ARMAS Act of 2022
Bill: H.R.9539 | Sponsor: Rep. Castro, Joaquin (D-TX)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Americas Regional Monitoring of Arms Sales Act of 2022 or the ARMAS Act of 2022
This bill (1) requires the Department of State to report to Congress on federal efforts to disrupt the illegal export or diversion of firearms from the United States to countries in North America, South America, and the Caribbean; (2) requires the State Department and the Department of Commerce to jointly develop an inter-agency strategy for the disruption of the trafficking of firearms exported from the United States to such countries; and (3) requires the Commerce Department to submit an annual report on the export of firearms to such countries. The bill also limits the Commerce Department from issuing export licenses for covered firearms until notifying Congress of the proposed transaction.

To require the development of an inter-agency strategy and the 
   submission of certain reports relating to the illegal export and 
trafficking of firearms from the United States to recipients in Mexico 
  and certain Central American and Caribbean countries, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Americas Regional Monitoring of Arms 
Sales Act of 2022'' or the ``ARMAS Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Violence in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean 
        is exacerbated by firearms originating in the United States.
            (2) While firearms are trafficked to Mexico from a variety 
        of countries, firearms originating in the United States account 
        for 70 percent of the firearms recovered and traced from crimes 
        in Mexico, according to the 2021 GAO report ``Firearms 
        Trafficking: U.S. Efforts to Disrupt Gun Smuggling into Mexico 
        Would Benefit from Additional Data and Analysis''.
            (3) United States-origin firearm flows contribute to human 
        rights violations, organized crime and gang violence, 
        extrajudicial killings, high homicide rates, domestic violence, 
        and femicides in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.
            (4) According to the Executive Secretariat of National 
        System for Public Security of Mexico, during the period 
        beginning in 2012 and ending in 2021, Mexico experienced more 
        than 168,000 firearms homicides.
            (5) According to the United Nations Regional Centre for 
        Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the 
        Caribbean, firearms are used in 70 percent of homicides in the 
        Caribbean compared to 30 percent globally; the Caribbean has 
        less than one percent of the world's population, but 23 percent 
        of all recorded homicides.
            (6) In an August 2022 press conference, U.S. authorities 
        from Homeland Security Investigations reported a ``marked 
        uptick in the number of weapons'', and an increase in the 
        caliber and type of weapons, being illegally trafficked to 
        Haiti and the rest of the Caribbean.
            (7) The Caribbean Basin Security Initiative of the 
        Department of State that commenced in 2009 is the regional U.S. 
        foreign assistance program that seeks to reduce illicit 
        trafficking in the region and advance public safety and 
        security. The program includes improving the capacity of 
        Caribbean countries to intercept smuggled weapons at airports 
        and seaports, as well as support for forensic ballistics and 
        firearms destruction and stockpile management. Assistance under 
        the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative has also included 
        support for regional organizations, including--
                    (A) the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency 
                for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS), based in 
                Trinidad and Tobago, the lead agency involved in the 
                issue of illicit arms trafficking and increasing the 
                capacity of member states to detect and prevent 
                firearms trafficking; and
                    (B) the Eastern Caribbean's Regional Security 
                System, based in Barbados.
            (8) Firearms trafficking from the United States and firearm 
        violence are key drivers of immigration and asylum claims from 
        Central America.
            (9) Two GAO reports (published in 2021 and 2022, 
        respectively) on firearms trafficking have affirmed that 
        firearms trafficking to Mexico and Central America continues to 
        represent a security concern to the United States, as United 
        States-origin firearms are diverted from legitimate owners and 
        end up in the hands of violent criminals, including drug 
        traffickers and other transnational criminal organizations. A 
        GAO report on the effect of firearms trafficking in the 
        Caribbean has not yet been compiled.
            (10) In these reports, the Comptroller General found that 
        Federal departments and agencies lacked information and 
        analysis of the firearms trafficking networks in Mexico and 
        Central America, that few efforts of the United States 
        Government in the region focused on firearms trafficking, and 
        that, as a result, such agencies lack a detailed understanding 
        of the firearms trafficking that fuels violence and enables 
        criminals in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and 
        Mexico.
