I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2444 

To authorize the Secretary of State to make direct loans under section 

23 of the Arms Export Control Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 1, 2019 

Mr. MCCAUL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of State to make direct loans 

under section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act, 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 ‘‘Eastern European Se5 curity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that it is in the national 

8 security interest of the United States for member coun9 tries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 

10 that were formerly part of the Soviet Eastern Bloc— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 2444 IH

1 (1) to have modern and effective defense arti2 cles that are in use and easily integrated with those 

3 used by the United States and other NATO allies; 

4 and 

5 (2) not use or be dependent on Russian or 

6 former Soviet-era defense articles. 

7 SEC. 3. FOREIGN MILITARY LOAN AUTHORITY. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the notification re9 quirements under subsection (b), the President, acting 

10 through the Secretary of State, is authorized— 

11 (1) to make direct loans under section 23 of the 

12 Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763) to 

13 NATO countries that joined the alliance after March 

14 1, 1999, notwithstanding the minimum interest rate 

15 required by subsection (c)(1) of such section; and 

16 (2) to charge fees for such loans under para17 graph (1), which shall be collected from borrowers in 

18 accordance with section 502(7) of the Congressional 

19 Budget Act of 1974, and which may be used to 

20 cover the costs of such loans as defined in section 

21 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

22 (b) NOTIFICATION.—A loan may not be made under 

23 the authority provided by subsection (a) unless the Sec24 retary of State submits to the appropriate congressional 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 2444 IH

1 committees a certification, not fewer than fifteen days be2 fore entering into an agreement to make such loan, that— 

3 (1) the recipient country is making demon4 strable progress toward meeting its spending obliga5 tions in accordance with the 2014 NATO Wales 

6 Summit; and 

7 (2) the government of such recipient country is 

8 respecting that country’s constitution and upholds 

9 democratic values such as freedom of religion, free10 dom of speech, freedom of the press, the rule of law, 

11 and the rights of religious minorities. 

12 (c) REPAYMENT.—A loan made under the authority 

13 provided by subsection (a) shall be repaid in not more than 

14 12 years, but may include a grace period of up to one 

15 year on the repayment of the principal. 

16 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

17 DEFINED.—In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congres18 sional committees’’ means— 

19 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

20 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep21 resentatives; and 

22 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

23 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS