[110th Congress Public Law 429]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[DOCID: f:publ429.110]
[[Page 4841]]
NAVAL VESSEL TRANSFER AUTHORITY
[[Page 122 STAT. 4842]]
Public Law 110-429
110th Congress
An Act
To authorize the transfer of naval vessels to certain foreign
recipients, and for other purposes. <<NOTE: Oct. 15, 2008 - [H.R.
7177]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE I--NAVAL <<NOTE: Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2008.>> VESSEL
TRANSFER
SECTION 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``Naval Vessel Transfer Act of
2008''.
SEC. 102. TRANSFER OF NAVAL VESSELS TO CERTAIN FOREIGN RECIPIENTS.
(a) Transfers <<NOTE: President.>> by Grant.--The President is
authorized to transfer the vessels specified in paragraphs (1), (3), and
(4) of section 501(a) of H.R. 5916 of the 110th Congress, as passed the
House of Representatives on May 15, 2008, to the foreign recipients
specified in paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) of such section, respectively,
on a grant basis under section 516 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
(22 U.S.C. 2321j).
(b) Grants Not Counted in Annual Total of Transferred Excess Defense
Articles.--The value of a vessel transferred to a recipient on a grant
basis pursuant to authority provided by subsection (a) shall not be
counted against the aggregate value of excess defense articles
transferred in any fiscal year under section 516 of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j).
(c) Costs of Transfers.--Any expense incurred by the United States
in connection with a transfer authorized by this section shall be
charged to the recipient (notwithstanding section 516(e) of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j(e))).
(d) Repair and <<NOTE: President.>> Refurbishment in United States
Shipyards.--To the maximum extent practicable, the President shall
require, as a condition of the transfer of a vessel under this section,
that the recipient to which the vessel is transferred have such repair
or refurbishment of the vessel as is needed, before the vessel joins the
naval forces of the recipient, performed at a shipyard located in the
United States, including a United States Navy shipyard.
(e) Expiration of Authority.--The authority to transfer a vessel
under this section shall expire at the end of the 2-year period
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
[[Page 122 STAT. 4843]]
TITLE II--UNITED STATES ARMS EXPORTS
SEC. 201. <<NOTE: President. 22 USC 2776 note.>> ASSESSMENT OF
ISRAEL'S QUALITATIVE MILITARY EDGE OVER
MILITARY THREATS.
(a) Assessment Required.--The President shall carry out an empirical
and qualitative assessment on an ongoing basis of the extent to which
Israel possesses a qualitative military edge over military threats to
Israel. The assessment required under this subsection shall be
sufficiently robust so as to facilitate comparability of data over
concurrent years.
(b) Use of Assessment.--The President shall ensure that the
assessment required under subsection (a) is used to inform the review by
the United States of applications to sell defense articles and defense
services under the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) to
countries in the Middle East.
(c) Reports.--
(1) Initial report.--Not later than June 30, 2009, the
President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report on the initial assessment required under
subsection (a).
(2) Quadrennial report.--Not later than four years after the
date on which the President transmits the initial report under
paragraph (1), and every four years thereafter, the President
shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a
report on the most recent assessment required under subsection
(a).
(d) Certification.--Section 36 of the Arms Export Control Act (22
U.S.C. 2776) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(h) Certification Requirement Relating to Israel's Qualitative
Military Edge.--
``(1) In general.--Any certification relating to a proposed
sale or export of defense articles or defense services under
this section to any country in the Middle East other than Israel
shall include a determination that the sale or export of the
defense articles or defense services will not adversely affect
Israel's qualitative military edge over military threats to
Israel.
``(2) Qualitative military edge defined.--In this
subsection, the term `qualitative military edge' means the
ability to counter and defeat any credible conventional military
threat from any individual state or possible coalition of states
or from non-state actors, while sustaining minimal damages and
casualties, through the use of superior military means,
possessed in sufficient quantity, including weapons, command,
control, communication, intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance capabilities that in their technical
characteristics are superior in capability to those of such
other individual or possible coalition of states or non-state
actors.''.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
(2) Qualitative military edge.--The term ``qualitative
military edge'' has the meaning given the term in section 36(h)
[[Page 122 STAT. 4844]]
of the Arms Export Control Act, as added by subsection (d) of
this section.
