Admiral James W. Nance and Meg Donovan Foreign Relations Authorization Act, 

Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001

Subtitle F--International Arms Sales Code of Conduct Act of 1999

SEC. 1261. SHORT TITLE.

This subtitle may be cited as the ``International Arms Sales Code of Conduct Act of 1999''.

 SEC. 1262. INTERNATIONAL ARMS SALES CODE OF CONDUCT. 

(a) Negotiations.--The President shall attempt to achieve the foreign policy goal of an international arms sales code of conduct. The President shall take the necessary steps to

begin negotiations within appropriate international fora not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. The purpose of these negotiations shall be to establish an international regime to promote global transparency with respect to arms transfers, including participation by countries in the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms, and to limit, restrict, or prohibit arms transfers to countries that do not observe certain fundamental values of human liberty, peace, and international stability.

       (b) Criteria.--The President shall consider the following criteria in the negotiations referred to in subsection (a):

       (1) Promotes democracy.--The government of the country--

       (A) was chosen by and permits free and fair elections;

       (B) promotes civilian control of the military and security forces and has civilian institutions controlling the policy, operation, and spending of all law enforcement and security institutions, as well as the armed forces;

       (C) promotes the rule of law and provides its nationals the same rights that they would be afforded under the United States Constitution if they were United States citizens; and

       (D) promotes the strengthening of political, legislative, and civil institutions of democracy, as well as autonomous institutions to monitor the conduct of public officials and to combat corruption.

       (2) Respects human rights.--The government of the country--

       (A) does not persistently engage in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, including--

       (i) extrajudicial or arbitrary executions;

       (ii) disappearances;

       (iii) torture or severe mistreatment;

       (iv) prolonged arbitrary imprisonment;

       (v) systematic official discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin, or political affiliation; and

       (vi) grave breaches of international laws of war or equivalent violations of the laws of war in internal armed conflicts;

       (B) vigorously investigates, disciplines, and prosecutes those responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights;

       (C) permits access on a regular basis to political prisoners by international humanitarian organizations;

       (D) promotes the independence of the judiciary and other official bodies that oversee the protection of human rights;

       (E) does not impede the free functioning of domestic and international human rights organizations; and

       (F) provides access on a regular basis to humanitarian organizations in situations of conflict or famine.

       (3) Not engaged in certain acts of armed aggression.--The government of the country is not engaged in acts of armed aggression in violation of international law.

       (4) Not supporting terrorism.--The government of the country does not provide support for international terrorism.

       (5) Not contributing to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.--The government of the country does not contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

       (6) Regional location of country.--The country is not located in a region in which arms transfers would exacerbate regional arms races or international tensions that present a danger to international peace and stability.

       (c) Reports to Congress.--

       (1) Report relating to negotiations.--Not later than 6 months after the commencement of the negotiations under subsection (a), and not later than the end of every 6-month period thereafter until an agreement described in subsection (a) is concluded, the President shall report to the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate on the progress made during these negotiations.

       (2) Human rights reports.--In the report required in sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(b) and 2304(b)), the Secretary of State shall describe the extent to which the practices of each country evaluated meet the criteria in paragraphs (1)(A) and (2) of subsection (a).

Note: There is a typographical error in the paragraph above. The last sentence should read “…the Secretary of State shall describe the extent to which the practices of each country evaluated meet the criteria in paragraphs (1)(A) and (2) of subsection (b),” not "subsection (a).” 

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