I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1975 
To protect civilians from cluster munitions, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 6, 2017 
Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself and Mr. ISSA) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To protect civilians from cluster munitions, 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 ‘‘Cluster Munitions Ci-
vilian Protection Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The Convention on Cluster Munitions, done 
at Dublin May 30, 2008, and entered into force Au-
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gust 1, 2010, now has 100 States Parties, including 
Canada, France, Germany, and the United King-
dom, and an additional 19 signatories. 
(2) The Convention on Cluster Munitions, 
which comprehensively bans the use, production, ac-
quisition, export, or transfer of cluster munitions 
and requires the destruction of existing stockpiles, 
clearance of contaminated land, and assistance to 
cluster munition victims, has led to the destruction 
of nearly 1,400,000 cluster munitions containing 
more than 170,000,000 submunitions. 
(3) Under a policy issued in 2008 by Secretary 
of Defense Robert Gates, by the end of 2018, the 
United States will no longer use cluster munitions 
anywhere in the world, unless, after arming, the 
cluster munitions do not result in more than 1 per-
cent unexploded ordnance across the range of in-
tended operational environments. 
(4) The CBU–105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon meets 
the standard established by Secretary Gates in 
2008. 
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON THE USE OF CLUSTER MUNITIONS. 
No funds appropriated or otherwise available to any 
Federal department or agency may be obligated or ex-
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pended to purchase, transfer, issue a license for the export 
of, or use any cluster munitions unless— 
(1) the submunitions of the cluster munitions, 
after arming, do not result in more than 1 percent 
unexploded ordnance across the range of intended 
operational environments; and 
(2) the policy applicable to the export or trans-
fer of such cluster munitions specifies that the clus-
ter munitions will only be used against clearly de-
fined military targets and will not be used where ci-
vilians are known to be present or in areas normally 
inhabited by civilians. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the Secretary of Defense should ensure that 
the July 2008 Gates policy on cluster munitions is 
being fully implemented and that the 2018 deadline 
referred to in section 2(3) will be met; 
(2) the United States Government should adopt 
a policy and develop a strategy to phase out, as soon 
as possible, the transfer, export, and use of all clus-
ter munitions; 
(3) any alternatives that the United States Gov-
ernment develops to replace cluster munitions should 
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be compliant with the Convention on Cluster Muni-
tions; and 
(4) the United States should take all steps nec-
essary to enable it to accede to the Convention on 
Cluster Munitions as soon as possible. 
Æ 
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