I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1801 

To enhance the consideration of human rights in arms exports. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 27, 2023 

Mr. MEEKS (for himself, Ms. WILD, Ms. SPANBERGER, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, and Mr. PHILLIPS) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 

Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 1801 IH

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 internationally recognized human rights, to 

9 require accountability for any such violations, and to en10 sure that the sale, export, or transfer of such articles and 

11 services serves to encourage governments of foreign coun12 tries to fully comply with international humanitarian law 

13 and observe internationally recognized human rights. 

14 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF ARMS SALES TO COUNTRIES COM15 MITTING GENOCIDE OR WAR CRIMES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—No sale, export, or transfer of de17 fense articles or defense services may occur to any country 

18 if the Secretary of State has credible information that the 

19 government of such country has committed or is commit20 ting genocide or violations of international humanitarian 

21 law after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 (b) EXCEPTION.—The restriction under subsection 

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

24 the appropriate congressional committees that— 

25 (1) the government has adequately punished the 

26 persons directly or indirectly responsible for such 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 1801 IH

1 acts through a credible, transparent, and effective 

2 judicial process; 

3 (2) appropriate measures have been instituted 

4 to ensure that such acts will not recur; and 

5 (3) other appropriate compensation or appro6 priate compensatory measures have been or are 

7 being provided to the persons harmed by such acts. 

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

9 ABUSES. 

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

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

12 article or defense service to a foreign country or 

13 international organization shall be pursuant to an 

14 agreement that the government of such country or 

15 such international organization will not use such ar16 ticle or service in the commission, or to enable the 

17 commission, of a violation of international humani18 tarian law or internationally recognized human 

19 rights; 

20 (2) the United States Government has the legal 

21 right to require the return of any defense articles 

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

23 international organization if the government of such 

24 country or such organization has used United 

25 States-origin defense articles in the commission, or 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 1801 IH

1 has enabled the commission, of a violation of inter2 national humanitarian law or internationally recog3 nized human rights; and 

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

5 transferred to a foreign country in a manner in 

6 which the intended end-user has not been identified 

7 at the unit level for human rights vetting, the agree8 ment for such sale, export, or transfer includes a list 

9 of units ineligible to receive such articles, consistent 

10 with applicable provisions of United States law. 

11 (b) ELIGIBILITY FOR DEFENSE SERVICES OR ARTI12 CLES.— 

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

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

15 2753(a)) is amended— 

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

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

18 world peace, and is unlikely to contribute to 

19 human rights abuses’’; 

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

21 and inserting a semicolon; 

22 (C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

23 paragraph (5); and 

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

25 following new paragraph: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 1801 IH

1 ‘‘(4) the country or international organization 

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

3 commission, or to enable the commission, of a viola4 tion of international humanitarian law or inter5 nationally recognized human rights; and’’. 

6 (2) FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961.—Sec7 tion 505 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

8 U.S.C. 2314(a)) is amended— 

9 (A) in subsection (a)— 

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

11 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

12 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

13 paragraph (5); and 

14 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (3) 

15 the following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(4) the country or international organization 

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

18 commission, or to enable the commission, of a viola19 tion of international humanitarian law or inter20 nationally recognized human rights; and’’; and 

21 (B) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘sub22 section (a)(1) or (a)(4)’’ both places it appears 

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


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 1801 IH

1 (c) AUTHORIZED PURPOSE FOR MILITARY SALES.— 

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

3 2754) is amended— 

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

5 security’’; and 

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

7 articles and defense services will not present a sig8 nificant risk of being used to violate international 

9 humanitarian law or internationally recognized 

10 human rights’’ after ‘‘such friendly countries’’. 

11 SEC. 5. CONSIDERATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOC12 RATIZATION IN ARMS EXPORTS. 

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

14 transfer of defense articles and defense services to foreign 

15 countries, the Secretary of State shall— 

16 (1) also consider the extent to which the gov17 ernment of the foreign country protects human 

18 rights and supports democratic institutions, includ19 ing an independent judiciary; and 

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

21 Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of 

22 the Department of State in connection with any sale, 

23 export, or transfer are fully taken into account. 

24 (b) INSPECTOR GENERAL OVERSIGHT.—Not later 

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


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•HR 1801 IH

1 and annually thereafter for four years, the Inspector Gen2 eral of the Department of State shall submit to the appro3 priate congressional committees a report on the implemen4 tation of the requirement under subsection (a) during the 

5 preceding year. 

6 SEC. 6. ENHANCEMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT 

7 OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ARMS EXPORTS. 

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

9 application for a license to export or transfer, defense arti10 cles or defense services controlled for export shall be sub11 ject to the congressional review and disapproval require12 ments, regardless of monetary value, of section 36 of the 

13 Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776) if the Sec14 retary of State has credible information, with respect to 

15 a country to which the defense articles or defense services 

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

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

18 the date of enactment of this Act has been deposed 

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

20 played a decisive role, and a democratically elected 

21 government has not taken office subsequent to the 

22 coup or decree; or 

23 (2) a unit of the security forces of the govern24 ment of such country— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•HR 1801 IH

1 (A) has violated international humani2 tarian law and has not been credibly inves3 tigated and subjected to a credible and trans4 parent judicial process addressing such allega5 tion; or 

6 (B) has committed a gross violation of 

7 human rights, and has not been credibly inves8 tigated and subjected to a credible and trans9 parent judicial process addressing such allega10 tion, including, inter alia— 

11 (i) torture or rape; 

12 (ii) ethnic cleansing of civilians; 

13 (iii) recruitment or use of child sol14 diers; 

15 (iv) unjust or wrongful detention; 

16 (v) the operation of, or effective con17 trol or direction over, secret detention fa18 cilities; or 

19 (vi) extrajudicial killings, whether by 

20 military, police, or other security forces. 

21 (b) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION IN HUMAN RIGHTS

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

23 appropriate congressional committees the report described 

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

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


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
9 

•HR 1801 IH

1 in subsection (c) of this section regarding any country cov2 ered under subsection (a). 

3 (c) DURATION.— 

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

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

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

7 letter or application shall be subject to the require8 ments and procedures for congressional review and 

9 disapproval under section 36 of the Arms Export 

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

11 date on which the Secretary of State receives the in12 formation described in subsection (a). 

13 (2) TERMINATION.— 

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

15 letter or application, the enhanced congressional 

16 oversight under subsections (a) and paragraph 

17 (1) of this subsection shall terminate on the 

18 date on which the Secretary of State determines 

19 and so informs the appropriate congressional 

20 committees that— 

21 (i) the credible information described 

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

23 (ii) the activity has ceased, and the 

24 government of the applicable country has 

25 taken appropriate steps to ensure that 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
10 

•HR 1801 IH

1 such activity does not recur, including ap2 propriate punishment for the person or 

3 persons involved in such activity. 

4 (B) INFORMATION SUPPORTING DETER5 MINATION.—The Secretary of State shall sub6 mit to the appropriate congressional committees 

7 all information forming the basis for a deter8 mination under subparagraph (A). The deter9 mination shall, to the fullest extent possible, be 

10 unclassified, but may include a classified annex. 

11 (d) MODIFICATION OF PRIOR NOTIFICATION OF

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

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

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

15 request of the Chairman and Ranking Member’’ and in16 serting ‘‘subject to the requirements of this section at the 

17 request of the Chairman or Ranking Member’’. 

18 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON SALES TO SECURITY FORCES IN19 VOLVED IN GROSS VIOLATION OF HUMAN 

20 RIGHTS. 

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

22 1961 (23 U.S.C. 2378d(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘No 

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

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

25 sale of defense articles or defense services, shall be furVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1801.IH H1801

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
11 

•HR 1801 IH

1 nished under this Act, the Arms Export Control Act, or 

2 any other provision of law controlling the export or trans3 fer of such articles and services’’. 

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

5 HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES. 

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

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

8 amended— 

9 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and insert10 ing a semicolon; 

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

12 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

14 clause: 

15 ‘‘(iii) such articles and services are 

16 not being used to violate international hu17 manitarian law or internationally recog18 nized human rights.’’. 

19 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall report to the ap20 propriate congressional committees on the measures that 

21 will be taken, including any additional resources needed, 

22 to conduct an effective end-use monitoring program to ful23 fill the requirement of clause (iii) of section 40A(a)(2)(B) 

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

25 (a)(3). 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
12 

•HR 1801 IH

1 SEC. 9. HUMAN RIGHTS ELEMENTS IN AUXILIARY RE2 PORTS. 

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

4 U.S.C. 2776(b)(1)) is amended— 

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

6 and inserting a semicolon; 

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

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

9 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub10 paragraph: 

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

12 defense articles or defense services will be used 

13 in the commission of violations of international 

14 humanitarian law or internationally recognized 

15 human rights, and a description of any meas16 ures to be taken by the recipient government or 

17 by the United States to prevent and monitor 

18 any such use.’’. 

19 SEC. 10. REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN WEAPONS TO BE 

20 SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS AND END-USE 

21 MONITORING AS FOREIGN MILITARY SALES. 

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

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

24 may be sold, exported, or transferred only pursuant to sec25 tion 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 

26 2776(b)): 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
13 

•HR 1801 IH

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

2 bombs (including equipment to enable precision 

3 guidance), torpedoes, depth charges, mines, and gre4 nades. 

5 (2) Armored combat ground vehicles, including 

6 ground vehicles and trailers that are armed or are 

7 specially designed to be used as a firing or launch 

8 platform to deliver munitions or otherwise destroy or 

9 incapacitate targets, excluding any unarmed ground 

10 vehicles, regardless of origin or designation, manu11 factured prior to 1956 and unmodified since 1955. 

12 (3) Aircraft, whether manned, unmanned, re13 motely piloted, or optionally piloted, as follows: 

14 (A) Bombers. 

15 (B) Fighters, fighter/bombers, and fixed16 wing attack aircraft. 

17 (C) Turbofan- or turbojet-powered trainers 

18 used to train pilots for fighter, attack, or bomb19 er aircraft. 

20 (D) Attack helicopters. 

21 (E) Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) spe22 cially designed to incorporate a defense article. 

23 (F) Aircraft specially designed to incor24 porate a defense article for the purpose of perVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1801.IH H1801

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
14 

•HR 1801 IH

1 forming an intelligence, surveillance, and recon2 naissance function. 

3 (G) Aircraft specially designed to incor4 porate a defense article for the purpose of per5 forming an electronic warfare function, airborne 

6 warning and control aircraft, or aircraft spe7 cially designed to incorporate a defense article 

8 for the purpose of performing a command, con9 trol, and communications function. 

10 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com13 mittees’’ means— 

14 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

15 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

16 Senate; and 

17 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

18 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

19 of Representatives. 

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

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

22 section 47 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 

23 U.S.C. 2794). 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB