I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6601 

To provide for the prohibition on issuance of licenses authorizing exports 

of certain defense services to Saudi Arabia, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2022 

Mr. MALINOWSKI (for himself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. LIEU, Mr. MOULTON, 

Mr. ALLRED, Ms. PORTER, and Mr. CASTRO of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the prohibition on issuance of licenses authorizing exports of certain defense services to Saudi Arabia, 

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 ‘‘Saudi Arabia Legiti5 mate Self Defense Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that, for purposes of com8 pliance with and implementation of section 502 of the For9 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2302; relating to 


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1 utilization of defense articles) and section 4 of the Foreign 

2 Military Sales Act (22 U.S.C. 2754; relating to purposes 

3 for which military sales by the United States are author4 ized)— 

5 (1) officials from the Department of State and 

6 Department of Defense who oversee security co7 operation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have an 

8 obligation to be alert to and report to the Secretary 

9 of Defense and Secretary of State any indication 

10 that United States-origin defense articles are being 

11 used against anything other than legitimate military 

12 targets; and 

13 (2) the Department of State is responsible, 

14 under United States law and consistent with United 

15 States policy, for investigating such incidents of po16 tential misuse and imposing restrictions, as appro17 priate, on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in instances 

18 in which it is suspected of not utilizing United 

19 States-origin defense articles consistent with United 

20 States law. 

21 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

22 It shall be the policy of the United States that— 

23 (1) for purposes of compliance with section 502 

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

25 2302; relating to utilization of defense articles) and 


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1 section 4 of the Foreign Military Sales Act (22 

2 U.S.C. 2754; relating to purposes for which military 

3 sales by the United States are authorized), offensive 

4 strikes on Houthi (Ansar Allah) ground forces in 

5 Yemen by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Saudi 

6 Arabia do not constitute ‘‘legitimate self defense’’, 

7 ‘‘internal security’’, nor ‘‘preventing or hindering the 

8 proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or the 

9 means of delivering such weapons’’; and 

10 (2) consistent with section 3(g) of the Foreign 

11 Military Sales Act (22 U.S.C. 2753(g); relating to 

12 unauthorized use of articles), the United States re13 tains the right to verify credible reports that Saudi 

14 Air Force aircraft have been used for purposes other 

15 than those authorized under contract terms con16 sistent with the Arms Export Control Act. 

17 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of compliance with 

19 section 502 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

20 U.S.C. 2302; relating to utilization of defense articles) and 

21 section 4 of the Foreign Military Sales Act (22 U.S.C. 

22 2754; relating to purposes for which military sales by the 

23 United States are authorized), the Secretary of State 

24 shall, not later than 30 days after the date of the enactVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Feb 09, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6601.IH H6601

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1 ment of this Act, submit to the appropriate congressional 

2 committees a report that includes the following: 

3 (1) A description of strikes by the Saudi Air 

4 Force in Yemen, from 2015 to the present, that the 

5 United States Government considers ‘‘legitimate self 

6 defense’’, ‘‘internal security’’, and ‘‘preventing or 

7 hindering the proliferation of weapons of mass de8 struction or the means of delivering such weapons’’. 

9 (2) A description of strikes by Saudi Arabia in 

10 Yemen, from 2015 from present, that the intel11 ligence community assesses do not constitute ‘‘legiti12 mate self defense’’, ‘‘internal security’’, and ‘‘pre13 venting or hindering the proliferation of weapons of 

14 mass destruction or the means of delivering such 

15 weapons,’’ consistent with the statement of policy 

16 described in section 3. 

17 (3) A description of the investigations that the 

18 United States Government carried out relating to 

19 the strikes described in paragraph (2). 

20 (4) A description of any violations of the terms 

21 of sale for United States Munitions List-listed air22 craft to Saudi Arabia for purposes of compliance 

23 with 3(c)(2) of the Foreign Military Sales Act that 

24 the investigations described in paragraph (3) found. 


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1 (5) A copy of the Department of State’s stand2 ing guidance to all personnel, including those oper3 ating under Chief of Mission supervision at United 

4 States embassies, for reporting any indication that 

5 United States-origin defense articles are being used 

6 by Saudi Arabia in Yemen against anything other 

7 than legitimate military targets. 

8 (6) A copy of the Department of State’s proce9 dures for investigating and reporting to the Sec10 retary of State on the outcome of any investigations 

11 of any indication that United States-origin defense 

12 articles are being used by Saudi Arabia in Yemen 

13 against anything other than legitimate military tar14 gets. 

15 (7) A certification from the Secretary of State 

16 that the guidance described in paragraph (5) is 

17 being faithfully and consistently implemented by all 

18 Department of State personnel, as required by 

19 United States law and policy. 

20 (b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 

21 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 

22 a classified annex. 


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1 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON ISSUANCE OF LICENSES AUTHOR2 IZING EXPORTS OF CERTAIN DEFENSE SERV3 ICES TO SAUDI ARABIA. 

4 For the 2-year period beginning on the date of the 

5 enactment of this Act, the President may not issue any 

6 license, and shall suspend any license or other approval 

7 that was issued before such date of enactment, authorizing 

8 the export to the Government of Saudi Arabia of defense 

9 services related to the maintenance or servicing of United 

10 States-provided aircraft belonging to military units deter11 mined to have undertaken offensive airstrikes inside 

12 Yemen in the preceding year that are not related directly 

13 to preventing or degrading the ability of Houthi (Ansar 

14 Allah) forces to launch missile and unmanned aircraft 

15 strikes on the territory of Saudi Arabia or the United 

16 Arab Emirates. 

17 SEC. 6. QUARTERLY UPDATES ON END-USE MONITORING 

18 OF SAUDI ARABIA USE OF UNITED STATES19 ORIGIN WEAPONS IN YEMEN. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date of the en21 actment of this Act and until such a date as the Kingdom 

22 of Saudi Arabia is assessed by the intelligence community 

23 to no longer be conducting airstrikes in Yemen, the Sec24 retary of State, in coordination with the Director of Na25 tional Intelligence, shall submit quarterly reports to the 

26 relevant committees with the following information: 


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1 (1) A description of strikes by the Saudi Air 

2 Force in Yemen over the past three months that the 

3 United States Government considers ‘‘legitimate self 

4 defense’’, ‘‘internal security’’, and ‘‘preventing or 

5 hindering the proliferation of weapons of mass de6 struction or the means of delivering such weapons’’. 

7 (2) A description of strikes by Saudi Arabia in 

8 Yemen, over the past three months that the intel9 ligence community assesses do not constitute ‘‘legiti10 mate self defense’’, ‘‘internal security’’, and ‘‘pre11 venting or hindering the proliferation of weapons of 

12 mass destruction or the means of delivering such 

13 weapons,’’ consistent with the statement of policy 

14 described in section 3. 

15 (3) A description of the investigations that the 

16 United States Government carried out of the strikes 

17 described in paragraph (2). 

18 (4) A description of any violations of the terms 

19 of sale for United States Munitions List-listed air20 craft to Saudi Arabia for purposes of compliance 

21 with 3(c)(2) of the Foreign Military Sales Act that 

22 the investigations described in paragraph (3) found. 

23 (5) A certification from the Secretary of State 

24 that, consistent with United States law and policy— 


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1 (A) all Department of State personnel are 

2 implementing faithfully and consistently their 

3 obligations under United States law and policy 

4 to be alert to and report to the Secretary of 

5 State any indication that United States-origin 

6 defense articles are being used against anything 

7 other than legitimate military targets in Yemen; 

8 and 

9 (B) the Department of State is inves10 tigating any indications that United States-ori11 gin defense articles are not being used against 

12 anything other than legitimate military targets 

13 in Yemen and taking necessary corrective ac14 tions to ensure compliance with United States 

15 law and policy. 

16 (b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 

17 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 

18 a classified annex. 

19 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT22 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’’ means— 

24 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

25 Committee on Armed Services, and the PermaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Feb 09, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6601.IH H6601

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1 nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

2 House of Representatives; and 

3 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

4 the Committee on Armed Services, and the Se5 lect Committee on Intelligence of the Senate. 

6 (2) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 

7 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given 

8 that term in section 3 of the National Security Act 

9 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003). 

Æ 


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