United States-Israel Common Defense Authorization Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8733 To authorize the President to take actions to ensure Israel is prepared for all contingencies if Iran seeks to develop a nuclear weapon, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 9, 2020 Mr. GOTTHEIMER (for himself and Mr. MAST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To authorize the President to take actions to ensure Israel is prepared for all contingencies if Iran seeks to develop a nuclear weapon, 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 ‘‘United States-Israel 4 Common Defense Authorization Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The United States Nuclear Regulatory 8 Commission defines ‘‘high-enriched uranium’’ as 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8733.IH H8733 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8733 IH uranium enriched to at least 20 percent uranium- 1 235. 2 (2) Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Ac- 3 tion, Iran agreed to refrain from producing enriched 4 uranium containing more than 3.67 percent ura- 5 nium-235 for 15 years. 6 (3) On January 13, 2019, Ali Akbar Salehi, 7 head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, 8 told the Fars News Agency, ‘‘If we want to come out 9 of the nuclear deal and produce, within four days we 10 could start our 20 percent.’’. 11 (4) On June 17, 2019, the spokesman for 12 Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Behrouz 13 Kamalvandi, suggested that Iran’s enrichment could 14 reach up to 20 percent. 15 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 16 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 17 should— 18 (1) seek to extend the limitations on Iran’s en- 19 riched uranium, including through engagement in 20 multilateral diplomatic initiatives; 21 (2) ensure that Israel and other allies are pre- 22 pared for all contingencies if Iran pursues develop- 23 ment of a nuclear weapon; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8733.IH H8733 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8733 IH (3) send a clear signal to Iran that development 1 of a nuclear weapon will never be tolerated; and 2 (4) reaffirm the United States commitment to 3 deter Iranian nuclear development with a credible 4 military threat. 5 SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT. 6 (a) STUDY.—The President, acting through the Sec- 7 retary of Defense, shall seek to conduct a study with the 8 Government of Israel on Israeli military requirements to 9 defend itself against a wide range of threats to Israel’s 10 qualitative military edge (as such term is defined in sec- 11 tion 36(h)(3) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 12 2776(h)(3))) and national security, including an Iranian 13 nuclear weapon. Such study shall include an analysis of 14 gaps in Israel’s security requirements, including infra- 15 structure, munitions, intelligence sharing, satellites, and 16 the extent to which the transfer of United States ordnance 17 to Israel would advance the national interests of both 18 countries. 19 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 20 of the enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit 21 to Congress a report that contains the results of the study 22 described in subsection (a). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 Nov 25, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8733.IH H8733 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8733 IH (c) FORM.—The report referred to in subsection (b) 1 shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include 2 a classified annex. 3 SEC. 5. ACTIONS TO ENSURE ISRAEL IS PREPARED FOR 4 ALL CONTINGENCIES IF IRAN SEEKS TO DE- 5 VELOP A NUCLEAR WEAPON. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the preliminary condi- 7 tions described in subsection (b), the President is author- 8 ized to take the actions described in subsection (c), upon 9 the request of the Government of Israel, to ensure Israel 10 is prepared for all contingencies if Iran seeks to develop 11 a nuclear weapon. 12 (b) PRELIMINARY CONDITIONS.—The President may 13 exercise the authority of subsection (a) only if the Presi- 14 dent first determines and certifies to Congress that— 15 (1) it is consistent with the results of the study 16 and report required under section 4 to do so; and 17 (2) it is vital to the national security interests 18 of the United States to do so. 19 (c) ACTIONS DESCRIBED.—The actions described in 20 this subsection are the following: 21 (1) To provide for the construction of infra- 22 structure in Israel to accommodate large ordnance 23 systems that are designed to destroy underground 24 nuclear infrastructure, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8733.IH H8733 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8733 IH (A) construction of extended runways for 1 aircraft that carry the Massive Ordnance Pene- 2 trator (MOP); 3 (B) basing options for such aircraft; and 4 (C) munition storage facilities. 5 (2)(A) To store in the territory of Israel the 6 MOP or related munitions described in paragraph 7 (1), to be used by the United States except as pro- 8 vided in subparagraph (B). 9 (B) To transfer the MOP or related munitions 10 described in paragraph (1) to Israeli custody if the 11 President determines and certifies to Congress 12 that— 13 (i) Iran— 14 (I) is in noncompliance with the NPT 15 Safeguards Agreement; 16 (II) has modified its implementation 17 of the NPT Safeguards Agreement (includ- 18 ing modified Code 3.1); or 19 (III) as determined by the President, 20 has reduced access of inspectors of the 21 Agency in such a manner so as to be prej- 22 udicial to the Agency’s ability to provide 23 confidence as to the non-diversion of de- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8733.IH H8733 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8733 IH clared nuclear material and absence of 1 undeclared nuclear activities; 2 (ii) it is vital to the national security of the 3 United States to do so; 4 (iii) Israel has no other means to achieve 5 a mutual national security objective of destroy- 6 ing Iran’s underground nuclear infrastructure 7 or facilities; and 8 (iv) a dual key control system is in place 9 requiring approval by the President, acting 10 through the Secretary of Defense (which may 11 not be further delegated) for deployment of the 12 MOP or related munitions described in para- 13 graph (1) prior to Israeli deployment of such 14 munitions. 15 (3) To provide for training of Israeli personnel 16 with respect to the MOP or related munitions de- 17 scribed in paragraph (1). 18 (4) To conduct joint research and development 19 with Israel to— 20 (A) enhance United States ordnance; and 21 (B) develop Israeli capability for ordnance 22 to destroy underground infrastructure, includ- 23 ing Hezbollah rocket storage and manufac- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8733.IH H8733 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8733 IH turing facilities and underground Iranian nu- 1 clear facilities. 2 (d) NPT SAFEGUARDS AGREEMENT DEFINED.—In 3 this section, the term ‘‘NPT Safeguards Agreement’’ 4 means the Agreement between Iran and the International 5 Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards 6 in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation 7 of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force on May 15, 8 1974. 9 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 10 Nothing in this Act may be construed to serve as an 11 authorization for the use of military force against Iran. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8733.IH H8733 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS