SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Eastern European Se-
curity Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that it is in the national 
security interest of the United States to— 
(1) deter aggression against North Atlantic 
Treaty Organization (NATO) allies by Russia or any 
other adversary; 
(2) assist NATO allies in acquiring and deploy-
ing modern, NATO interoperable military equipment 
and reducing their dependence on Russian or former 
Soviet-era defense articles; 
(3) ensure that NATO allies meet alliance de-
fense commitments, including through adequate in-
vestments in national defense; 
(4) supplement existing grant assistance to key 
allies through foreign military financing loans, at 
rates competitive with those already available on 
commercial markets, to purchase NATO-interoper-
able military equipment; and 
(5) work to maintain and strengthen the demo-
cratic institutions and practices of all NATO allies, 
in accordance with the goals of Article 2 of the 
North Atlantic Treaty.
SEC. 3. FOREIGN MILITARY LOAN AUTHORITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in fiscal year 2021, 
subject to the notification requirements under subsection 
(b) and to the availability of appropriations, the President, 
acting through the Secretary of State, is authorized— 
(1) to make direct loans under section 23 of the 
Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763) to 
NATO member countries that joined the alliance 
after March 1, 1999, notwithstanding the minimum 
interest rate required by subsection (c)(1) of such 
section; and 
(2) to charge fees for such loans under para-
graph (1), which shall be collected from borrowers in 
accordance with section 502(7) of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974, and which may be used to 
cover the costs of such loans as defined in section 
502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 
(b) NOTIFICATION.—A loan may not be made under 
the authority provided by subsection (a) unless the Sec-
retary of State submits to the appropriate congressional 
committees a certification, not fewer than fifteen days be-
fore entering into an agreement to make such loan, that— 
(1) the recipient country is making demon-
strable progress toward meeting its defense spending 
commitments in accordance with the 2014 NATO 
Wales Summit Declaration; and
(2) the government of such recipient country is 
respecting that country’s constitution and upholds 
democratic values such as freedom of religion, free-
dom of speech, freedom of the press, the rule of law, 
and the rights of religious minorities. 
(c) REPAYMENT.—A loan made under the authority 
provided by subsection (a) shall be repaid in not more than 
12 years, but may include a grace period of up to 1 year 
on the repayment of the principal. 
(d) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMITTEES 
DEFINED.—In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congres-
sional committees’’ means— 
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep-
resentatives; and 
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 
Passed the House of Representatives March 9, 
2020. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 2444 
AN ACT 
To authorize the Secretary of State to make direct 
loans under section 23 of the Arms Export Con-
trol Act, and for other purposes.