II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2627 

To express the policy of the United States with respect to the adherence 

by the United States to global standards in the transfer of small arms 

and light weapons, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 8, 2004 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. AKAKA, and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To express the policy of the United States with respect 

to the adherence by the United States to global standards in the transfer of small arms and light weapons, 

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 ‘‘Security and Fair En5 forcement in Arms Trafficking Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 
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1 (1) The global proliferation of small arms and 

2 light weapons represents a real and pressing threat 

3 to peace, development, democracy, human rights, 

4 and United States national security interests around 

5 the globe. 

6 (2) The legitimate and responsible transfer of 

7 small arms and light weapons, and the application of 

8 international standards and legally binding instru9 ments to stem the illicit trade in these weapons, are 

10 important elements of United States foreign policy 

11 that enhance United States and international secu12 rity, strengthen United States alliances and partner13 ships, and promote global peace and freedom, and 

14 are critical to efforts to combat terrorism, narco15 trafficking, international organized crime, regional 

16 and local conflicts, and the recruitment and use of 

17 child soldiers in these conflicts. 

18 (3) It is in the national interest of the United 

19 States to promote responsibility and restraint in the 

20 transfer of small arms and light weapons, to combat 

21 irresponsible practices in such transfers, to ensure 

22 that nations engaged in substandard practices are 

23 held accountable, and to encourage other members 

24 of the international community to meet, as minimum 

25 standards, United States law and practice. 
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1 (4) In light of the cruel terror attacks on Wash2 ington, D.C., and New York City on September 11, 

3 2001, it is in the national interest of the United 

4 States to take all possible measures to prevent dan5 gerous weapons from falling into the wrong hands. 

6 Special emphasis should be placed on combating the 

7 proliferation of small arms and light weapons within 

8 the broader counterterrorism strategy, given the 

9 clear links between global networks of terrorism, 

10 networks of the illicit trade in small arms and light 

11 weapons, and states that harbor and support terror12 ists. 

13 (5) Small arms and light weapons are the weap14 ons of choice of terrorists and their networks. Be15 cause these groups take advantage of existing licit 

16 and illicit channels, an appropriate international re17 sponse must target the suppliers of these weapons 

18 and the brokers who facilitate illicit deals and must 

19 shut down the networks that allow this trade to con20 tinue. 

21 (6) United States military personnel, diplomats, 

22 and humanitarian workers, as well as those of the 

23 allies of the United States, are threatened by the 

24 easy availability of small arms and light weapons in 

25 conflict zones. 
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1 (7) The proliferation and ready availability of 

2 small arms and light weapons has been a major fac3 tor in the devastation in Angola, Cambodia, Liberia, 

4 Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the 

5 Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bosnia and 

6 Herzegovina, Kosovo, The Former Yugoslav Repub7 lic of Macedonia, Sri Lanka, East Timor, and Af8 ghanistan and the violence endemic to narco-traf9 ficking in Colombia, Mexico, Thailand, and 

10 Myanmar, and has contributed significantly to war 

11 crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in 

12 Cambodia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, East Timor, Bos13 nia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. 

14 (8) The case of Afghanistan, where the Taliban 

15 and the al Qaeda network were able to amass a 

16 small arms and light weapons arsenal from various 

17 actors in the regional and international illicit trade, 

18 including through links to the international drug 

19 trade, other regional terrorist groups, and donations 

20 from certain individuals in other countries in the re21 gion, and from support of the civil war in Afghani22 stan by various countries, clearly demonstrates how 

23 a country can become a threat to regional and even 

24 global peace and security if it is continuously flooded 
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1 by various actors with small arms and light weapons 

2 and if arms embargoes are systematically broken. 

3 (9) The proliferation of small arms and light 

4 weapons continues to threaten civilians and members 

5 of the Armed Forces of the United States in Iraq 

6 and Afghanistan, undermine stabilization and recon7 struction efforts Iraq and Afghanistan, and com8 plicate efforts to establish effective and viable gov9 ernments in those countries. 

10 (10) The United States and the international 

11 community took an important step toward pro12 moting global standards in the transfer of small 

13 arms and light weapons in completing in 2001 the 

14 Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and 

15 Trafficking in Firearms, their Parts and Compo16 nents, and Ammunition, supplementing the United 

17 Nations Convention Against Transnational Orga18 nized Crime. 

19 (11) The United States, as a major supplier 

20 country, has a special obligation to promote respon21 sible practices in the transfer of small arms and 

22 light weapons. 

23 (12) Because semiautomatic assault weapons 

24 and related equipment, the manufacture, transfer, or 

25 possession of which is unlawful under section 922 of 
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1 title 18, United States Code, are easily diverted to 

2 terrorist networks, the abstention by the United 

3 States from all transfers, for commercial use, of such 

4 weapons and equipment would assist efforts to limit 

5 the global proliferation of small arms and light weap6 ons. 