            (11) In the 2022 GAO report ``Firearms Trafficking: More 
        Information Needed to Inform U.S. Efforts in Central America'', 
        the Comptroller General found that efforts of the United States 
        Government focused on firearms trafficking in Belize, El 
        Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras lacked information about 
        relevant country conditions and performance measures to ensure 
        such efforts were designed and implemented to achieve the 
        intended objectives and, as a result, the Comptroller General 
        recommended that the Secretary of State obtain information 
        about the conditions in such countries, to support the 
        development of effective programs to reduce the availability of 
        illicit firearms.
            (12) Data on firearms trafficking is limited and to 
        understand the problem, data compilation is crucial.
            (13) In 2021 and 2022, the annual Country Reports on Human 
        Rights Practices of the Department of State included ``unlawful 
        and arbitrary killings'' as a significant human rights issue in 
        Guatemala, yet despite such inclusion, the Under Secretary of 
        Commerce for Industry and Security has authorized approximately 
        99,270 firearms exports to Guatemala since assuming 
        responsibility for firearms licensing in 2020.
            (14) When firearms were controlled under the United States 
        Munitions List and the licensing of firearms was the 
        responsibility of the Secretary of State, the average number of 
        firearms licensed for export to Guatemala was approximately 
        4,000 per year.
            (15) The current number of exports specified in paragraph 
        (10) represents an extraordinary increase (as much as 25 times 
        the average) from the number specified in paragraph (11), and 
        the Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security has 
        only been able to conduct a very limited number of end-use 
        checks, according to the 2022 GAO report ``Firearms 
        Trafficking: More Information Needed to Inform U.S. Efforts in 
        Central America''.
            (16) The proposed security cooperation plan titled ``U.S.-
        Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Heath, and 
        Safe Communities'' and other new initiatives to address root 
        causes of migration from Central America offer an opportunity 
        to reaffirm commitments and strengthen cooperation on 
        addressing firearms trafficking.

SEC. 3. REPORTS AND STRATEGY ON DISRUPTION OF ILLEGAL EXPORT AND 
              TRAFFICKING OF FIREARMS TO MEXICO AND CERTAIN CENTRAL 
              AMERICAN COUNTRIES.

    (a) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State (in consultation with the 
Secretary of Commerce, the Attorney General, the Director of the Bureau 
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the heads of such 
other Federal departments or agencies as the Secretary of State may 
determine relevant) shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report on the efforts of the Secretary of State and the 
heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies to disrupt the 
illegal export or diversion of firearms from the United States to 
unauthorized recipients in countries designated as covered countries 
under section 4 (including through unauthorized third-party transfers), 
and the illegal trafficking of firearms obtained in the United States 
to such recipients. Such report shall include the following:
            (1) An identification of any such efforts, including 
        efforts to accomplish the following objectives:
                    (A) Tracking and verifying information regarding 
                the end-users of firearms so exported, including by 
                entering into data-sharing agreements with appropriate 
                counterparts from the governments of such covered 
                countries.
                    (B) Ensuring the destruction of surplus firearms so 
                exported.
                    (C) Ensuring that firearms so exported are not used 
                to commit extrajudicial killings or other gross 
                violations of internationally recognized human rights.
                    (D) Building the capacity of such covered countries 
                to prevent the trafficking of firearms so exported, 
                including through current programs supported or 
                implemented by the United States Government.
                    (E) Tracking and verifying information regarding 
                the end-users of firearms obtained in the United States 
                and illegally trafficked to such covered countries.
                    (F) Combating all forms of cross-border smuggling 
                of firearms from the United States.
                    (G) Engaging with subnational government officials 
                in such covered countries to effectively implement and 
                enforce agreements relating to the trafficking of 
                firearms that have been concluded between the United 
                States Government and the national government of the 
                respective covered country.
                    (H) Identifying the origin of trafficked weapons, 
                including through the serial numbers of trafficked 
                firearms.
            (2) An assessment of the results of the efforts identified 
        pursuant to paragraph (1).
            (3) A description of how homicides, extrajudicial killings, 
        and other gross violations of internationally recognized human 
        rights committed in such covered countries using firearms 
        exported from or obtained in the United States have been 
        investigated.
    (b) Inter-Agency Strategy.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Commerce and the 
        Secretary of State, taking into account the findings of the 
        report under subsection (a), shall jointly develop an inter-
        agency strategy for the disruption of the trafficking of 
        firearms exported from the United States to recipients in 
        countries designated as covered countries under section 4.
            (2) Elements.--The strategy under paragraph (1) shall 
        include the following:
                    (A) A plan for the Secretaries to accomplish each 
                of the objectives specified in subsection (a)(1).
                    (B) An identification of specific performance 
                measures, targets (including the baselines for such 
                targets), and timelines with respect to such 
                objectives.
                    (C) An estimate of the resources and personnel 
                necessary to carry out the strategy.
            (3) Required considerations; consultations.--In developing 
        the strategy under paragraph (1), the Secretaries shall--
                    (A) consider how the strategy may support or 
                otherwise align with broader efforts of the Secretaries 
                relating to security assistance, anti-corruption, and 
                the prevention of organized crime and drug and gang 
                violence;
                    (B) consider whether the placement in the Western 
                Hemisphere of an export control officer of the Bureau 
                of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce, 
                or other personnel of the Department of Commerce or the 
                Department of State, would support the strategy; and
                    (C) seek to consult with appropriate counterparts 
                from the government of each country designated as a 
                covered country under section 4.
            (4) Submission to congress.--Not later than January 1 of 
        the year following the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
        Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of State shall jointly 
        submit to the appropriate congressional committees the strategy 
        under paragraph (1).
    (c) Annual Report.--
            (1) Submission.--Not later than one year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 
        Secretary of Commerce (in consultation with the Secretary of 
        State and the heads of such other Federal departments or 
        agencies as the Secretary of Commerce may determine relevant) 
        shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
        report on the export of covered items to countries designated 
        as covered countries under section 4.
            (2) Matters.--Each report under paragraph (1) shall 
        include, with respect to the year for which the report is 
        submitted, the following information (disaggregated by 
        country):
                    (A) Information regarding license applications 
                approved or denied, and previously issued licenses 
                modified or revoked, for the export of covered items to 
                proposed recipients in covered countries.
                    (B) Information regarding how evolving country 
                contexts, including with respect to developments in 
                human rights, affected the approval of license 
                applications for such exports.
                    (C) The number of licenses issued for the export of 
                covered items to proposed recipients in covered 
                countries.
                    (D) The number of covered items exported to 
                recipients in covered countries.
                    (E) With respect to end-user checks for covered 
                items exported to recipients in covered countries under 
                section 38(g)(7) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 
                U.S.C. 2778(g)(7)) (commonly referred to as the ``Blue 
                Lantern'' program), the monitoring program established 
                under the second section 40A of the Arms Export Control 
                Act (22 U.S.C. 2785) (as added by section 150(a) of 
                Public Law 104-164), or other applicable programs of 
                the Department of Commerce or Department of State, the 
                following information:
                            (i) The number of such end-user checks 
                        requested.
                            (ii) The number of such end-user checks 
                        conducted.
                            (iii) The type of such end-user checks 
                        conducted.
                            (iv) The results of such end-user checks 
                        conducted.
                    (F) Information on the extent to which the heads of 
                the governments of covered countries shared with the 
                Secretary of Commerce and the heads of other relevant 
                Federal departments and agencies (such as the Bureau of 
                Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) data 
                relating to the receipt and end-use of covered items 
                exported from the United States, and the type of data 
                so shared.
                    (G) For each covered country, a description of the 
                U.S. funding and resources allocated for the purpose of 
                disrupting trafficking of covered items.

SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF COVERED COUNTRIES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall designate each 
country that the Secretary determines meets the requirements under 
subsection (b) as a covered country for purposes of this Act.
