II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1025 

To enhance the consideration of human rights in arms exports. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 29, 2023 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. KAINE, Mrs. MURRAY, and 

Mr. SCHATZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To enhance the consideration of human rights in arms 

exports. 

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 ‘‘Safeguarding Human 

5 Rights in Arms Exports Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘SAFE6 GUARD Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON CONTROL OF DEFENSE 

2 EXPORTS AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN 

3 RIGHTS. 

4 It is the policy of the United States that one of the 

5 purposes for controlling the export of defense articles and 

6 defense services to foreign countries is to prevent such ex7 ports from being used in violation of international humani8 tarian law or human rights, to require accountability for 

9 any such violations, and to ensure that the sale, export, 

10 or transfer of such articles and services serves to encour11 age governments of foreign countries to fully comply with 

12 international humanitarian law and observe human rights. 

13 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF ARMS SALES TO COUNTRIES COM14 MITTING GENOCIDE OR WAR CRIMES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—No sale, export, or transfer of de16 fense articles or defense services may occur to any country 

17 the government of which the Secretary of State determines 

18 has committed, or is committing, genocide or war crimes 

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

20 (b) EXCEPTION.—The restriction under subsection 

21 (a) shall not apply if the Secretary of State certifies to 

22 the appropriate congressional committees that— 

23 (1) the government has taken steps to bring to 

24 justice the persons directly or indirectly responsible 

25 for such acts through a credible, transparent, and 

26 effective judicial process; 


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1 (2) appropriate measures have been instituted 

2 to ensure that such acts will not recur; and 

3 (3) other appropriate compensation or appro4 priate compensatory measures have been or are 

5 being provided to the persons harmed by such acts. 

6 SEC. 4. MISUSE OF ARMS SALES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS 

7 ABUSES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall ensure that— 

9 (1) the sale, export, or transfer of any defense 

10 article or defense service to a foreign country or 

11 international organization shall be pursuant to an 

12 agreement that the government of such country or 

13 such international organization will not use such ar14 ticle or service in the commission, or to enable the 

15 commission, of a violation of international humani16 tarian law or international human rights law; 

17 (2) the United States Government has the legal 

18 right to require the return of any defense articles 

19 sold, exported, or transferred to a foreign country or 

20 international organization if the government of such 

21 country or such organization has used United 

22 States-origin defense articles in the commission, or 

23 has enabled the commission, of a violation of inter24 national humanitarian law or international human 

25 rights law; and 


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1 (3) if defense articles are sold, exported, or 

2 transferred to a foreign country in a manner in 

3 which the intended end-user has not been identified 

4 at the unit level for human rights vetting, the agree5 ment for such sale, export, or transfer includes a list 

6 of units ineligible to receive such articles, consistent 

7 with applicable provisions of United States law. 

8 (b) ELIGIBILITY FOR DEFENSE SERVICES OR ARTI9 CLES.— 

10 (1) ARMS EXPORT CONTROL ACT.—Section 3(a) 

11 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 

12 2753(a)) is amended— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and 

14 promote world peace’’ and inserting ‘‘, promote 

15 world peace, and is unlikely to contribute to 

16 human rights abuses’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

18 and inserting a semicolon; 

19 (C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

20 paragraph (5); and 

21 (D) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

22 following new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(4) the country or international organization 

24 has agreed not to use such article or service in the 

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1 tion of international humanitarian law or inter2 national human rights law; and’’. 

3 (2) FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961.—Sec4 tion 505of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

5 U.S.C. 2314(a)) is amended— 

6 (A) in subsection (a)— 

7 (i) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘; 

8 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

9 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

10 paragraph (5); and 

11 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (3) 

12 the following new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(4) the country or international organization 

14 has agreed not to use such articles or service in the 

15 commission, or to enable the commission, of a viola16 tion of international humanitarian law or inter17 national human rights law; and’’; and 

18 (B) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘sub19 section (a)(1) or (a)(4)’’ both places it appears 

20 and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1) or (a)(5)’’. 

21 (c) AUTHORIZED PURPOSE FOR MILITARY SALES.— 

22 Section 4 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 

23 2754) is amended— 

24 (1) by inserting ‘‘legitimate’’ before ‘‘internal 

25 security’’; and 


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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘, provided that such defense 

2 articles and defense services will not present a sig3 nificant risk of being used to violate international 

4 humanitarian law or international human rights 

5 law’’ after ‘‘such friendly countries’’. 

