I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 259

To require that the President negotiate with Japan an agreement whereby

Japan reimburses the United States for a portion of the costs the

United States incurs in providing a military defense of Japan.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. NEAL of North Carolina introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

A BILL

To require that the President negotiate with Japan an agreement whereby Japan reimburses the United States for

a portion of the costs the United States incurs in providing a military defense of Japan.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds the following:

5 (1) Japan has prospered greatly under the se6 curity umbrella provided by the United States and

7 has risen from the devastation of World War II to
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1 become an economic superpower with the third larg2 est gross national product in the world.

3 (2) The security of Asia and the free world is

4 critical to the continued prosperity of Japan.

5 (3) Japan contributes proportionately less to its

6 defense than any other major industrialized nation.

7 (4) Constitutional, political, and psychological

8 constraints limit the extent to which Japan can in9 crease its own defense program.

10 (5) Japan enjoyed a $43,500,000,000 balance

11 of trade surplus with the United States in 1991.

12 (6) The United States taxpayer cannot be ex13 pected to shoulder indefinitely a disproportionate

14 share of the burden of defending Japan and the free

15 world.

16 (7) The current inequitable financial commit17 ment made by Japan to its defense and that of the

18 free world threatens to undermine its relations with

19 the United States.

20 (8) Continued good relations between the

21 United States and Japan are mutually beneficial and

22 critical to the security and economic well-being of

23 the free world.
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1 (9) It would be unwise for Japan to dramati2 cally increase the level of its own defense forces to

3 meet modern security needs and commitments.

4 (10) The people of Japan would undoubtedly

5 welcome the opportunity to pay a fair share for the

6 defense of their country.

7 SEC. 2. ANNUAL SECURITY FEE PAID TO THE UNITED

8 STATES.

9 (a) NEGOTIATIONS WITH JAPAN.—Within 180 days

10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall

11 seek to enter into negotiations with the Government of

12 Japan for the purpose of reaching an agreement that

13 would require the Government of Japan to pay to the

14 United States each year an annual security fee in an

15 amount equal to three percent of the annual gross national

16 product of Japan for the preceding year less the amount

17 actually spent by the Government of Japan for defense

18 during that year.

19 (b) NOTIFICATION TO THE CONGRESS.—Within one

20 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Presi21 dent shall notify the Congress whether an agreement as

22 described in subsection (a) has been reached with the Gov23 ernment of Japan.

24 (c) FAILURE OF JAPAN TO COMPENSATE THE

25 UNITED STATES.—If the President notifies the Congress
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1 under subsection (b) that such an agreement has not been

2 reached or if the Congress determines that such an agree3 ment does not satisfy the requirements of subsection (a),

4 the Congress should consider legislation imposing on prod5 ucts of Japan imported into the United States an import

6 duty which would be in addition to any other duty that

7 is imposed under law. The additional import duty shall

8 be structured so that it would generate revenue in an

9 amount equal to the annual security fee described in sub10 section (a).

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