Title: To prohibit the provision of United States security assistance to the Government of Saudi Arabia, and for other purposes.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This bill prohibits U.S. security assistance and arms sales to Saudi Arabia's government.
The Department of Defense shall not provide security assistance, intelligence, training, equipment, or specified technical services to Saudi Arabia or any of its agents or instrumentalities, or engage in any defense cooperation. The bill establishes an exception to this prohibition for activities that protect U.S. diplomatic and consular posts or U.S. citizens.
The President may not sell, transfer, deliver, or license for export any defense article to Saudi Arabia or any of its agents or instrumentalities, or provide any defense or construction service.
Congress may pass a joint resolution to waive these prohibitions on a case-by-case basis. To request such a waiver, the President shall report to Congress on (1) how the requested activity advances U.S. national security interests, (2) the status of any investigation and prosecution of individuals responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and (3) the status of human rights protections in Saudi Arabia.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 643 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 643

 To prohibit the provision of United States security assistance to the 
          Government of Saudi Arabia, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 17, 2019

  Mr. McGovern (for himself, Mr. Jones, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Massie, Mr. 
 Huffman, Mr. Lewis, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Gabbard, Ms. Omar, Ms. 
Eshoo, Ms. Norton, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Pallone, 
 Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Lowenthal, Ms. Waters, Mr. Welch, and Mr. 
 Johnson of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                  to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit the provision of United States security assistance to the 
          Government of Saudi Arabia, 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. PROHIBITION ON SECURITY ASSISTANCE.

    (a) In General.--Beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Defense may not--
            (1) provide any United States assistance, including 
        security assistance, intelligence, training, equipment, or 
        services relating to maintenance, testing, or technical data, 
        to--
                    (A) the Government of Saudi Arabia, including the 
                Ministries of Defense, Interior, and Intelligence; or
                    (B) any agent or instrumentality of such 
                Government; or
            (2) engage in any defense cooperation with such Government, 
        Ministries, agents, or instrumentalities.
    (b) Exception for the Protection of United States Personnel and 
Citizens.--The prohibition under subsection (a) shall not apply with 
respect to activities of the Department of Defense relating to the 
protection of United States diplomatic and consular posts or personnel 
or to the evacuation of United States citizens.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ARMS SALES.

    Beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 
may not sell, transfer, deliver, license for export, authorize the 
performance of any service relating to, or otherwise make available any 
defense article, defense service, or design and construction service, 
as such terms are defined for purposes of the Arms Export Control Act 
(22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), to the Government of Saudi Arabia or to any 
agents or instrumentalities of such Government.

SEC. 3. CASE-BY-CASE WAIVER OF PROHIBITIONS ON SECURITY ASSISTANCE AND 
              ARMS SALES.

    (a) Joint Resolution of Approval To Waive.--The prohibitions in 
sections 1 and 2 may be waived on a case-by-case basis if--
            (1) the President submits to the appropriate congressional 
        committees a request to conduct a specific activity otherwise 
        prohibited by such sections; and
            (2) there is enacted a joint resolution approving the 
        waiver of such prohibition with respect to such specific 
        activity.
    (b) Report Accompanying Request.--Each request submitted pursuant 
to subsection (a)(1) shall also include a report describing--
            (1) how the requested activity would advance the national 
        security and defense interests of the United States;
            (2) the status of the United States investigation into each 
        person who--
                    (A) authorized, ordered, carried out, or had 
                knowledge of the murder of journalist and United States 
                permanent resident Jamal Khashoggi; or
                    (B) participated in attempts to cover up 
                information regarding the murder of Mr. Khashoggi;
            (3) the extent to which each person described pursuant to 
        paragraph (2) has been prosecuted or otherwise held accountable 
        for such conduct; and
            (4) the status of the protection of human rights, including 
        the freedom of the press, in Saudi Arabia.
    (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on 
        Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on 
        Foreign Relations of the Senate.
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