6 SEC. 5. CONSIDERATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOC7 RATIZATION IN ARMS EXPORTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—In considering the sale, export, or 

9 transfer of defense articles and defense services to foreign 

10 countries, the Secretary of State shall— 

11 (1) also consider the extent to which the gov12 ernment of the foreign country protects human 

13 rights and supports democratic institutions, includ14 ing an independent judiciary; and 

15 (2) ensure that the views and expertise of the 

16 Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of 

17 the Department of State in connection with any sale, 

18 export, or transfer are fully taken into account. 

19 (b) INSPECTOR GENERAL OVERSIGHT.—Not later 

20 than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

21 and annually thereafter for four years, the Inspector Gen22 eral of the Department of State shall submit to the appro23 priate congressional committees a report on the implemen24 tation of the requirement under subsection (a) during the 

25 preceding year. 


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1 SEC. 6. ENHANCEMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT 

2 OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ARMS EXPORTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any letter of offer to sell, or any 

4 application for a license to export or transfer, defense arti5 cles or defense services controlled for export shall be sub6 ject to the congressional review and disapproval require7 ments, regardless of monetary value, of section 36 of the 

8 Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776) if the Sec9 retary of State has credible information, with respect to 

10 a country to which the defense articles or defense services 

11 are proposed to be sold, exported, or transferred, that— 

12 (1) the government of such country on or after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act has been deposed 

14 by a coup d’etat or decree in which the military 

15 played a decisive role, and a democratically elected 

16 government has not taken office subsequent to the 

17 coup or decree; or 

18 (2) a unit of the security forces of the govern19 ment of such country— 

20 (A) has violated international humani21 tarian law and has not been credibly inves22 tigated and subjected to a credible and trans23 parent judicial process addressing such allega24 tion; or 

25 (B) has committed a gross violation of 

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1 tigated and subjected to a credible and trans2 parent judicial process addressing such allega3 tion, including, inter alia— 

4 (i) torture or rape; 

5 (ii) ethnic cleansing of civilians; 

6 (iii) recruitment or use of child sol7 diers; 

8 (iv) unjust or wrongful detention; 

9 (v) the operation of, or effective con10 trol or direction over, secret detention fa11 cilities; or 

12 (vi) extrajudicial killings, whether by 

13 military, police, or other security forces. 

14 (b) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION IN HUMAN RIGHTS

15 REPORT.—The Secretary of State shall also provide to the 

16 appropriate congressional committees the report described 

17 in section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act (22 

18 U.S.C. 2304(c)) biannually for the period of time specified 

19 in subsection (c) of this section regarding any country cov20 ered under subsection (a). 

21 (c) DURATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a letter of 

23 offer to sell or an application for a license to sell, 

24 export, or transfer described in subsection (a), the 

25 letter or application shall be subject to the requireVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Apr 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1025.IS S1025

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1 ments and procedures for congressional review and 

2 disapproval under section 36 of the Arms Export 

3 Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776) for 2 years after the 

4 date on which the Secretary of State receives the in5 formation described in subsection (a). 

6 (2) TERMINATION.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to such a 

8 letter or application, the enhanced congressional 

9 oversight under subsections (a) and paragraph 

10 (1) of this subsection shall terminate on the 

11 date on which the Secretary of State determines 

12 and so informs the appropriate congressional 

13 committees that— 

14 (i) the credible information described 

15 in subsection (a)(2) is inaccurate; or 

16 (ii) the activity has ceased, and the 

17 government of the applicable country has 

18 taken appropriate steps to ensure that 

19 such activity does not recur, including ap20 propriate punishment for the person or 

21 persons involved in such activity. 

22 (B) INFORMATION SUPPORTING DETER23 MINATION.—The Secretary of State shall sub24 mit to the appropriate congressional committees 

25 all information forming the basis for a deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Apr 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1025.IS S1025

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1 mination under subparagraph (A). The deter2 mination shall, to the fullest extent possible, be 

3 unclassified, but may include a classified annex. 