SEC. 202. IMPLEMENTATION OF MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH
ISRAEL.
(a) In General.--Of the amount made available for fiscal year 2009
for assistance under the program authorized by section 23 of the Arms
Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763) (commonly referred to as the
``Foreign Military Financing Program''), the amount specified in
subsection (b) is authorized to be made available on a grant basis for
Israel.
(b) Computation of Amount.--The amount referred to in subsection (a)
is the amount equal to--
(1) the amount specified under the heading ``Foreign
Military Financing Program'' for Israel for fiscal year 2008;
plus
(2) $150,000,000.
(c) Other Authorities.--
(1) Availability of funds for advanced weapons systems.--To
the extent the Government of Israel requests the United States
to provide assistance for fiscal year 2009 for the procurement
of advanced weapons systems, amounts authorized to be made
available for Israel under this section shall, as agreed to by
Israel and the United States, be available for such purposes, of
which not less than $670,650,000 shall be available for the
procurement in Israel of defense articles and defense services,
including research and development.
(2) Disbursement <<NOTE: Deadline.>> of funds.--Amounts
authorized to be made available for Israel under this section
shall be disbursed not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of an Act making appropriations for the Department of
State, foreign operations, and related programs for fiscal year
2009, or October 31, 2008, whichever occurs later.
SEC. 203. SECURITY <<NOTE: 22 USC 2753 note.>> COOPERATION WITH
THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Close and continuing defense cooperation between the
United States and the Republic of Korea continues to be in the
national security interest of the United States.
(2) The Republic of Korea was designated a major non-NATO
ally in 1987, the first such designation.
(3) The Republic of Korea has been a major purchaser of
United States defense articles and services through the Foreign
Military Sales (FMS) program, totaling $6,900,000,000 in
deliveries over the last 10 years.
(4) Purchases of United States defense articles, services,
and major defense equipment facilitate and increase the
interoperability of Republic of Korea military forces with the
United States Armed Forces.
(5) Congress has previously enacted important, special
defense cooperation arrangements for the Republic of Korea, as
in the Act entitled ``An Act to authorize the transfer of items
in the War Reserves Stockpile for Allies, Korea'', approved
December 30, 2005 (Public Law 109-159; 119 Stat. 2955), which
authorized the President, notwithstanding section 514 of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321h), to transfer to
the Republic of Korea certain defense items to be included in a
war reserve stockpile for that country.
[[Page 122 STAT. 4845]]
(6) Enhanced support for defense cooperation with the
Republic of Korea is important to the national security of the
United States, including through creation of a status in law for
the Republic of Korea similar to the countries in the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand,
with respect to consideration by Congress of foreign military
sales to the Republic of Korea.
(b) Special Foreign Military Sales Status for Republic of Korea.--
The Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in sections 3(d)(2)(B), 3(d)(3)(A)(i), 3(d)(5),
21(e)(2)(A), 36(b), 36(c), 36(d)(2)(A), 62(c)(1), and
63(a)(2), <<NOTE: 22 USC 2753, 2761, 2776, 2796a, 2796b.>> by
inserting ``the Republic of Korea,'' before ``or New Zealand''
each place it appears;
(2) in section 3(b)(2), by inserting ``the Government of the
Republic of Korea,'' before ``or the Government of New
Zealand'';
(3) in section 21(h)(1)(A), by inserting ``the Republic of
Korea,'' before ``or Israel''; and
(4) in section 21(h)(2), by striking ``or to any member
government of that Organization if that Organization or member
government'' and inserting ``, to any member government of that
Organization, or to the Governments of the Republic of Korea,
Australia, New Zealand, Japan, or Israel if that Organization,
member government, or the Governments of the Republic of Korea,
Australia, New Zealand, Japan, or Israel''.
Approved October 15, 2008.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 7177:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 154 (2008):
Sept. 27, considered and passed House.
Oct. 1, considered and passed Senate.
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