rights issue in Gua20 temala, yet despite such inclusion, the Under Sec21 retary of Commerce for Industry and Security has 

22 authorized approximately 99,270 firearms exports to 

23 Guatemala since assuming responsibility for firearms 

24 licensing in 2020. 


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1 (16) When firearms were controlled under the 

2 United States Munitions List and the licensing of 

3 firearms was the responsibility of the Secretary of 

4 State, the average number of firearms licensed for 

5 export to Guatemala was approximately 4,000 per 

6 year. 

7 (17) The current number of exports specified in 

8 paragraph (15) represents an extraordinary increase 

9 (as much as 25 times the average) from the number 

10 specified in paragraph (16), and the Under Sec11 retary of Commerce for Industry and Security has 

12 only been able to conduct a very limited number of 

13 end-use checks, according to the 2022 GAO report 

14 ‘‘Firearms Trafficking: More Information Needed to 

15 Inform U.S. Efforts in Central America’’. 

16 (18) Since the Department of Commerce gained 

17 jurisdiction over the control of firearm export licens18 ing, there has been a 30 percent increase in firearm 

19 exports in comparison to averages for such exports 

20 when the control of such exports was under the ju21 risdiction of the Department of State. The Secretary 

22 of Commerce has also approved 95 percent of license 

23 applications for such exports. 

24 (19) According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 

25 Mexico, Guatemala, and Brazil have been among the 


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1 top 10 destinations for United States-manufactured 

2 semiautomatic firearm exports. 

3 (20) The proposed security cooperation plan ti4 tled ‘‘U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Secu5 rity, Public Heath, and Safe Communities’’ and 

6 other new initiatives to address root causes of mi7 gration from Central America offers an opportunity 

8 to reaffirm commitments and strengthen cooperation 

9 on addressing firearms trafficking. 

10 (21) Recent high-level conversations between 

11 the United States and Mexico, including on the bi12 centennial framework specified in paragraph (18), 

13 have identified opportunities of cooperation on anti14 firearm trafficking efforts between the Attorney 

15 General, the Secretary of State, the Director of the 

16 Executive Office for United States Attorneys, and 

17 the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

18 Firearms and Explosives. 

19 (22) The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act 

20 (Public Law 117–159), which was enacted into law 

21 on June 25, 2022, implemented key efforts to ad22 dress firearm trafficking, including by establishing a 

23 Federal criminal offense for firearm trafficking and 

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1 cohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to interdict 

2 firearms. 

3 (23) A growing number of firearms exported by 

4 United States manufacturers are found involved in 

5 violent crimes worldwide. For instance, the pistol 

6 used in a mass shooting of 23 children and two 

7 teachers in Thailand in October 2022 was linked to 

8 a United States factory. 

9 SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF REGULATORY CONTROL OF CERTAIN 

10 MUNITIONS EXPORTS FROM DEPARTMENT 

11 OF COMMERCE TO DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 

12 (a) TRANSFER.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act— 

14 (1) the Secretary of Commerce shall transfer 

15 the control over the export of each previously cov16 ered item to the jurisdiction of the Department of 

17 State; and 

18 (2) following such transfer, the Secretary of 

19 State may not transfer the control over the export 

20 of any covered munition to the jurisdiction of the 

21 Department of Commerce. 

22 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of State and the 

23 Secretary of Commerce shall prescribe such regulations as 

24 may be necessary to implement this section by the date 

25 specified in subsection (a). 


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1 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion shall be construed as limiting any authority relating 

3 to the designation, control, or removal of items under the 

4 United States Munitions List or the Commerce Control 

5 List, other than the specific authority to transfer the con6 trol of an item as specified in subsection (a). 

7 (d) PROHIBITION ON PROMOTION OF CERTAIN MUNI8 TIONS EXPORTS BY DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.—The 

9 Secretary of Commerce may not take any actions to pro10 mote the export of any previously covered item, including 

11 actions before, on, or after the date on which the Secretary 

12 transfers the control over the export of the previously cov13 ered item to the jurisdiction of the Department State 

14 under subsection (a). 

15 SEC. 4. REPORTS AND STRATEGY ON DISRUPTION OF ILLE16 GAL EXPORT AND TRAFFICKING OF FIRE17 ARMS TO MEXICO AND CERTAIN CENTRAL 

18 AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES. 

19 (a) REPORT.— 

20 (1) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 180 days 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec22 retary of State (in consultation with the Secretary of 

23 Commerce, the Attorney General, the Director of the 

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1 ments or agencies as the Secretary of State may de2 termine relevant) shall submit to the appropriate 

3 congressional committees a report on the efforts of 

4 the Secretary of State and the heads of other rel5 evant Federal departments and agencies to disrupt 

6 the following: 

7 (A) The illegal export or diversion of fire8 arms from the United States to unauthorized 

9 recipients in countries designated as covered 

10 countries under section 5 (including through 

11 unauthorized third-party transfers). 

12 (B) The illegal trafficking of firearms ob13 tained in the United States to recipients in such 

14 countries. 

15 (2) MATTERS.—The report under paragraph 

16 (1) shall include, with respect to the efforts specified 

17 in such paragraph, the following: 

18 (A) An identification of any such efforts, 

19 including efforts to accomplish the following ob20 jectives: 

21 (i) Tracking and verifying information 

22 regarding the end-users of firearms so ex23 ported, including by entering into data24 sharing agreements— 


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1 (I) with appropriate counterparts 

2 from the governments of such covered 

3 countries; and 

4 (II) between the relevant depart5 ments and agencies of the United 

6 States Government. 

7 (ii) Ensuring the destruction of sur8 plus firearms so exported. 

9 (iii) Ensuring that firearms so ex10 ported are not used to commit extrajudicial 

11 killings or other gross violations of inter12 nationally recognized human rights. 

13 (iv) Building the capacity of such cov14 ered countries to prevent the trafficking of 

15 firearms so exported, including through 

16 current programs supported or imple17 mented by the United States Government. 

18 (v) Tracking and verifying informa19 tion regarding the end-users of firearms 

20 obtained in the United States and illegally 

21 trafficked to such covered countries. 

22 (vi) Combating all forms of cross-bor23 der smuggling of firearms from the United 

24 States, including via maritime vessels and 

25 aircraft. 


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1 (vii) Engaging with subnational gov2 ernment officials in such covered countries 

3 to effectively implement and enforce agree4 ments relating to the trafficking of fire5 arms that have been concluded between the 

6 United States Government and the na7 tional government of the respective covered 

8 country. 

9 (viii) Identifying the origin of traf10 ficked firearms, including through the se11 rial numbers of trafficked firearms, and 

12 sharing such information with relevant law 

13 enforcement agencies of— 

14 (I) the United States; 

15 (II) the respective covered coun16 try; and 

17 (III) any other country deter18 mined relevant for purposes of such 

19 information sharing. 

20 (ix) Implementing the proposed secu21 rity cooperation plan titled ‘‘U.S.-Mexico 

22 Bicentennial Framework for Security, Pub23 lic Heath, and Safe Communities’’, and 

24 any successor or subsequent bilateral 

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1 ficking, transnational organizations, or 

2 fentanyl. 

3 (x) Cooperating with other relevant 

4 Federal departments and agencies, includ5 ing the Attorney General, the Secretary of 

6 Homeland Security, and the Director of 

7 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, 

8 and Explosives, to combat firearms traf9 ficking and prosecute illegal firearm smug10 glers. 

11 (B) An assessment of the results of the ef12 forts identified pursuant to subparagraph (A). 

13 (C) A description of how homicides, 

14 extrajudicial killings, and other gross violations 

15 of internationally recognized human rights com16 mitted in such covered countries using firearms 

17 exported from or obtained in the United States 

18 have been investigated. 