7 (13) To be successful in such efforts, it is nec8 essary for the United States to work with other 

9 countries to improve effective international stand10 ards. 

11 (14) The United Nations Conference on the Il12 licit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All 

13 Its Aspects, held in New York from July 9 to 20, 

14 2001, represented an opportunity to develop better 

15 national and international regulations to control the 

16 trade in illicit small arms and light weapons. How17 ever, the Program of Action did too little to advance 

18 international standards in the transfer of small arms 

19 and light weapons. 

20 (15) At the First Biennial Meeting of States to 

21 Consider the Implementation of the United Nations 

22 Programme of Action on the Illicit Trade in Small 

23 Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects in July 

24 2003, Assistant Secretary of State Lincoln P. 

25 Bloomfield offered a progress report on the imple-
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1 mentation by the United States of the United Na2 tions Programme of Action on the Illicit Trade in 

3 Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects 

4 and asserted that the United States has done much 

5 to implement the recommendations of the Pro6 gramme. Nonetheless, there is an urgent and press7 ing need for a greater United States commitment to 

8 eradicating the proliferation of small arms and light 

9 weapons. 

10 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL AGREE11 MENTS. 

12 It is the sense of Congress that, because of the inter13 est of the United States in combating international crime, 

14 preventing the diversion of small arms and light weapons 

15 to narco-traffickers, international organized criminal net16 works, terrorists, and recipients engaged in gross and con17 sistent violations of internationally recognized human 

18 rights and international humanitarian law, and promoting 

19 fairness in international trade, the United States should— 

20 (1) support the effort to negotiate a binding in21 strument on international small arms transfers, such 

22 as the global Arms Trade Treaty; and 

23 (2) enter into negotiations for international 

24 agreements on— 
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1 (A) the marking and tracing of small arms 

2 and light weapons; 

3 (B) regulations for the activities of arms 

4 brokers; 

5 (C) greater transparency in licensing and 

6 export of small arms and light weapons; and 

7 (D) the establishment of an international 

8 regime for the destruction of surplus weapons 

9 and the security of stockpiles. 

10 SEC. 4. DECLARATIONS OF POLICY. 

11 (a) AFFIRMATION OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

12 United States— 

13 (1) to maintain the highest standards for the 

14 management of, restraint in, and safety in the ex15 port of small arms and light weapons and the safety 

16 in the transfer abroad of small arms and light weap17 ons; 

18 (2) to refrain from exporting small arms and 

19 light weapons that might be used for internal repres20 sion or international aggression or contribute to re21 gional instability; and 

22 (3) to increase the number of end-use checks of 

23 United States transfers in small arms and light 

24 weapons and to improve the quality of end-use moni25 toring, particularly the cooperation between United 
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1 States missions abroad and the Office of Defense 

2 Trade Control. 

3 (b) CONTINUATION OF EXISTING POLICIES.—It is 

4 the policy of the United States— 

5 (1) under section 502B(a)(2) of the Foreign 

6 Assistance Act of 1961, not to provide security as7 sistance, including the transfer of small arms and 

8 light weapons, to any recipient that engages in a 

9 consistent pattern of gross violations of internation10 ally recognized human rights; 

11 (2) that, in an effort to protect the legitimate 

12 trade in small arms and light weapons, and to en13 sure United States laws are enforced, individuals 

14 subject to the jurisdiction of the United States en15 gaged in arms brokering activities register with the 

16 Department of State and obtain a license for each 

17 transaction; 

18 (3) to carry out rigorous end-use checks of 

19 transfers in small arms and light weapons in order 

20 to prevent illegal retransfers of United States small 

21 arms and light weapons; 

22 (4) not to authorize for export to commercial 

23 end-users semiautomatic assault weapons, or related 

24 equipment, the manufacture, transfer, or possession 
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1 of which is unlawful under section 922 of title 18, 

2 United States Code; and 

3 (5) to continue to observe the ‘‘Statement of 

4 Common Principles on Small Arms and Light Weap5 ons’’ agreed to by the United States and the Euro6 pean Union at the December 17, 1999, summit in 

7 Washington, D.C. 

8 SEC. 5. INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS. 

9 (a) ADHERENCE TO PROHIBITION ON EXPORTS.—It 

10 is the sense of Congress that the President should enter 

11 into negotiations with foreign parties, beginning with the 

12 European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization 

13 (NATO) member states, for an international agreement 

14 not to export to commercial end-users semiautomatic as15 sault weapons, or related equipment, the manufacture, 

16 transfer, or possession of which is unlawful under section 

17 922 of title 18, United States Code. 

