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[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2444 Engrossed in House (EH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 2444

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 
To authorize the Secretary of State to make direct loans under section 
       23 of the Arms Export Control Act, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Eastern European Security Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that it is in the national security 
interest of the United States to--
            (1) deter aggression against North Atlantic Treaty 
        Organization (NATO) allies by Russia or any other adversary;
            (2) assist NATO allies in acquiring and deploying modern, 
        NATO interoperable military equipment and reducing their 
        dependence on Russian or former Soviet-era defense articles;
            (3) ensure that NATO allies meet alliance defense 
        commitments, including through adequate investments in national 
        defense;
            (4) supplement existing grant assistance to key allies 
        through foreign military financing loans, at rates competitive 
        with those already available on commercial markets, to purchase 
        NATO-interoperable military equipment; and
            (5) work to maintain and strengthen the democratic 
        institutions and practices of all NATO allies, in accordance 
        with the goals of Article 2 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

SEC. 3. FOREIGN MILITARY LOAN AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--Beginning in fiscal year 2021, subject to the 
notification requirements under subsection (b) and to the availability 
of appropriations, the President, acting through the Secretary of 
State, is authorized--
            (1) to make direct loans under section 23 of the Arms 
        Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763) to NATO member countries 
        that joined the alliance after March 1, 1999, notwithstanding 
        the minimum interest rate required by subsection (c)(1) of such 
        section; and
            (2) to charge fees for such loans under paragraph (1), 
        which shall be collected from borrowers in accordance with 
        section 502(7) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and 
        which may be used to cover the costs of such loans as defined 
        in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    (b) Notification.--A loan may not be made under the authority 
provided by subsection (a) unless the Secretary of State submits to the 
appropriate congressional committees a certification, not fewer than 
fifteen days before entering into an agreement to make such loan, 
that--
            (1) the recipient country is making demonstrable progress 
        toward meeting its defense spending commitments in accordance 
        with the 2014 NATO Wales Summit Declaration; and
            (2) the government of such recipient country is respecting 
        that country's constitution and upholds democratic values such 
        as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the 
        press, the rule of law, and the rights of religious minorities.
    (c) Repayment.--A loan made under the authority provided by 
subsection (a) shall be repaid in not more than 12 years, but may 
include a grace period of up to 1 year on the repayment of the 
principal.
    (d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this Act, the 
term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the Senate.

            Passed the House of Representatives March 9, 2020.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
116th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 2444

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of State to make direct loans under section 
       23 of the Arms Export Control Act, and for other purposes.
```