Saudi Arabia Legitimate Self Defense Act
This bill imposes restrictions on exports of defense services for maintaining or servicing U.S.-provided aircraft belonging to Saudi Arabian military units conducting offensive airstrikes in Yemen.
Specifically, the President may not authorize (and must suspend authorizations issued before this bill's enactment) exporting such defense services for aircraft that, in the preceding year, have undertaken offensive airstrikes in Yemen not directly related to preventing or degrading the ability of Houthi (Ansar Allah) to launch missile and unmanned aircraft strikes on the territory of Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates. This restriction shall be in effect for two years starting from this bill's enactment.
The Department of State must report quarterly to Congress on airstrikes by the Saudi Air Force in Yemen, including (1) information about strikes in the past three months that the U.S. government considers to be legitimate self-defense, internal security, or for preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; (2) information about strikes that do not meet such criteria; and (3) a certification that the State Department is investigating any indications that U.S.-sourced defense articles are not being used against anything other than legitimate military targets in Yemen.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6601 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6601
To provide for the prohibition on issuance of licenses authorizing
exports of certain defense services to Saudi Arabia, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 4, 2022
Mr. Malinowski (for himself, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Lieu, Mr. Moulton, Mr.
Allred, Ms. Porter, and Mr. Castro of Texas) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the prohibition on issuance of licenses authorizing
exports of certain defense services to 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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Saudi Arabia Legitimate Self Defense
Act''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that, for purposes of compliance with
and implementation of section 502 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
(22 U.S.C. 2302; relating to utilization of defense articles) and
section 4 of the Foreign Military Sales Act (22 U.S.C. 2754; relating
to purposes for which military sales by the United States are
authorized)--
(1) officials from the Department of State and Department
of Defense who oversee security cooperation with the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia have an obligation to be alert to and report to
the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State any indication
that United States-origin defense articles are being used
against anything other than legitimate military targets; and
(2) the Department of State is responsible, under United
States law and consistent with United States policy, for
investigating such incidents of potential misuse and imposing
restrictions, as appropriate, on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in
instances in which it is suspected of not utilizing United
States-origin defense articles consistent with United States
law.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It shall be the policy of the United States that--
(1) for purposes of compliance with section 502 of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2302; relating to
utilization of defense articles) and section 4 of the Foreign
Military Sales Act (22 U.S.C. 2754; relating to purposes for
which military sales by the United States are authorized),
offensive strikes on Houthi (Ansar Allah) ground forces in
Yemen by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia do not
constitute ``legitimate self defense'', ``internal security'',
nor ``preventing or hindering the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction or the means of delivering such weapons''; and
(2) consistent with section 3(g) of the Foreign Military
Sales Act (22 U.S.C. 2753(g); relating to unauthorized use of
articles), the United States retains the right to verify
credible reports that Saudi Air Force aircraft have been used
for purposes other than those authorized under contract terms
consistent with the Arms Export Control Act.
SEC. 4. REPORT.
(a) In General.--For purposes of compliance with section 502 of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2302; relating to utilization
of defense articles) and section 4 of the Foreign Military Sales Act
(22 U.S.C. 2754; relating to purposes for which military sales by the
United States are authorized), the Secretary of State shall, not later
than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report that includes the
following:
(1) A description of strikes by the Saudi Air Force in
Yemen, from 2015 to the present, that the United States
Government considers ``legitimate self defense'', ``internal
security'', and ``preventing or hindering the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction or the means of delivering such
weapons''.
(2) A description of strikes by Saudi Arabia in Yemen, from
2015 from present, that the intelligence community assesses do
not constitute ``legitimate self defense'', ``internal
security'', and ``preventing or hindering the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction or the means of delivering such
weapons,'' consistent with the statement of policy described in
section 3.
(3) A description of the investigations that the United
States Government carried out relating to the strikes described
in paragraph (2).
(4) A description of any violations of the terms of sale
for United States Munitions List-listed aircraft to Saudi
Arabia for purposes of compliance with 3(c)(2) of the Foreign
Military Sales Act that the investigations described in
paragraph (3) found.
(5) A copy of the Department of State's standing guidance
to all personnel, including those operating under Chief of
Mission supervision at United States embassies, for reporting
any indication that United States-origin defense articles are
being used by Saudi Arabia in Yemen against anything other than
legitimate military targets.
(6) A copy of the Department of State's procedures for
investigating and reporting to the Secretary of State on the
outcome of any investigations of any indication that United
States-origin defense articles are being used by Saudi Arabia
in Yemen against anything other than legitimate military
targets.
(7) A certification from the Secretary of State that the
guidance described in paragraph (5) is being faithfully and
consistently implemented by all Department of State personnel,
as required by United States law and policy.
(b) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted
in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex.
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON ISSUANCE OF LICENSES AUTHORIZING EXPORTS OF
CERTAIN DEFENSE SERVICES TO SAUDI ARABIA.
For the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of
this Act, the President may not issue any license, and shall suspend
any license or other approval that was issued before such date of
enactment, authorizing the export to the Government of Saudi Arabia of
defense services related to the maintenance or servicing of United
States-provided aircraft belonging to military units determined to have
undertaken offensive airstrikes inside Yemen in the preceding year that
are not related directly to preventing or degrading the ability of
Houthi (Ansar Allah) forces to launch missile and unmanned aircraft
strikes on the territory of Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates.
SEC. 6. QUARTERLY UPDATES ON END-USE MONITORING OF SAUDI ARABIA USE OF
UNITED STATES-ORIGIN WEAPONS IN YEMEN.
(a) In General.--Beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act
and until such a date as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is assessed by the
intelligence community to no longer be conducting airstrikes in Yemen,
the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Director of National
Intelligence, shall submit quarterly reports to the relevant committees
with the following information:
(1) A description of strikes by the Saudi Air Force in
Yemen over the past three months that the United States
Government considers ``legitimate self defense'', ``internal
security'', and ``preventing or hindering the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction or the means of delivering such
weapons''.
(2) A description of strikes by Saudi Arabia in Yemen, over
the past three months that the intelligence community assesses
do not constitute ``legitimate self defense'', ``internal
security'', and ``preventing or hindering the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction or the means of delivering such
weapons,'' consistent with the statement of policy described in
section 3.
(3) A description of the investigations that the United
States Government carried out of the strikes described in
paragraph (2).
(4) A description of any violations of the terms of sale
for United States Munitions List-listed aircraft to Saudi
Arabia for purposes of compliance with 3(c)(2) of the Foreign
Military Sales Act that the investigations described in
paragraph (3) found.
(5) A certification from the Secretary of State that,
consistent with United States law and policy--
(A) all Department of State personnel are
implementing faithfully and consistently their
obligations under United States law and policy to be
alert to and report to the Secretary of State any
indication that United States-origin defense articles
are being used against anything other than legitimate
military targets in Yemen; and
(B) the Department of State is investigating any
indications that United States-origin defense articles
are not being used against anything other than
legitimate military targets in Yemen and taking
necessary corrective actions to ensure compliance with
United States law and policy.
(b) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted
in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee
on Armed Services, and the Permanent Select Committee
on Intelligence of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the
Committee on Armed Services, and the Select Committee
on Intelligence of the Senate.
(2) Intelligence community.--The term ``intelligence
community'' has the meaning given that term in section 3 of the
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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