Federation of American Scientists
Arms Sales Monitoring Project
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 11, 1997
Contact: Jeff Donarski
Phone: (202) 675-1016

In an overwhelming show of support, the U.S. House of Representatives voted last night to attach the "Arms Transfer Code of Conduct" to the fiscal year 1998-99 State Department authorization act. A bipartisan group of members of Congress joined the primary sponsors, Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and spoke in support of the measure, known as the "no arms for dictators" amendment. No Representatives spoke in opposition of this amendment.

The Code of Conduct requires the President to submit to Congress, once a year, a list of countries that meet four basic eligibility criteria in order to import American weapons. The conditions set out in the Code are: democratic form of government; non-aggression; respect for basic human rights of citizens; and full participation in the U.N. Register of Conventional Arms.

Exports may continue to those nations which do not meet the criteria if the President submits a national security waiver to Congress. Importantly, this amendment places into arms export law primary foreign policy tenets of past and present U.S. administrations and raises the level of scrutiny on arms exports to regimes which may be less stable because of repressive or aggressive behavior.

Rep. Rohrabacher, a former speech-writer for President Ronald Reagan, noted emphatically that in a post-Cold War world limiting arms transfers to repressive regimes "is not a liberal or a conservative issue," but rather a moral and security issue. Invoking the nation's founding fathers, Rep. Rohrabacher said that the criteria contained in this legislation mirror the principles on which the United States was established.

The passage of the Code of Conduct marks the first time in years that the full House of Representatives has passed a major reform on policies governing arms exports. Passage of the measure also demonstrates the strength of the citizens' campaign, which has promoted the Code. Over 200 national human rights, development, religious, and arms control organizations support the legislation.

The passage of the U.S. Code of Conduct amendment also mirrors progress being made in the international arena. Earlier this month, 15 Nobel Laureates --- including the Dalai Lama, Elie Wiesel, Dr. Oscar Arias, Jose Ramos Horta, and Betty Williams --- kicked off a campaign to establish an international Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers. Moreover, the European Union and United Kingdom are actively pursuing similar measures.