    (b) Requirements.--A country meets the requirements under this 
subsection if the country--
            (1) is located in North America, South America, or the 
        Caribbean;
            (2) is not a member state of the North Atlantic Treaty 
        Organization; and
            (3) meets such other requirements as the Secretary of State 
        may determine appropriate.
    (c) Initial Designations.--The Bahamas, Belize, El Salvador, 
Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago--
            (1) shall be deemed to have been so designated by the 
        Secretary of Commerce as of the date of the enactment of this 
        Act; and
            (2) shall continue to be deemed so designated for a five-
        year period, during which time the designation may not be 
        terminated under subsection (d).
    (d) Termination of Designation.--Subject to subsection (c)(2), the 
Secretary of Commerce may terminate the designation of a country under 
this section only if, at least 180 days prior to such termination, the 
Secretary submits to the appropriate congressional committees a 
notification of such termination.

SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON LICENSES AND OTHER AUTHORIZATIONS FOR EXPORT OF 
              CERTAIN ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE UNITED STATES MUNITIONS 
              LIST AND INCLUDED ON THE COMMERCE CONTROL LIST.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Commerce may not grant a license 
or other authorization for the export of a covered item unless, before 
granting the license or other authorization, the Secretary submits to 
the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives and the chairman and ranking member of the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Senate a written certification with 
respect to such proposed export license or other authorization 
containing--
            (1) the name of the person applying for the license or 
        other authorization;
            (2) the name of the person who is the proposed recipient of 
        the export;
            (3) the name of the country or international organization 
        to which the export will be made;
            (4) a description of the items proposed to be exported; and
            (5) the value of the items proposed to be exported.
    (b) Form.--A certification required under subsection (a) shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, except that information regarding the 
dollar value and number of items proposed to be exported may be 
restricted from public disclosure if such disclosure would be 
detrimental to the security of the United States.
    (c) Deadlines.--A certification required under subsection (a) shall 
be submitted--
            (1) at least 15 calendar days before a proposed export 
        license or other authorization is granted in the case of a 
        transfer of items to a country which is a member of the North 
        Atlantic Treaty Organization or Australia, Japan, the Republic 
        of Korea, Israel, or New Zealand; and
            (2) at least 30 calendar days before a proposed export 
        license or other authorization is granted in the case of a 
        transfer of items to any other country.
    (d) Congressional Resolution of Disapproval.--A proposed export 
license or other authorization described in paragraph (1) of subsection 
(c) shall become effective after the end of the 15-day period described 
in such paragraph, and a proposed export license or other authorization 
described in paragraph (2) of subsection (c) shall become effective 
after the end of the 30-day period specified in such paragraph, only if 
the Congress does not enact, within the applicable time period, a joint 
resolution prohibiting the export of the covered item for which the 
export license or other authorization was proposed.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
                Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 
                Senate.
            (2) Covered item.--The term ``covered item'' means any item 
        that--
                    (A) as of March 8, 2020, was included in Category 
                I, II, or III of the United States Munitions List; and
                    (B) is included on the Commerce Control List.
            (3) Firearm.--The term ``firearm'' includes--
                    (A) any item that is included in Category I, II, or 
                III of the United States Munitions List; and
                    (B) any covered item.
            (4) Gross violations of internationally recognized human 
        rights.--The term ``gross violations of internationally 
        recognized human rights'' has the meaning given that term in 
        section 502B(d) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
        U.S.C. 2304(d)).
            (5) Security assistance.--The term ``security assistance'' 
        includes--
                    (A) the types of assistance specified in section 
                502B(d)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
                U.S.C. 2304); and
                    (B) assistance furnished under an international 
                security assistance program of the United States 
                conducted under any other provision of law, including 
                under the authorities under chapter 16 of title 10, 
                United States Code.
            (6) United states munitions list.--The term ``United States 
        Munitions List'' means the list maintained pursuant to part 121 
        of title 22, Code of Federal Regulations.
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