22 U.S.C. § 2321j: Authority to transfer excess defense articles

The President is authorized to transfer excess defense articles under this section to countries for which receipt of such articles was justified pursuant to the annual congressional presentation documents for military assistance programs, or for programs under part VIII of subchapter I of this chapter, submitted under section 2394 of this title , or for which receipt of such articles was separately justified to the Congress, for the fiscal year in which the transfer is authorized. such articles are drawn from existing stocks of the Department of Defense; funds available to the Department of Defense for the procurement of defense equipment are not expended in connection with the transfer; the transfer of such articles will not have an adverse impact on the military readiness of the United States; with respect to a proposed transfer of such articles on a grant basis, such a transfer is preferable to a transfer on a sales basis, after taking into account the potential proceeds from, and likelihood of, such sales, and the comparative foreign policy benefits that may accrue to the United States as the result of a transfer on either a grant or sales basis; the President determines that the transfer of such articles will not have an adverse impact on the national technology and industrial base and, particularly, will not reduce the opportunities of entities in the national technology and industrial base to sell new or used equipment to the countries to which such articles are transferred; and the transfer of such articles is consistent with the policy framework for the Eastern Mediterranean established under section 2373 of this title . Accordingly, for the four-year period beginning on October 1, 1996 , and thereafter for the four-period 1 beginning on 1 So in original. Probably should be “four-year period”. October 1, 2000 , the President shall ensure that excess defense articles offered to Greece and Turkey under this section will be made available consistent with the manner in which the President made available such excess defense articles during the four-year period that began on October 1, 1992 , pursuant to section 573(e) of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1990. Excess defense articles may be transferred under this section without cost to the recipient country. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the delivery of excess defense articles under this section to member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the southern and southeastern flank of NATO, to major non-NATO allies on such southern and southeastern flank, to Taiwan, and to the Philippines shall be given priority to the maximum extent feasible over the delivery of such excess defense articles to other countries. Section 2392(d) of this title shall not apply with respect to transfers of excess defense articles (including transportation and related costs) under this section. Except as provided in paragraph (2), funds available to the Department of Defense may not be expended for crating, packing, handling, and transportation of excess defense articles transferred under the authority of this section. it is determined that it is in the national interest of the United States to do so; the recipient is a developing country receiving less than $10,000,000 of assistance under part V of this subchapter (relating to international military education and training) or section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act ( 22 U.S.C. 2763 ; relating to the Foreign Military Financing program) in the fiscal year in which the transportation is provided; the total weight of the transfer does not exceed 50,000 pounds; and such transportation is accomplished on a space available basis. The President may not transfer excess defense articles that are significant military equipment (as defined in section 47(9) of the Arms Export Control Act [ 22 U.S.C. 2794(9) ]) or excess defense articles valued (in terms of original acquisition cost) at $7,000,000 or more, under this section or under the Arms Export Control Act ( 22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) until 30 days after the date on which the President has provided notice of the proposed transfer to the congressional committees specified in section 2394–1(a) of this title in accordance with procedures applicable to reprogramming notifications under that section. a statement outlining the purposes for which the article is being provided to the country, including whether such article has been previously provided to such country; an assessment of the impact of the transfer on the military readiness of the United States; an assessment of the impact of the transfer on the national technology and industrial base and, particularly, the impact on opportunities of entities in the national technology and industrial base to sell new or used equipment to the countries to which such articles are to be transferred; and a statement describing the current value of such article and the value of such article at acquisition. The aggregate value of excess defense articles transferred to countries under this section in any fiscal year may not exceed $500,000,000. The limitation contained in paragraph (1) shall apply only with respect to fiscal years beginning after fiscal year 1996. Documents described in subsection (a) justifying the transfer of excess defense articles shall include an explanation of the general purposes of providing excess defense articles as well as a table which provides an aggregate annual total of transfers of excess defense articles in the preceding year by country in terms of offers and actual deliveries and in terms of acquisition cost and current value. Such table shall indicate whether such excess defense articles were provided on a grant or sale basis. For purposes of this section, the term “excess defense articles” shall be deemed to include excess property of the Coast Guard, and the term “Department of Defense” shall be deemed, with respect to such excess property, to include the Coast Guard. to any NATO southern flank country which is eligible for United States security assistance and which is integrated into NATO’s military structure; and to any major non-NATO ally on the southern and southeastern flank of NATO which is eligible for United States security assistance, such excess defense articles as may be necessary to help modernize the defense capabilities of such country. which is a major illicit drug producing country, which has a democratic government, and whose armed forces do not engage in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, such excess defense articles as may be necessary to carry out subsection (f)(1). Excess defense articles may be transferred under this section without cost to the recipient country. they are drawn from existing stocks of the Department of Defense; funds available to the Department of Defense for the procurement of defense equipment are not expended in connection with the transfer; and the President determines that the transfer of the excess defense articles will not have an adverse impact on the military readiness of the United States. a certification of the need for the transfer; an assessment of the impact of the transfer on the military readiness of the United States; and the value of the excess defense articles to be transferred. Notice shall be provided pursuant to paragraph (1) to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. Section 632(d) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 [ 22 U.S.C. 2392(d) ] does not apply with respect to transfers of excess defense articles under this section. The Congress intends that excess defense articles be made available under this section consistent with the United States policy, established by section 841 of the International Cooperation Act of 1989 [probably means section 841 of H.R. 2655, 101st Congress, which was not enacted], of maintaining the military balance in the Eastern Mediterranean. the value of excess defense articles made available for Turkey under this section, to the amount of foreign military financing provided for Turkey, to the amount of foreign military financing provided for Greece. This subsection shall not apply if either Greece or Turkey ceases to be eligible to receive excess defense articles under subsection (a). Excess defense articles shall be transferred under subsection (a)(2) for the purpose of encouraging the military forces of an eligible country in Latin America and the Caribbean to participate with local law enforcement agencies in a comprehensive national antinarcotics program, conceived and developed by the government of that country, by conducting activities within that country and on the high seas to prevent the production, processing, trafficking, transportation, and consumption of illicit narcotic or psychotrophic [sic] drugs or other controlled substances. Excess defense articles may be furnished to a country under subsection (a)(2) only if that country ensures that those excess defense articles will be used only in support of antinarcotics activities. The Secretary of State shall determine the eligibility of countries to receive excess defense articles under subsection (a)(2) and insure that any transfer is coordinated with other antinarcotics enforcement programs assisted by the United States Government. The aggregate value of excess defense articles transferred to a country under subsection (a)(2) in any fiscal year may not exceed $10,000,000. the term ‘excess defense article’ has the meaning given that term by section 644(g) [probably means section 644(g) of Pub. L. 87–195 , which is classified to section 2403(g) of this title ]; the term ‘made available’ means that a good faith offer is made by the United States to furnish the excess defense articles to a country; the term ‘major non-NATO ally’ includes Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, and New Zealand; the term ‘NATO’ means the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; and the term ‘NATO southern flank countries’ means Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey.”