19 (b) INTER-AGENCY STRATEGY.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in 

21 consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, taking 

22 into account the findings of the report under sub23 section (a), shall jointly develop an inter-agency 

24 strategy for the disruption of the trafficking of fire25 arms exported from the United States to recipients 


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1 in countries designated as covered countries under 

2 section 5. 

3 (2) ELEMENTS.—The strategy under paragraph 

4 (1) shall include the following: 

5 (A) A plan for the United States to accom6 plish each of the objectives specified in sub7 section (a)(2)(A). 

8 (B) An identification of specific perform9 ance measures, targets (including the baselines 

10 for such targets), and timelines with respect to 

11 such objectives. 

12 (C) An estimate of the resources and per13 sonnel necessary to carry out the strategy. 

14 (D) A plan for cooperation between the 

15 Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, 

16 and the heads of any other Federal depart17 ments or agencies involved in anti-firearm traf18 ficking efforts, including the Attorney General, 

19 the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the 

20 Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

21 Firearms, and Explosives. 

22 (E) A plan for coordination between the 

23 Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, 

24 and such heads regarding efforts in countries 

25 designated as covered countries under section 5 


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1 to combat the trafficking of United States2 sourced firearms— 

3 (i) from the United States to such 

4 designated countries; and 

5 (ii) from such designated countries to 

6 other countries in the surrounding region. 

7 (3) REQUIRED CONSIDERATIONS; CONSULTA8 TIONS.—In developing the strategy under paragraph 

9 (1), the Secretary of State shall— 

10 (A) consider how the strategy may support 

11 or otherwise align with broader efforts of the 

12 Secretary of State relating to security assist13 ance, anti-corruption, and the prevention of or14 ganized crime and drug and gang violence; 

15 (B) consider whether the placement in the 

16 Western Hemisphere of an export control offi17 cer of the Bureau of Industry and Security of 

18 the Department of Commerce, or other per19 sonnel of the Department of Commerce or the 

20 Department of State, would support the strat21 egy; and 

22 (C) seek to consult with appropriate coun23 terparts from the government of each country 

24 designated as a covered country under section 

25 5. 


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1 (4) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

2 January 1 of the year following the date of the en3 actment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall sub4 mit to the appropriate congressional committees the 

5 strategy under paragraph (1). 

6 (c) IMPROVED TRACKING OF TRAFFICKED FIRE7 ARMS.— 

8 (1) ASSESSMENT OF DATA AVAILABILITY.—Not 

9 later than 180 days after the date on which a coun10 try is designated (or the deemed to be designated, 

11 as the case may be), under section 5, the Secretary 

12 of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Com13 merce, the Attorney General, the Director of the Bu14 reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, 

15 and the heads of such other Federal departments or 

16 agencies as the Secretary of State may determine 

17 relevant, shall conduct and submit to the Committee 

18 on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

19 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen20 ate an assessment of the extent to which the law en21 forcement agencies of that designated country make 

22 available to the United States Government forensic 

23 information of trafficked firearms. 

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1 ignated as a covered country under section 5, the 

2 Secretary of State shall— 

3 (A) seek to engage with the foreign coun4 terparts of the government of such country to 

5 improve the collection and sharing of the foren6 sic information of trafficked firearms con7 fiscated by the law enforcement agencies of 

8 such country; and 

9 (B) promptly provide any such forensic in10 formation shared pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

11 to the relevant Federal, State, and local law en12 forcement agencies for purposes of use in crimi13 nal or civil investigations into violations of rel14 evant United States Federal laws, including the 

15 Arms Export Control Act. 

16 (3) FORENSIC INFORMATION DEFINED.—In this 

17 subsection, the term ‘‘forensic information’’, with re18 spect to a trafficked firearm, includes— 

19 (A) the serial number of the firearm; and 

20 (B) any other information that may be 

21 used to identify the origin of the firearm or any 

22 person or organization involved in the traf23 ficking of the firearm. 

