To express the policy of the United States with respect to the adherence by the United States to global standards in the transfer of small arms and light weapons, and for other purposes.

July 8, 2004

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. AKAKA, and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

To express the policy of the United States with respect to the adherence by the United States to global standards in the transfer of small arms and light weapons, 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 `Security and Fair Enforcement in Arms Trafficking Act of 2004'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) The global proliferation of small arms and light weapons represents a real and pressing threat to peace, development, democracy, human rights, and United States national security interests around the globe.

(2) The legitimate and responsible transfer of small arms and light weapons, and the application of international standards and legally binding instruments to stem the illicit trade in these weapons, are important elements of United States foreign policy that enhance United States and international security, strengthen United States alliances and partnerships, and promote global peace and freedom, and are critical to efforts to combat terrorism, narco-trafficking, international organized crime, regional and local conflicts, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers in these conflicts.

(3) It is in the national interest of the United States to promote responsibility and restraint in the transfer of small arms and light weapons, to combat irresponsible practices in such transfers, to ensure that nations engaged in substandard practices are held accountable, and to encourage other members of the international community to meet, as minimum standards, United States law and practice.

(4) In light of the cruel terror attacks on Washington, D.C., and New York City on September 11, 2001, it is in the national interest of the United States to take all possible measures to prevent dangerous weapons from falling into the wrong hands. Special emphasis should be placed on combating the proliferation of small arms and light weapons within the broader counterterrorism strategy, given the clear links between global networks of terrorism, networks of the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, and states that harbor and support terrorists.

(5) Small arms and light weapons are the weapons of choice of terrorists and their networks. Because these groups take advantage of existing licit and illicit channels, an appropriate international response must target the suppliers of these weapons and the brokers who facilitate illicit deals and must shut down the networks that allow this trade to continue.

(6) United States military personnel, diplomats, and humanitarian workers, as well as those of the allies of the United States, are threatened by the easy availability of small arms and light weapons in conflict zones.

(7) The proliferation and ready availability of small arms and light weapons has been a major factor in the devastation in Angola, Cambodia, Liberia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Sri Lanka, East Timor, and Afghanistan and the violence endemic to narco-trafficking in Colombia, Mexico, Thailand, and Myanmar, and has contributed significantly to war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in Cambodia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, East Timor, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo.

(8) The case of Afghanistan, where the Taliban and the al Qaeda network were able to amass a small arms and light weapons arsenal from various actors in the regional and international illicit trade, including through links to the international drug trade, other regional terrorist groups, and donations from certain individuals in other countries in the region, and from support of the civil war in Afghanistan by various countries, clearly demonstrates how a country can become a threat to regional and even global peace and security if it is continuously flooded by various actors with small arms and light weapons and if arms embargoes are systematically broken.

(9) The proliferation of small arms and light weapons continues to threaten civilians and members of the Armed Forces of the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, undermine stabilization and reconstruction efforts Iraq and Afghanistan, and complicate efforts to establish effective and viable governments in those countries.

(10) The United States and the international community took an important step toward promoting global standards in the transfer of small arms and light weapons in completing in 2001 the Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, their Parts and Components, and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime.

(11) The United States, as a major supplier country, has a special obligation to promote responsible practices in the transfer of small arms and light weapons.

(12) Because semiautomatic assault weapons and related equipment, the manufacture, transfer, or possession of which is unlawful under section 922 of title 18, United States Code, are easily diverted to terrorist networks, the abstention by the United

States from all transfers, for commercial use, of such weapons and equipment would assist efforts to limit the global proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

(13) To be successful in such efforts, it is necessary for the United States to work with other countries to improve effective international standards.

(14) The United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, held in New York from July 9 to 20, 2001, represented an opportunity to develop better national and international regulations to control the trade in illicit small arms and light weapons. However, the Program of Action did too little to advance international standards in the transfer of small arms and light weapons.

(15) At the First Biennial Meeting of States to Consider the Implementation of the United Nations Programme of Action on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects in July 2003, Assistant Secretary of State Lincoln P. Bloomfield offered a progress report on the implementation by the United States of the United Nations Programme of Action on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects and asserted that the United States has done much to implement the recommendations of the Programme. Nonetheless, there is an urgent and pressing need for a greater United States commitment to eradicating the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.

