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

Bill: 116-hr-643
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2]
Introduced: 2019-01-17
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Asia

Congressional oversight

Crime victims

Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation

Detention of persons

Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad

Europe

Foreign aid and international relief

Government studies and investigations

Human rights

Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information

Legislative rules and procedure

Middle East

Military assistance, sales, and agreements

News media and reporting

Protest and dissent

Sanctions

Saudi Arabia

Trade restrictions

Turkey
Latest action: action_date: 2019-01-17
text: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-01-17
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p>This bill prohibits U.S. security assistance and arms sales to Saudi Arabia's government.</p> <p>The Department of Defense shall not provide security assistance, intelligence, training, equipment, or specified technical services&nbsp;to Saudi Arabia or any of its agents or&nbsp;instrumentalities, or engage in any defense cooperation. The bill establishes an exception to this prohibition&nbsp;for activities that protect U.S. diplomatic and consular posts or&nbsp;U.S. citizens.</p> <p>The President may not sell, transfer, deliver, or license for export any defense article to Saudi Arabia or any of its agents or&nbsp;instrumentalities, or provide any defense or construction service. </p> <p>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&nbsp;(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. <br /></p>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 643 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.

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. 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. 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.