24 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.— 


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1 (1) SUBMISSION.—Not later than one year after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

3 thereafter, the Secretary or Secretaries concerned 

4 (in consultation with the heads of such other Fed5 eral departments or agencies as the Secretary or 

6 Secretaries concerned may determine relevant) shall 

7 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

8 a report on the export of covered munitions to coun9 tries designated as covered countries under section 

10 5. 

11 (2) MATTERS.—Each report under paragraph 

12 (1) shall include, with respect to the year for which 

13 the report is submitted, the following information 

14 (disaggregated by country): 

15 (A) Information regarding license applica16 tions approved or denied, and previously issued 

17 licenses modified or revoked, for the export of 

18 covered munitions to proposed recipients in cov19 ered countries. 

20 (B) Information regarding how evolving 

21 country contexts, including with respect to de22 velopments in human rights, affected the ap23 proval of license applications for such exports. 


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1 (C) The number of licenses issued for the 

2 export of covered munitions to proposed recipi3 ents in covered countries. 

4 (D) The number of covered munitions ex5 ported to recipients in covered countries. 

6 (E) With respect to end-user checks for 

7 covered munitions exported to recipients in cov8 ered countries under section 38(g)(7) of the 

9 Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 

10 2778(g)(7)) (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Blue 

11 Lantern’’ program), the monitoring program es12 tablished under the second section 40A of the 

13 Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2785) (as 

14 added by section 150(a) of Public Law 104– 

15 164), or other applicable programs of the De16 partment of Commerce or Department of State, 

17 the following information: 

18 (i) The number of such end-user 

19 checks requested. 

20 (ii) The number of such end-user 

21 checks conducted. 

22 (iii) The type of such end-user checks 

23 conducted. 

24 (iv) The results of such end-user 

25 checks conducted. 


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1 (F) Information on the extent to which the 

2 heads of the governments of covered countries 

3 shared with the Secretary or Secretaries con4 cerned and the heads of other relevant Federal 

5 departments and agencies (such as the Bureau 

6 of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) 

7 data relating to the receipt and end-use of cov8 ered munitions exported from the United 

9 States, and the type of data so shared. 

10 (G) For each covered country, a descrip11 tion of the United States funding and resources 

12 allocated for the purpose of disrupting traf13 ficking of covered munitions. 

14 (3) SECRETARY OR SECRETARIES CONCERNED

15 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘Secretary 

16 or Secretaries concerned’’ means— 

17 (A) if a single Federal department or 

18 agency has jurisdiction over the export control 

19 of covered munitions, the Secretary of that 

20 Federal department or agency; or 

21 (B) if multiple Federal departments or 

22 agencies have jurisdiction over the export con23 trol of covered munitions, each Secretary of 

24 such a Federal department or agency. 


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1 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF COVERED COUNTRIES. 

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

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 

4 shall designate each country that the Secretary determines 

5 meets the requirements under subsection (b) as a covered 

6 country for purposes of this Act. 

7 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—A country meets the require8 ments under this subsection if the country— 

9 (1) is located in North America, South Amer10 ica, or the Caribbean; 

11 (2) is not a member state of the North Atlantic 

12 Treaty Organization; and 

13 (3) meets such other requirements as the Sec14 retary may determine appropriate. 

15 (c) INITIAL DESIGNATIONS.—The Bahamas, Belize, 

16 Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, 

17 Mexico, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago— 

18 (1) shall be deemed to have been so designated 

19 by the Secretary of State as of the date of the enact20 ment of this Act; and 

21 (2) shall continue to be deemed so designated 

22 for a five-year period, during which time the des23 ignation may not be terminated under subsection 

24 (d). 

25 (d) TERMINATION OF DESIGNATION.—Subject to 

26 subsection (c)(2), the Secretary of State may terminate 


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1 the designation of a country under this section only if, 

2 at least 180 days prior to such termination, the Secretary 

3 submits to the appropriate congressional committees a no4 tification of such termination. 