It is the sense of Congress that, because of the interest of the United States in combating international crime, preventing the diversion of small arms and light weapons to narco-traffickers, international organized criminal networks, terrorists, and recipients engaged in gross and consistent violations of internationally recognized human rights and international humanitarian law, and promoting fairness in international trade, the United States should--

(1) support the effort to negotiate a binding instrument on international small arms transfers, such as the global Arms Trade Treaty; and

(2) enter into negotiations for international agreements on--

(A) the marking and tracing of small arms and light weapons;

(B) regulations for the activities of arms brokers;

(C) greater transparency in licensing and export of small arms and light weapons; and

(D) the establishment of an international regime for the destruction of surplus weapons and the security of stockpiles.

SEC. 4. DECLARATIONS OF POLICY.

(a) AFFIRMATION OF POLICY- It is the policy of the United States--

(1) to maintain the highest standards for the management of, restraint in, and safety in the export of small arms and light weapons and the safety in the transfer abroad of small arms and light weapons;

(2) to refrain from exporting small arms and light weapons that might be used for internal repression or international aggression or contribute to regional instability; and

(3) to increase the number of end-use checks of United States transfers in small arms and light weapons and to improve the quality of end-use monitoring, particularly the cooperation between United States missions abroad and the Office of Defense Trade Control.

(b) CONTINUATION OF EXISTING POLICIES- It is the policy of the United States--

(1) under section 502B(a)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, not to provide security assistance, including the transfer of small arms and light weapons, to any recipient that engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights;

(2) that, in an effort to protect the legitimate trade in small arms and light weapons, and to ensure United States laws are enforced, individuals subject to the jurisdiction of the United States engaged in arms brokering activities register with the Department of State and obtain a license for each transaction;

(3) to carry out rigorous end-use checks of transfers in small arms and light weapons in order to prevent illegal retransfers of United States small arms and light weapons;

(4) not to authorize for export to commercial end-users semiautomatic assault weapons, or related equipment, the manufacture, transfer, or possession of which is unlawful under section 922 of title 18, United States Code; and

(5) to continue to observe the `Statement of Common Principles on Small Arms and Light Weapons' agreed to by the United States and the European Union at the December 17, 1999, summit in Washington, D.C.

SEC. 5. INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS.

(a) ADHERENCE TO PROHIBITION ON EXPORTS- It is the sense of Congress that the President should enter into negotiations with foreign parties, beginning with the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states, for an international agreement not to export to commercial end-users semiautomatic assault weapons, or related equipment, the manufacture, transfer, or possession of which is unlawful under section 922 of title 18, United States Code.

(b) MARKING OF SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS- It is the sense of Congress that the President should make best efforts to conclude an international agreement on the marking of small arms and light weapons for international export as advocated by the Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components, and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, adopted by United Nations General Assembly resolution 55/255 on June 8, 2001.

(c) ENFORCEMENT OF UNITED NATIONS ARMS EMBARGOES- It is the sense of Congress that the President should enter negotiations at the United Nations level in order to improve the enforcement of United Nations arms embargoes insofar as they relate to small arms and light weapons. The President should propose to the United Nations Security Council the establishment of an arms embargo monitoring unit at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

(d) COMPREHENSIVE AGREEMENT-

(1) IN GENERAL- It is the sense of Congress that the President should enter into negotiations on a legally binding international agreement or agreements with foreign parties, beginning with the European Union, that would comprise the following elements:

(A) The marking and tracing of small arms and light weapons.

(B) Regulating the activities of arms brokers, including an international register and watchlist of arms brokers.

(C) Greater transparency in the licensing and export of small arms and light weapons.

(D) A prohibition against the transfer of small arms and light weapons to recipients engaged in gross and consistent violations of internationally recognized human rights and international humanitarian law.

(E) Establishment of an international regime for the destruction of surplus weapons and the security of stockpiles.

(2) PERIODIC REPORTS- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and semiannually thereafter, the President shall submit an unclassified report to the appropriate congressional committees describing the progress toward negotiating an agreement or agreements described in paragraph (1).

(e) IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAM OF ACTION OF UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE-

(1) IN GENERAL- It is the sense of Congress that the President should make best efforts to advance international negotiations to implement the Program of Action of the 2001 United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, as well as to advance and extend the goals of the Program of Action, including--

(A) establishing national regulations and international agreements on arms brokering;

(B) establishing national regulations and international agreements on the marking and tracing of small arms and light weapons;

(C) promoting greater security for weapons stockpiles held by states;

(D) efforts to carry out more effective post-conflict disarmament and demobilization programs;

(E) criminalizing the production, possession, stockpiling, and trade of illicit small arms and light weapons; and

(F) advancing the role of civil society and nongovernmental institutions in addressing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

(2) PERIODIC REPORTS- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and not later than December 31 of every year thereafter through 2006, the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a report describing the activities undertaken, and the progress made, by the Department of State or other agencies and entities of the United States Government in implementing the goals of the Program of Action, including specific steps taken to assist other countries in implementing the Program of Action.

SEC. 6. NATO PROGRAMS.

(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS- It is the sense of Congress that the President should propose at the North Atlantic Council--

(1) the establishment among North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members of a program on stockpile management, security, and destruction of small arms and light weapons; and

(2) the establishment of cooperative programs on stockpile management, security, and destruction of small arms and light weapons with non-NATO states of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

(b) REPORTS- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and semiannually thereafter, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an unclassified report describing progress made toward the establishment of the programs referred to in subsection (a).

SEC. 7. INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION AGAINST THE ILLICIT MANUFACTURING OF AND TRAFFICKING IN FIREARMS, AMMUNITION, EXPLOSIVES, AND OTHER RELATED MATERIALS.

(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS- It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State should encourage those countries that have not done so to sign and ratify the Inter-American Convention Against Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunitions, Explosives, and Other Related Materials, adopted at Washington November 14, 1997, and entered into force July 1, 1998.

(b) REPORTS- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report describing--

(1) the activities undertaken, and the progress made, by the Department of State or other agencies and entities of the United States Government in prompting other countries that have not done so to sign and ratify the Convention;

(2) the implementation of, and compliance with, the provisions of the Convention by states that have signed and ratified the Convention; and

(3) the recommendations made by the Consultative Committee established under the Convention, and any actions related to those recommendations taken by the United States.

SEC. 8. ANNUAL REPORT ON STATES THAT HAVE NOT COOPERATED IN SMALL ARMS PROGRAMS.

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report--

(1) listing each state that refuses to cooperate in programs related to small arms and light weapons, including programs with respect to stockpile management, security, and destruction, and describing to what degree the failure to cooperate affects the national security of such state, its neighbors, and the United States;

(2) describing the activities undertaken, and the progress made, by the Department of State or other agencies and entities of the United States Government in prompting other states to cooperate in programs related to small arms and light weapons; and

(3) recommending incentives and penalties that may be used by the United States Government to compel states to comply with programs on small arms and light weapons.

SEC. 9. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION ON CERTAIN EXPORT LICENSES.

(a) IN GENERAL- Not less than 15 days before the grant of any license for export to any country described in subsection (b) of any lethal defense article or defense service consisting of small arms or light weapons in the amount of $1,000,000 or less, the President shall provide a detailed notification thereof to the Committees on Appropriations and Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committees on Appropriations and International Relations of the House of Representatives, including a statement describing the purposes for which the article or service is being provided to the country and stating whether or not such article or service has been previously provided to such country.

(b) COVERED COUNTRIES- A country described in this section is a country where there is a clear risk that the defense article or defense service will--

(1) be used in a breach of peace or act of international aggression--

(A) to commit gross violations of human rights;

(B) to commit gross violations of international humanitarian law; or

(C) to commit acts of genocide or crimes against humanity; or

(2) be diverted to commit any of the acts described in paragraph (1).

SEC. 10. REGISTRY OF SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS SERIAL NUMBERS.

(a) IN GENERAL- Section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

`(k) REGISTRY OF SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS SERIAL NUMBERS- (1) The President shall require that, prior to the export of any firearm listed in category I of the United States Munition List that requires a license for international export under this section, the exporter shall provide the President with written identification of the serial number of the firearm to be exported.

`(2) The President shall establish and maintain a registry of each serial number provided under paragraph (1).'.

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to applications for licenses to export filed on or after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 11. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.

Nothing in this Act--

(1) interferes with the legitimate and lawful ownership and use of guns; or

(2) limits otherwise authorized activities of the United States Government.

SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES- The term `appropriate congressional committees' means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives.

(2) PRESIDENT- The term `President' means the President, acting through the Secretary of State.

(3) SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS-

(A) COVERED ITEMS- Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the term `small arms and light weapons' means revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, submachine guns, assault rifles, light machine guns, heavy machine guns, hand-held underbarrel and mounted grenade launchers, portable antiaircraft guns, portable antitank guns, recoilless rifles, portable launchers of antitank missiles and rocket systems, portable launchers of antiaircraft missile systems, mortars of calibers of less than 100 millimeter, ammunition and explosives, cartridges and rounds for small arms and light weapons, mobile containers with missiles or shells for single-action antiaircraft and antitank systems, antipersonnel and antitank hand grenades, landmines, and explosives.

(B) EXCEPTION- The term does not include any antique firearm manufactured before January 1, 1900, or any replica of such a firearm.

END