4 (d) MODIFICATION OF PRIOR NOTIFICATION OF

5 SHIPMENT OF ARMS.—Section 36(i) of the Arms Export 

6 Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776(i)) is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘subject to the requirements of subsection (b) at the joint 

8 request of the Chairman and Ranking Member’’ and in9 serting ‘‘subject to the requirements of this section at the 

10 request of the Chairman or Ranking Member’’. 

11 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON SALES TO SECURITY FORCES IN12 VOLVED IN GROSS VIOLATION OF HUMAN 

13 RIGHTS. 

14 Section 620M(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

15 1961 (23 U.S.C. 2378d(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘No 

16 assistance’’ and all that follows through ‘‘Arms Export 

17 Control Act’’ and inserting ‘‘No assistance, including the 

18 sale of defense articles or defense services, shall be fur19 nished under this Act, the Arms Export Control Act, or 

20 any other provision of law controlling the export or trans21 fer of such articles and services’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. END-USE MONITORING OF MISUSE OF ARMS IN 

2 HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES. 

3 (a) END-USE MONITORING.—Section 40A(a)(2)(B) 

4 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2785) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and insert7 ing a semicolon; 

8 (2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the 

9 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

11 clause: 

12 ‘‘(iii) such articles and services are 

13 not being used to violate international hu14 manitarian law or international human 

15 rights law.’’. 

16 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall report to the ap17 propriate congressional committees on the measures that 

18 will be taken, including any additional resources needed, 

19 to conduct an effective end-use monitoring program to ful20 fill the requirement of clause (iii) of section 40A(a)(2)(B) 

21 of the Arms Export Control Act, as added by subsection 

22 (a)(3). 

23 SEC. 9. HUMAN RIGHTS ELEMENTS IN AUXILIARY RE24 PORTS. 

25 Section 36(b)(1) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 

26 U.S.C. 2776(b)(1)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (O), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

2 and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (P), by striking the period 

4 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(Q) an assessment of the risk that such 

8 defense articles or defense services will be used 

9 in the commission of violations of international 

10 humanitarian law or international human rights 

11 law, and a description of any measures to be 

12 taken by the recipient government or by the 

13 United States to prevent and monitor any such 

14 use.’’. 

15 SEC. 10. REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN WEAPONS TO BE 

16 SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS AND END USE 

17 MONITORING AS FOREIGN MILITARY SALES. 

18 Beginning on the date that is 180 days after the date 

19 of the enactment of this Act, the following defense articles 

20 may be sold, exported, or transferred only pursuant to sec21 tion 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 

22 2776(b)): 

23 (1) Rockets, space launch vehicles, missiles, 

24 bombs (including equipment to enable precision 


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1 guidance), torpedoes, depth charges, mines, and gre2 nades. 

3 (2) Armored combat ground vehicles, including 

4 ground vehicles and trailers that are armed or are 

5 specially designed to be used as a firing or launch 

6 platform to deliver munitions or otherwise destroy or 

7 incapacitate targets, excluding any unarmed ground 

8 vehicles, regardless of origin or designation, manu9 factured prior to 1956 and unmodified since 1955. 

10 (3) Aircraft, whether manned, unmanned, re11 motely piloted, or optionally piloted, as follows: 

12 (A) Bombers. 

13 (B) Fighters, fighter/bombers, and fixed14 wing attack aircraft. 

15 (C) Turbofan- or turbojet-powered trainers 

16 used to train pilots for fighter, attack, or bomb17 er aircraft. 

18 (D) Attack helicopters. 

19 (E) Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) spe20 cially designed to incorporate a defense article. 

21 (F) Aircraft specially designed to incor22 porate a defense article for the purpose of per23 forming an intelligence, surveillance, and recon24 naissance function. 


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1 (G) Aircraft specially designed to incor2 porate a defense article for the purpose of per3 forming an electronic warfare function, airborne 

4 warning and control aircraft, or aircraft spe5 cially designed to incorporate a defense article 

6 for the purpose of performing a command, con7 trol, and communications function. 

8 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com11 mittees’’ means— 

12 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

13 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

14 Senate; and 

15 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

16 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

17 of Representatives. 

18 (2) The terms ‘‘defense article’’ and ‘‘defense 

19 service’’ have the same meanings given the terms in 

20 section 47 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 

21 U.S.C. 2794). 

Æ 


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