5 SEC. 6. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO 

6 CERTAIN MUNITIONS EXPORTS. 

7 (a) INITIAL CERTIFICATION; PROHIBITION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), no covered munition may be transferred 

10 to the government of a country designated as a cov11 ered country under section 5, or any other organiza12 tion, citizen, or resident of such covered country, 

13 until the Secretary of State submits to the appro14 priate congressional committees a certification that 

15 the program required under subsection (c) has been 

16 established. 

17 (2) WAIVER.—For the one-year period begin18 ning on the effective date of this section described 

19 in subsection (d), the Secretary of State may waive 

20 the certification requirement under paragraph (1) 

21 with respect to the transfer of a covered munition to 

22 the government of a country described in paragraph 

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1 tional security interest of the United States and in2 cludes a written justification with the certification. 

3 (b) REVIEW AND RECERTIFICATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

5 the date of the submission of the certification under 

6 subsection (a) for a country designated as a covered 

7 country under section 5, and annually thereafter 

8 until such time as the designation is terminated, the 

9 Secretary of State shall review, and submit to the 

10 appropriate congressional committees a recertifi11 cation of, such certification. 

12 (2) PROHIBITION.—If the Secretary of State is 

13 unable to recertify a covered country as required 

14 under paragraph (1), no covered munition may be 

15 transferred to the government of the covered coun16 try, or any other organization, citizen, or resident of 

17 such covered country, until the date on which the 

18 Secretary is able to so recertify. 

19 (c) PROGRAM.— 

20 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State 

21 shall establish and carry out a program under which 

22 the Secretary shall prohibit the retransfer of covered 

23 munitions transferred to countries designated as 

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1 istration and end-use monitoring of such covered 

2 munitions in accordance with the following require3 ments: 

4 (A) The maintenance of a detailed record 

5 of the origin, shipping, and distribution of cov6 ered munitions transferred to countries des7 ignated as covered countries under section 5. 

8 (B) The registration of the serial numbers 

9 of all covered munitions, to be provided to the 

10 governments of such covered countries and 

11 other organizations, citizens, and residents 

12 within such covered countries. 

13 (C) The conduct of a program for the end14 use monitoring of covered munitions transferred 

15 to the entities and individuals described in sub16 paragraph (B). 

17 (2) REVIEW OF DATABASE.—In prohibiting the 

18 retransfer of covered munitions without the consent 

19 of the United States pursuant to the program under 

20 paragraph (1), the Secretary of State, in consulta21 tion with the Secretary of Commerce, shall— 

22 (A) review the database of the Department 

23 of State that stores records relating to vetting 

24 conducted pursuant to section 620M of the 

25 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 


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1 2378d) or section 362 of title 10, United States 

2 Code, known as the ‘‘International Vetting and 

3 Security Tracking-cloud system’’ or ‘‘INVEST 

4 system’’ (or any successor database), for any 

5 such records relating to the prospective recipi6 ents of such retransfer; and 

7 (B) ensure that such consent is not grant8 ed for any such prospective recipient who the 

9 Secretary of State determines, taking into ac10 count the review under subparagraph (A), is 

11 credibly implicated in a gross violation of inter12 nationally recognized human rights. 

13 (3) DATA STORAGE AND SHARING.—In carrying 

14 out the program under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

15 of State shall— 

16 (A) ensure that any data received pursuant 

17 to such program is stored and maintained in a 

18 database of the Department of State; and 

19 (B) to the extent practicable, provide for 

20 the sharing of such data with the Secretary of 

21 Commerce and the heads of such other Federal 

22 departments or agencies as the Secretary of 

23 State may determine relevant. 

24 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

25 on the date that is 1 year after the date on which the 


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1 Secretary of Commerce completes the transfer of the con2 trol over the export of previously covered items to the ju3 risdiction of the Department of State under section 3(a). 

4 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON LICENSES AND OTHER AUTHORIZA5 TIONS FOR EXPORT OF CERTAIN ITEMS RE6 MOVED FROM THE COMMERCE CONTROL 

7 LIST AND INCLUDED ON THE UNITED STATES 

8 MUNITIONS LIST. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State may not 

10 grant a license or other authorization for the export of 

11 a previously covered item the control over the export of 

12 which the Secretary of Commerce has transferred to the 

13 jurisdiction of the Department of State under section 3(a) 

14 unless, before granting the license or other authorization, 

15 the Secretary submits to the chairman and ranking mem16 ber of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 

17 Representatives and the chairman and ranking member of 

18 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Senate a written 

19 certification with respect to such proposed export license 

20 or other authorization containing— 

21 (1) the name of the person applying for the li22 cense or other authorization; 

23 (2) the name of the person who is the proposed 

24 recipient of the export; 


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1 (3) the name of the country or international or2 ganization to which the export will be made; 

3 (4) a description of the items proposed to be ex4 ported; and 

5 (5) the value of the items proposed to be ex6 ported. 

7 (b) FORM.—A certification required under subsection 

8 (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, except that 

9 information regarding the dollar value and number of 

10 items proposed to be exported may be restricted from pub11 lic disclosure if such disclosure would be detrimental to 

12 the security of the United States. 

13 (c) DEADLINES.—A certification required under sub14 section (a) shall be submitted— 

15 (1) at least 15 calendar days before a proposed 

16 export license or other authorization is granted in 

17 the case of a transfer of items to a country which 

18 is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza19 tion or Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, 

20 Israel, or New Zealand, and 

21 (2) at least 30 calendar days before a proposed 

22 export license or other authorization is granted in 

23 the case of a transfer of items to any other country. 

24 (d) CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION OF DIS25 APPROVAL.—A proposed export license or other authorizaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Dec 19, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6618.IH H6618

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1 tion described in paragraph (1) of subsection (c) shall be2 come effective after the end of the 15-day period described 

3 in such paragraph, and a proposed export license or other 

4 authorization described in paragraph (2) of subsection (c) 

5 shall become effective after the end of the 30-day period 

6 specified in such paragraph, only if the Congress does not 

7 enact, within the applicable time period, a joint resolution 

8 prohibiting the export of the covered item for which the 

9 export license or other authorization was proposed. 

10 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT13 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com14 mittees’’ means— 

15 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

16 the House of Representatives; and 

17 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

18 and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

19 Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

20 (2) COVERED MUNITION.—The term ‘‘covered 

21 munition’’ means the following: 

22 (A) Any previously covered item. 

23 (B) Any item that, following the date of 

24 the enactment of this Act, is designated for 

25 control under Category I, II, or III of the 


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1 United States Munitions List pursuant to sec2 tion 38 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 

3 U.S.C. 2778) or otherwise subject to control 

4 under any such category. 

5 (3) PREVIOUSLY COVERED ITEM.—The term 

6 ‘‘previously covered item’’ means any item that— 

7 (A) as of March 8, 2020, was included in 

8 Category I, II, or III of the United States Mu9 nitions List; and 

10 (B) as of the date of the enactment of this 

11 Act, is included on the Commerce Control List. 

12 (4) FIREARM.—The term ‘‘firearm’’ includes 

13 covered munitions. 

14 (5) GROSS VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONALLY

15 RECOGNIZED HUMAN RIGHTS.—The term ‘‘gross vio16 lations of internationally recognized human rights’’ 

17 has the meaning given that term in section 502B(d) 

18 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

19 2304(d)). 

20 (6) SECURITY ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘secu21 rity assistance’’ includes— 

22 (A) the types of assistance specified in sec23 tion 502B(d)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act 

24 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304); and 


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1 (B) assistance furnished under an inter2 national security assistance program of the 

3 United States conducted under any other provi4 sion of law, including under the authorities 

5 under chapter 16 of title 10, United States 

6 Code. 

7 (7) UNITED STATES MUNITIONS LIST.—The 

8 term ‘‘United States Munitions List’’ means the list 

9 maintained pursuant to part 121 of title 22, Code 

10 of Federal Regulations. 

Æ 


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