Guaranteeing Israel’s QME Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8494 To reaffirm the critical role of congressional consultation and to require appropriate deliberation to assess the effects of the sale or export of major defense equipment to countries in the Middle East on the quali- tative military edge of Israel, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 1, 2020 Mr. SCHNEIDER (for himself, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. KATKO, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. REED, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. BERA, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. TRONE, Mr. CISNEROS, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. ROSE of New York, Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico, and Mr. SUOZZI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Af- fairs A BILL To reaffirm the critical role of congressional consultation and to require appropriate deliberation to assess the effects of the sale or export of major defense equipment to countries in the Middle East on the qualitative mili- tary edge of Israel, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Guaranteeing Israel’s 4 QME Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8494.IH H8494 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8494 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) The recent signing of the Abraham Accords 3 and establishment of full diplomatic relations be- 4 tween United Arab Emirates and Bahrain with 5 Israel represents a historic step towards perusing 6 peace and security for all peoples in the Middle East 7 region. 8 (2) Israel remains the most important and most 9 reliable strategic ally of the United States in the 10 Middle East. 11 (3) The enactment of the United States-Israel 12 Strategic Partnership Act of 2014 (Public Law 113– 13 296) established Israel as a major strategic partner 14 of the United States. 15 (4) Certain countries and non-state actors in 16 the Middle East region have been at war, both de- 17 clared and undeclared, with Israel since its founding 18 in 1948. 19 (5) For more than 50 years, the United States 20 has worked to ensure Israel’s qualitative military 21 edge when considering the sale or export of defense 22 articles and defense services to Israel or to others in 23 the Middle East region. 24 (6) Maintaining a substantial qualitative mili- 25 tary edge is critical to preserving Israel’s safety and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8494.IH H8494 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8494 IH security, and has been a vital consideration in all 1 previous sales of weapons to the region. 2 (7) Since 2008, the United States commitment 3 to Israel’s qualitative military edge has been estab- 4 lished and reaffirmed several times in law. 5 (8) In 2016, the United States and Israel 6 signed a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding, in 7 which the United States committed that ‘‘the acqui- 8 sition of additional U.S.-produced capabilities and 9 technology provide the best means to ensure Israel 10 preserves its Qualitative Military Edge (QME)’’. 11 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 12 It is the sense of Congress that the President, con- 13 sistent with long established United States law and in sup- 14 port of one of the most important United States allies, 15 must ensure that any sale or export of defense articles 16 or defense services to countries in the Middle East region 17 does not in any way adversely affect Israel’s qualitative 18 military edge. 19 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENT AND CONSULTATION RE- 20 GARDING ISRAEL’S QUALITATIVE MILITARY 21 EDGE. 22 Section 36(h) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 23 U.S.C. 2776(h)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 24 lowing: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8494.IH H8494 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8494 IH ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—The Presi- 1 dent shall seek to consult with appropriate officials 2 of the Government of Israel for information regard- 3 ing Israel’s qualitative military edge before making 4 a determination under paragraph (1). 5 ‘‘(5) INITIAL DETERMINATION WITH RESPECT 6 TO LETTERS OF REQUEST.—Not later than 60 days 7 after the date of a letter of request for defense arti- 8 cles or defense services subject to this section, the 9 President shall submit to Congress an unclassified 10 determination with respect to the impact fulfilling 11 such request would have on Israel’s qualitative mili- 12 tary edge, and offer to provide supplemental classi- 13 fied briefing on such determination.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8494.IH H8494 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS