I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4502 
To impose requirements with respect to monitoring the operational use of 
sales, exports, and transfers of defense articles and services, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 17, 2025 
Ms. JACOBS (for herself, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Mr. KEATING, and Mr. 
CASTRO of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To impose requirements with respect to monitoring the oper-
ational use of sales, exports, and transfers of defense 
articles and services, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Silver Shield Oper-
ational End Use Monitoring Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘Silver 
Shield Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF SILVER SHIELD OPERATIONAL 
END-USE MONITORING PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT
OF OPERATIONAL END-USE 
MONITORING PROGRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to improve account-
ability with respect to defense articles and defense 
services sold, leased, transferred, or exported under 
the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et 
seq.) or the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the President 
shall establish a program, to be known as the ‘‘Sil-
ver Shield’’ program, to provide for operational end- 
use monitoring of such articles and services. 
(2) REQUIREMENTS OF PROGRAM.—The Silver 
Shield program shall— 
(A) be designed to monitor whether there 
is credible information that a recipient used de-
fense articles or defense services from the 
United States to inflict civilian harm, violate 
international humanitarian law, or violate inter-
national human rights law; 
(B) determine through operational end-use 
monitoring whether defense articles or defense 
services from the United States were used to 
commit— 
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(i) genocide; 
(ii) crimes against humanity; 
(iii) grave breaches of the Geneva 
Conventions of 1949; or 
(iv) other serious violations of inter-
national humanitarian or human rights 
law; 
(C) require a determination of ineligibility, 
pursuant to section 3 of the Arms Export Con-
trol Act, should a determination described in 
subparagraph (B) be affirmative, including a 
timeline of 180 days to complete such deter-
minations on such allegations of violation; 
(D) incorporate data, best practices, and 
lessons learned from the implementation of— 
(i) the Civilian Harm Incident Re-
sponse Guidance; 
(ii) programs to carry out the require-
ments of section 362 of title 10, United 
States Code and section 620M of the For-
eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2378d) (collectively referred to as the 
‘‘Leahy Laws’’); 
(iii) National Security Memorandum 
20; 
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(iv) the Golden Sentry End-Use Moni-
toring Program; and 
(v) the Blue Lantern program; and 
(E) incorporates sources of information for 
monitoring including— 
(i) reports submitted by United States 
Government personnel, including United 
States embassy, Defense Security Coopera-
tion Agency, or combatant command per-
sonnel; 
(ii) eyewitness interviews; 
(iii) publicly available photographic 
and video evidence; 
(iv) satellite imagery; 
(v) credible reports by non-govern-
mental organizations and media; 
(vi) intelligence information; 
(vii) information submitted through a 
publicly available online portal to be inte-
grated with the Human Rights Reporting 
Gateway; 
(viii) relevant forensic investigations; 
(ix) site visits by United States Gov-
ernment personnel; and 
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(x) any other credible sources of infor-
mation regarding the use of United States 
origin defense articles or defense services 
in inflicting civilian harm or to commit a 
violation of international humanitarian law 
or international human rights law. 
(3) COORDINATION.—The Silver Shield pro-
gram shall be established in the Department of 
State and shall be implemented through coordination 
between the following: 
(A) The Bureau of Democracy, Human 
Rights, and Labor, which shall in coordination 
with the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs of 
the Department of State be responsible for di-
recting and managing the implementation of 
the program. 
(B) The Office of the Secretary, the De-
fense Security Cooperation Agency, and the Ci-
vilian Protection Center of Excellence of the 
Department of Defense. 
(C) Any other Federal department or 
agency the President determines relevant to the 
establishment or implementation of the Silver 
Shield program. 
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(4) CONSULTATION.—The Silver Shield pro-
gram shall take such steps as may be necessary to 
consult as appropriate with relevant experts affili-
ated with federally funded research and development 
corporations, non-governmental organizations, and 
academic institutions. 
(b) EXTERNAL ADVISORY BOARD.—The President 
shall establish an external advisory board comprising rec-
ognized academic and non-governmental experts in inves-
tigations regarding the monitoring of the usage of defense 
articles or services in civilian harm or violations of inter-
national law. The heads of the agencies listed in sub-
section (a)(3) shall periodically consult with the external 
advisory board with respect to— 
(1) research methodology; 
(2) information sources; 
(3) investigative best practices; and 
(4) any other such information within the ex-
pertise of the advisory board and relevant to imple-
mentation of this Act. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE ARMS EXPORT CONTROL 
ACT. 
(a) ARMS EXPORT CONTROL ACT.—Section 3 of the 
Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2753) is amended 
by adding at the end of the section the following— 
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‘‘(h) AGREEMENT RELATING TO USE OF DEFENSE 
ARTICLES AND SERVICES.—In addition to any other re-
quirements under this Act, the President shall take such 
steps as may be necessary to ensure that— 
‘‘(1) prior to authorizing or licensing the sale, 
export, or transfer of any defense article or defense 
service to a foreign country or international organi-
zation, the Secretary of State shall enter into a writ-
ten agreement with the appropriate counterparts 
providing that the government of such country or 
that such international organization will not use any 
defense article or defense service of United States 
origin— 
‘‘(A) to commit or facilitate a violation of 
international humanitarian law or international 
human rights law; or 
‘‘(B) in an action that would render the 
government or organization ineligible to receive 
United States assistance or arms transfers as a 
matter of United States law; and 
‘‘(2) if defense articles are sold, exported, or 
transferred to a foreign country pursuant to an 
agreement otherwise in accordance with the require-
ments of this Act in which the intended end-user has 
not been identified at the unit level for purposes of 
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the vetting required by section 362 of title 10, 
United States Code or section 620M of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d), the writ-
ten agreement required by paragraph (1) for such 
sale, export, or transfer shall instead include a list 
of units ineligible to receive such articles, consistent 
with applicable provisions of United States law.’’. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY FOR DEFENSE ARTICLES OR SERV-
ICES.— 
(1) ARMS EXPORT CONTROL ACT.—Section 3(a) 
of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 
2753(a)) is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and 
promote world peace’’ and inserting ‘‘, will pro-
mote world peace and the safety of civilians,’’; 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 
and inserting a semicolon; 
(C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 
paragraph (5); and 
(D) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) the country or international organization 
shall have agreed not to use such article or service 
to commit or facilitate a serious violation of inter-
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national humanitarian law or international human 
rights law; and’’. 
(2) FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961.—Sec-
tion 505 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2314) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (a)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘(a) CONDITIONS OF 
ELIGIBILITY’’ and all that follows through 
the matter preceding paragraph (1) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(a) CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBILITY.—In addition to 
such other provisions as the President may require, no de-
fense articles or related training or other defense service 
shall be furnished to any country or international organi-
zation on a grant basis unless it shall have agreed that— 
’’; 
(ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘; 
and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 
(iii) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 
paragraph (5); and 
(iv) by inserting after paragraph (3) 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) it will not use such articles or services to 
commit or facilitate a serious violation of inter-
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national humanitarian law or international human 
rights law; and’’; and 
(B) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘sub-
section (a)(1) or (a)(4)’’ each place it appears 
and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1) or (a)(5)’’. 
(c) AUTHORIZED PURPOSE FOR MILITARY SALES.— 
Section 4 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 
2754) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘legitimate’’ before ‘‘internal 
security’’; and 
(2) by inserting ‘‘, to the extent that such de-
fense articles and defense services will not be used 
in the commission of a serious violation of inter-
national humanitarian law or international human 
rights law. The violation of international humani-
tarian law or international human rights law may 
not be construed to be an authorized purpose for 
military sales or leases by the United States.’’ after 
‘‘such friendly countries’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
(e) UPDATES TO EXISTING POLICY.— 
(1) SECRETARY OF STATE.—The Secretary of 
State shall— 
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(A) subsume the Civilian Harm Incident 
Response Guidance into the requirements of 
this Act to carry out the Department’s oper-
ational end-use monitoring responsibilities; and 
(B) review other relevant policy and doc-
trine and, as necessary, amend any such policy 
or doctrine to ensure consistency with such 
amendments and to carry out such responsibil-
ities. 
(2) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.—The Secretary 
of Defense shall— 
(A) reissue Department of Defense In-
struction 4140.66 to ensure consistency with 
the amendments made by this Act to carry out 
the Department’s operational end-use moni-
toring responsibilities; and 
(B) review other relevant policy and doc-
trine and, as necessary, amend any such policy 
or doctrine to ensure consistency with such 
amendments and to carry out such responsibil-
ities. 
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap-
propriated such sums as may be necessary to implement 
the Silver Shield program described in section 2. 
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(b) APPLICATION OF FOREIGN MILITARY SALES AD-
MINISTRATIVE SURCHARGE.—The Silver Shield program 
shall be considered an administrative service of the admin-
istration of sales made pursuant to section 21(e)(1) of the 
Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2761). 
(c) APPLICATION OF FOREIGN MILITARY FINANCING 
ADMINISTRATIVE FUNDS.—The Silver Shield program 
shall be considered an administrative and operational cost 
of the Department of State related to military assistance 
and sales pursuant to funds authorized to carry out title 
IV of the annual Acts making appropriations for the State 
Department, Foreign Operations, and Related programs 
(relating to the heading Foreign Military Financing pro-
gram). 
SEC. 5. REPORTS. 
(a) REPORT ON REQUIRED RESOURCES.—Not later 
than 180 days after the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of State shall submit to the appropriate congres-
sional committees a report on the necessary resources, 
staffing, and authorities to implement the Silver Shield 
program and requirements described in section 2(a). 
(b) ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION REPORT.—Not later 
than 1 year after the establishment of the program re-
quired by section 2, and annually thereafter as a part of 
the annual congressional presentation documents sub-
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mitted under section 634 of the Foreign Assistance Act 
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2394), the President shall submit to 
the appropriate congressional committees a report describ-
ing the actions taken to implement this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act, including the following: 
(1) A detailed accounting of the costs and num-
ber of personnel associated with the Silver Shield 
program. 
(2) Resource constraints associated with the im-
plementation of the program, including staffing, 
funding, and authorities. 
(3) The numbers and range of operational end- 
use monitoring of United States arms transfers. 
(4) The number of identified incidents for 
which investigations have not yet been initiated. 
(5) The number and status of ongoing inves-
tigations, including the stage they are in, how long 
such incidents have remained in such stage, and if 
any have remained in such stage for more than 1 
year. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(a) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 
The 
term 
‘‘appropriate 
congressional 
committees’’ 
means— 
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(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 
Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee 
on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; 
and 
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee 
on Appropriations of the Senate. 
(b) CIVILIAN HARM.—The term ‘‘civilian harm’’ 
means civilian casualties, damage to or destruction of civil-
ian objects, and significant adverse effects on the civilian 
population and the personnel, organizations, resources, in-
frastructure, essential services, and systems on which civil-
ian life depends resulting from military operations. 
(c) DEFENSE ARTICLE; DEFENSE SERVICE.—The 
terms ‘‘defense article’’ and ‘‘defense service’’ have the 
meanings given those terms in section 47 of the Arms Ex-
port Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2794). 
(d) OPERATIONAL
END-USE
MONITORING.—The 
term ‘‘operational end-use monitoring’’ means gathering 
and assessing information regarding the use of a defense 
article or defense service, including in civilian harm, viola-
tions of international humanitarian law, or international 
human rights law. 
Æ 
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