Conventional Weapons Destruction and Legacy of Senator Patrick Leahy Act

Bill: 118-s-5523
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT]
Introduced: 2024-12-12
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Latest action: action_date: 2024-12-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 5523 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 12, 2024 Mr. Welch (for himself, Ms. Baldwin , Mr. Booker , Mr. Sanders , Mrs. Murray , Mr. Whitehouse , and Mr. Merkley ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To provide clarification of assistance related to safeguarding and the elimination of landmines, other explosive remnants of war, and conventional arms.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Conventional Weapons Destruction and Legacy of Senator Patrick Leahy Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Landmines and other unexploded ordnance threaten the safety, health, and lives of civilian populations and create humanitarian and development challenges that have serious and lasting social, economic, and security consequences for affected populations. (2) During his 48 years serving in the Senate, Senator Patrick Leahy, of Vermont, was a leading voice in United States foreign policy and championed numerous humanitarian causes, including working to rid the world of the scourge of landmines and other explosive remnants of war. (3) Senator Leahy’s legacy on this issue includes numerous achievements, including in 1989 what was later named the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund which provides medical and other assistance to victims of landmines and other war-related disabilities, section 1365 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 ( Public Law 102–484 ; 22 U.S.C. 2778 note) (commonly referred to as the Landmine Export Moratorium Act ), which prohibits the export and transfer of antipersonnel landmines, and working to make the United States the world leader in humanitarian demining funding—all of which have saved countless lives and made real improvements in the livelihoods of people recovering from conflict. (4) The United States has provided more than $4,600,000,000 in conventional weapons destruction assistance to more than 120 countries and areas since 1993, including humanitarian demining and weapons security programs by the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the United States Agency for International Development. (5) Conventional weapons destruction assistance has saved countless lives around the world, improves stability and prosperity by clearing landmines and other explosive remnants of war and returning land to productive use, builds trust and deepens relationships with key partners to accelerate achievement of broader United States foreign policy objectives, plays an important role in addressing other global issues and United States interests, including food security and combatting displacement and migration, and provides employment opportunities to women. (6) United States humanitarian demining programs, notably those devoted to clearing unexploded bombs and other munitions from the Vietnam War, have played a crucial role in building new partnerships in regions of geopolitical importance. (7) Globally, in fiscal year 2022, it is estimated that approximately— (A) 200,100 explosive remnants of war were destroyed, allowing for 60,200 acres of land to be cleared and returned to public use; (B) 37,500 landmines and 9,000 improvised explosive devices were destroyed; and (C) 53,700 civilian survivors of explosive remnants of war injuries were provided assistance and 3,400,000 civilians were provided life-saving risk education to help avoid injury. (8) Many countries lack the equipment and technical capacity to properly manage government-held weapons and ammunition stockpiles, and conventional weapons destruction assistance enhances United States and international security by destroying and securing small arms and light weapons, including man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), at risk of accidental explosions as well as proliferation to terrorists, insurgents, and other violent non-state actors. (9) In fiscal year 2022, approximately 14,100 small arms and light weapons, 223 MANPADS and anti-tank guided missiles systems (ATGMs), and 3,900 metric tons of ammunition were destroyed. 3. Clarification of assistance relating to safeguarding and elimination of conventional weapons The Department of State Authorities Act of 2006 ( Public Law 109–472 ) is amended by inserting after section 11 ( 22 U.S.C. 2349bb–6 ) the following new section: 11A. Purposes of assistance for humanitarian demining and elimination or securing of conventional weapons (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Landmines and other explosive remnants of war threaten populations after conflicts end, and humanitarian demining is a fundamental part of recovery from conflict. (2) Clearing the land of explosive remnants of war provides quantifiable threat reduction and allows affected persons to return to their homes and utilize the land. (3) Agriculture is disproportionately impacted by unexploded ordnance, endangering farmers and exacerbating food security. Subsistence farming, larger-scale agriculture, grazing, and other related activities are improved through humanitarian demining. (4) Decontaminated land can be returned to use for critical infrastructure development, and many other uses that enhance sustainable recovery and development. (5) Risk education bolsters the life-saving benefits of humanitarian demining activities, helping to minimize preventable injuries through community engagement, which in turn creates local buy-in and awareness of this vital assistance being provided by the United States. (6) Many countries lack the equipment, resources and facilities, and technical capacity to properly manage weapons and ammunition stockpiles. Weapons and Ammunition Management (WAM) or Physical Security and Stockpile Management (PSSM) programs are security sector partnerships based on the shared objectives of preventing the diversion of weapons, ammunition, and explosives, as well as unplanned explosions. (7) These projects include armory and munitions store construction and rehabilitation, and other security improvements, weapons and ammunition disposal, stockpile management training and guidelines, needs assessments, stockpile risk assessments, mitigation and management plans, and marking and record-keeping. (8) This assistance, provided to a range of security forces including local police, is focused on providing necessary equipment and technical expertise in a sustainable way, allowing partners to establish, implement, and train in WAM/PSSM best practices and compliance, as well as conduct their own safe disposal of obsolete weapons, ammunition, and munitions. (9) These programs not only reduce instability and civilian harm from armed violence caused by weapons diversion, but also provide the United States with key security partnerships. By reducing armed violence and instability, these programs can play a crucial role in addressing the root causes of migration and forced displacement, of particular interest to the United States as it pertains to its southern border. (10) Risk education expands the scope of WAM/PSSM programs beyond the principal partnerships, providing training to local police and communities on safer and more secure weapons storage and salvage through community engagement that also saves lives and creates buy-in and awareness of this vital assistance that is being provided by the United States. (b) Purposes of humanitarian demining and conventional weapons elimination or securing activities (1) Humanitarian demining activities The purposes of the activities authorized in section 11(b)(1) are— (A) to ensure the return of affected populations to the safe access to their homes and land; (B) to enable affected populations to safely and productively utilize land for agriculture; (C) to clear threats from land to permit and encourage critical infrastructure and other development; (D) to educate affected populations about the dangers of landmines and other unexploded ordnance as well as United States efforts to provide the lifesaving benefits of humanitarian demining activities; and (E) to integrate humanitarian demining and related activities with other assistance to ensure effective recovery from conflict. (2) Conventional weapons elimination or securing activities The purposes of the activities authorized in section 11(b)(3) are— (A) to ensure the safe securing and diversion prevention of weapons, ammunition, and explosives in the stores of foreign partners; (B) to build the capacity of the security sectors of foreign partners to properly eliminate or manage weapons and ammunition stockpiles through WAM, PSSM, and related programs; (C) to educate local police and other officials and the wider population at the local level on safer and more secure weapons storage and salvage as well as United States efforts to provide the lifesaving benefits of conventional weapons elimination, securing, and management; (D) to establish and strengthen security cooperation with foreign partners to reduce armed violence and instability in support of important United States national security and foreign policy objectives; and (E) to integrate conventional weapons elimination and securing and related activities with other assistance to ensure effective recovery from conflict. .