18 (b) MARKING OF SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAP19 ONS.—It is the sense of Congress that the President 

20 should make best efforts to conclude an international 

21 agreement on the marking of small arms and light weap22 ons for international export as advocated by the Protocol 

23 Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in 

24 Firearms, Their Parts and Components, and Ammunition, 

25 supplementing the United Nations Convention Against 
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1 Transnational Organized Crime, adopted by United Na2 tions General Assembly resolution 55/255 on June 8, 

3 2001. 

4 (c) ENFORCEMENT OF UNITED NATIONS ARMS EM5 BARGOES.—It is the sense of Congress that the President 

6 should enter negotiations at the United Nations level in 

7 order to improve the enforcement of United Nations arms 

8 embargoes insofar as they relate to small arms and light 

9 weapons. The President should propose to the United Na10 tions Security Council the establishment of an arms em11 bargo monitoring unit at the United Nations headquarters 

12 in New York. 

13 (d) COMPREHENSIVE AGREEMENT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of Congress 

15 that the President should enter into negotiations on 

16 a legally binding international agreement or agree17 ments with foreign parties, beginning with the Euro18 pean Union, that would comprise the following ele19 ments: 

20 (A) The marking and tracing of small 

21 arms and light weapons. 

22 (B) Regulating the activities of arms bro23 kers, including an international register and 

24 watchlist of arms brokers. 
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1 (C) Greater transparency in the licensing 

2 and export of small arms and light weapons. 

3 (D) A prohibition against the transfer of 

4 small arms and light weapons to recipients en5 gaged in gross and consistent violations of 

6 internationally recognized human rights and 

7 international humanitarian law. 

8 (E) Establishment of an international re9 gime for the destruction of surplus weapons and 

10 the security of stockpiles. 

11 (2) PERIODIC REPORTS.—Not later than 180 

12 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and 

13 semiannually thereafter, the President shall submit 

14 an unclassified report to the appropriate congres15 sional committees describing the progress toward ne16 gotiating an agreement or agreements described in 

17 paragraph (1). 

18 (e) IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAM OF ACTION OF

19 UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of Congress 

21 that the President should make best efforts to ad22 vance international negotiations to implement the 

23 Program of Action of the 2001 United Nations Con24 ference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light 

25 Weapons in All Its Aspects, as well as to advance 
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1 and extend the goals of the Program of Action, in2 cluding— 

3 (A) establishing national regulations and 

4 international agreements on arms brokering; 

5 (B) establishing national regulations and 

6 international agreements on the marking and 

7 tracing of small arms and light weapons; 

8 (C) promoting greater security for weapons 

9 stockpiles held by states; 

10 (D) efforts to carry out more effective 

11 post-conflict disarmament and demobilization 

12 programs; 

13 (E) criminalizing the production, posses14 sion, stockpiling, and trade of illicit small arms 

15 and light weapons; and 

16 (F) advancing the role of civil society and 

17 nongovernmental institutions in addressing the 

18 proliferation of small arms and light weapons. 

19 (2) PERIODIC REPORTS.—Not later than 180 

20 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and not 

21 later than December 31 of every year thereafter 

22 through 2006, the President shall transmit to the 

23 appropriate congressional committees a report de24 scribing the activities undertaken, and the progress 

25 made, by the Department of State or other agencies 
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1 and entities of the United States Government in im2 plementing the goals of the Program of Action, in3 cluding specific steps taken to assist other countries 

4 in implementing the Program of Action. 

5 SEC. 6. NATO PROGRAMS. 

6 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con7 gress that the President should propose at the North At8 lantic Council— 

9 (1) the establishment among North Atlantic 

10 Treaty Organization (NATO) members of a program 

11 on stockpile management, security, and destruction 

12 of small arms and light weapons; and 

13 (2) the establishment of cooperative programs 

14 on stockpile management, security, and destruction 

15 of small arms and light weapons with non-NATO 

16 states of Central and Eastern Europe and the 

17 former Soviet Union. 

18 (b) REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, and semiannually there20 after, the President shall submit to the appropriate con21 gressional committees an unclassified report describing 

22 progress made toward the establishment of the programs 

23 referred to in subsection (a). 
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1 SEC. 7. INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION AGAINST THE IL2 LICIT MANUFACTURING OF AND TRAF3 FICKING IN FIREARMS, AMMUNITION, EXPLO4 SIVES, AND OTHER RELATED MATERIALS. 

5 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con6 gress that the Secretary of State should encourage those 

7 countries that have not done so to sign and ratify the 

8 Inter-American Convention Against Illicit Manufacturing 

9 of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunitions, Explosives, 

10 and Other Related Materials, adopted at Washington No11 vember 14, 1997, and entered into force July 1, 1998. 

