Title: Eastern European Security Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Eastern European Security Act
This bill authorizes the President to make direct loans to countries that joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after March 1, 1999, for the purchase of U.S. defense articles. The President may (1) make such loans with lower interest rates than required by statute, and (2) charge fees associated with such loans. Before making such a loan, the Department of State shall certify to Congress that the receiving country is (1) making demonstrable progress toward meeting its NATO defense-spending obligations, and (2) respecting the country's constitution and upholding democratic values.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2444 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2444

To authorize the Secretary of State to make direct loans under section 
       23 of the Arms Export Control Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 1, 2019

  Mr. McCaul introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Secretary of State to make direct loans under section 
       23 of the Arms Export Control Act, 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 ``Eastern European Security Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that it is in the national security 
interest of the United States for member countries of the North 
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that were formerly part of the 
Soviet Eastern Bloc--
            (1) to have modern and effective defense articles that are 
        in use and easily integrated with those used by the United 
        States and other NATO allies; and
            (2) not use or be dependent on Russian or former Soviet-era 
        defense articles.

SEC. 3. FOREIGN MILITARY LOAN AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--Subject to the notification requirements under 
subsection (b), 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 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 paragraph (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 Secretary of State submits to the 
appropriate congressional committees a certification, not fewer than 
fifteen days before entering into an agreement to make such loan, 
that--
            (1) the recipient country is making demonstrable progress 
        toward meeting its spending obligations in accordance with the 
        2014 NATO Wales Summit; and
            (2) the government of such recipient country is respecting 
        that country's constitution and upholds democratic values such 
        as freedom of religion, freedom 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 one year on the repayment of the 
principal.
    (d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this Act, the 
term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the Senate.
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