12 (b) REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

14 the President shall submit to the appropriate congres15 sional committees a report describing— 

16 (1) the activities undertaken, and the progress 

17 made, by the Department of State or other agencies 

18 and entities of the United States Government in 

19 prompting other countries that have not done so to 

20 sign and ratify the Convention; 

21 (2) the implementation of, and compliance with, 

22 the provisions of the Convention by states that have 

23 signed and ratified the Convention; and 

24 (3) the recommendations made by the Consult25 ative Committee established under the Convention, 
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1 and any actions related to those recommendations 

2 taken by the United States. 

3 SEC. 8. ANNUAL REPORT ON STATES THAT HAVE NOT CO4 OPERATED IN SMALL ARMS PROGRAMS. 

5 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

6 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State 

7 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

8 a report— 

9 (1) listing each state that refuses to cooperate 

10 in programs related to small arms and light weap11 ons, including programs with respect to stockpile 

12 management, security, and destruction, and describ13 ing to what degree the failure to cooperate affects 

14 the national security of such state, its neighbors, 

15 and the United States; 

16 (2) describing the activities undertaken, and the 

17 progress made, by the Department of State or other 

18 agencies and entities of the United States Govern19 ment in prompting other states to cooperate in pro20 grams related to small arms and light weapons; and 

21 (3) recommending incentives and penalties that 

22 may be used by the United States Government to 

23 compel states to comply with programs on small 

24 arms and light weapons. 
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1 SEC. 9. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION ON CERTAIN EX2 PORT LICENSES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not less than 15 days before the 

4 grant of any license for export to any country described 

5 in subsection (b) of any lethal defense article or defense 

6 service consisting of small arms or light weapons in the 

7 amount of $1,000,000 or less, the President shall provide 

8 a detailed notification thereof to the Committees on Ap9 propriations and Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 

10 Committees on Appropriations and International Rela11 tions of the House of Representatives, including a state12 ment describing the purposes for which the article or serv13 ice is being provided to the country and stating whether 

14 or not such article or service has been previously provided 

15 to such country. 

16 (b) COVERED COUNTRIES.—A country described in 

17 this section is a country where there is a clear risk that 

18 the defense article or defense service will— 

19 (1) be used in a breach of peace or act of inter20 national aggression— 

21 (A) to commit gross violations of human 

22 rights; 

23 (B) to commit gross violations of inter24 national humanitarian law; or 

25 (C) to commit acts of genocide or crimes 

26 against humanity; or 
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1 (2) be diverted to commit any of the acts de2 scribed in paragraph (1). 

3 SEC. 10. REGISTRY OF SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS 

4 SERIAL NUMBERS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 38 of the Arms Export 

6 Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778) is amended by adding at 

7 the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(k) REGISTRY OF SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAP9 ONS SERIAL NUMBERS.—(1) The President shall require 

10 that, prior to the export of any firearm listed in category 

11 I of the United States Munition List that requires a li12 cense for international export under this section, the ex13 porter shall provide the President with written identifica14 tion of the serial number of the firearm to be exported. 

15 ‘‘(2) The President shall establish and maintain a 

16 registry of each serial number provided under paragraph 

17 (1).’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 subsection (a) shall apply to applications for licenses to 

20 export filed on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

21 SEC. 11. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION. 

22 Nothing in this Act— 

23 (1) interferes with the legitimate and lawful 

24 ownership and use of guns; or 
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1 (2) limits otherwise authorized activities of the 

2 United States Government. 

3 SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Relations 

8 of the Senate and the Committee on International 

9 Relations of the House of Representatives. 

10 (2) PRESIDENT.—The term ‘‘President’’ means 

11 the President, acting through the Secretary of State. 

12 (3) SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS.— 

13 (A) COVERED ITEMS.—Except as provided 

14 in subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘small arms and 

15 light weapons’’ means revolvers and self-loading 

16 pistols, rifles and carbines, submachine guns, 

17 assault rifles, light machine guns, heavy ma18 chine guns, hand-held underbarrel and mounted 

19 grenade launchers, portable antiaircraft guns, 

20 portable antitank guns, recoilless rifles, portable 

21 launchers of antitank missiles and rocket sys22 tems, portable launchers of antiaircraft missile 

23 systems, mortars of calibers of less than 100 

24 millimeter, ammunition and explosives, car25 tridges and rounds for small arms and light 
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1 weapons, mobile containers with missiles or 

2 shells for single-action antiaircraft and antitank 

3 systems, antipersonnel and antitank hand gre4 nades, landmines, and explosives. 

5 (B) EXCEPTION.—The term does not in6 clude any antique firearm manufactured before 

7 January 1, 1900, or any replica of such a fire8 arm. 

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