[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4502 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4502
To impose requirements with respect to monitoring the operational use
of sales, exports, and transfers of defense articles and services, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 17, 2025
Ms. Jacobs (for herself, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Mr. Keating, and Mr.
Castro of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To impose requirements with respect to monitoring the operational use
of sales, exports, and transfers of defense articles and services, 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 ``Silver Shield Operational End Use
Monitoring Act of 2025'' or the ``Silver Shield Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF SILVER SHIELD OPERATIONAL END-USE MONITORING
PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment of Operational End-Use Monitoring Program.--
(1) In general.--In order to improve accountability with
respect to defense articles and defense services sold, leased,
transferred, or exported under the Arms Export Control Act (22
U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) or the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the President shall establish a
program, to be known as the ``Silver Shield'' program, to
provide for operational end-use monitoring of such articles and
services.
(2) Requirements of program.--The Silver Shield program
shall--
(A) be designed to monitor whether there is
credible information that a recipient used defense
articles or defense services from the United States to
inflict civilian harm, violate international
humanitarian law, or violate international human rights
law;
(B) determine through operational end-use
monitoring whether defense articles or defense services
from the United States were used to commit--
(i) genocide;
(ii) crimes against humanity;
(iii) grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions of 1949; or
(iv) other serious violations of
international humanitarian or human rights law;
(C) require a determination of ineligibility,
pursuant to section 3 of the Arms Export Control Act,
should a determination described in subparagraph (B) be
affirmative, including a timeline of 180 days to
complete such determinations on such allegations of
violation;
(D) incorporate data, best practices, and lessons
learned from the implementation of--
(i) the Civilian Harm Incident Response
Guidance;
(ii) programs to carry out the requirements
of section 362 of title 10, United States Code
and section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d) (collectively
referred to as the ``Leahy Laws'');
(iii) National Security Memorandum 20;
(iv) the Golden Sentry End-Use Monitoring
Program; and
(v) the Blue Lantern program; and
(E) incorporates sources of information for
monitoring including--
(i) reports submitted by United States
Government personnel, including United States
embassy, Defense Security Cooperation Agency,
or combatant command personnel;
(ii) eyewitness interviews;
(iii) publicly available photographic and
video evidence;
(iv) satellite imagery;
(v) credible reports by non-governmental
organizations and media;
(vi) intelligence information;
(vii) information submitted through a
publicly available online portal to be
integrated with the Human Rights Reporting
Gateway;
(viii) relevant forensic investigations;
(ix) site visits by United States
Government personnel; and
(x) any other credible sources of
information regarding the use of United States
origin defense articles or defense services in
inflicting civilian harm or to commit a
violation of international humanitarian law or
international human rights law.
(3) Coordination.--The Silver Shield program shall be
established in the Department of State and shall be implemented
through coordination between the following:
(A) The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, which shall in coordination with the Bureau of
Political-Military Affairs of the Department of State
be responsible for directing and managing the
implementation of the program.
(B) The Office of the Secretary, the Defense
Security Cooperation Agency, and the Civilian
Protection Center of Excellence of the Department of
Defense.
(C) Any other Federal department or agency the
President determines relevant to the establishment or
implementation of the Silver Shield program.
(4) Consultation.--The Silver Shield program shall take
such steps as may be necessary to consult as appropriate with
relevant experts affiliated with federally funded research and
development corporations, non-governmental organizations, and
academic institutions.
(b) External Advisory Board.--The President shall establish an
external advisory board comprising recognized academic and non-
governmental experts in investigations regarding the monitoring of the
usage of defense articles or services in civilian harm or violations of
international law. The heads of the agencies listed in subsection
(a)(3) shall periodically consult with the external advisory board with
respect to--
(1) research methodology;
(2) information sources;
(3) investigative best practices; and
(4) any other such information within the expertise of the
advisory board and relevant to implementation of this Act.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE ARMS EXPORT CONTROL ACT.
(a) Arms Export Control Act.--Section 3 of the Arms Export Control
Act (22 U.S.C. 2753) is amended by adding at the end of the section the
following--
``(h) Agreement Relating to Use of Defense Articles and Services.--
In addition to any other requirements under this Act, the President
shall take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that--
``(1) prior to authorizing or licensing the sale, export,
or transfer of any defense article or defense service to a
foreign country or international organization, the Secretary of
State shall enter into a written agreement with the appropriate
counterparts providing that the government of such country or
that such international organization will not use any defense
article or defense service of United States origin--
``(A) to commit or facilitate a violation of
international humanitarian law or international human
rights law; or
``(B) in an action that would render the government
or organization ineligible to receive United States
assistance or arms transfers as a matter of United
States law; and
``(2) if defense articles are sold, exported, or
transferred to a foreign country pursuant to an agreement
otherwise in accordance with the requirements of this Act in
which the intended end-user has not been identified at the unit
level for purposes of the vetting required by section 362 of
title 10, United States Code or section 620M of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d), the written agreement
required by paragraph (1) for such sale, export, or transfer
shall instead include a list of units ineligible to receive
such articles, consistent with applicable provisions of United
States law.''.
(b) Eligibility for Defense Articles or Services.--
(1) Arms export control act.--Section 3(a) of the Arms
Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2753(a)) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and promote
world peace'' and inserting ``, will promote world
peace and the safety of civilians,'';
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph
(5); and
(D) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following
new paragraph:
``(4) the country or international organization shall have
agreed not to use such article or service to commit or
facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian
law or international human rights law; and''.
(2) Foreign assistance act of 1961.--Section 505 of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2314) is amended--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) by striking ``(a) Conditions of
Eligibility'' and all that follows through the
matter preceding paragraph (1) and inserting
the following:
``(a) Conditions of Eligibility.--In addition to such other
provisions as the President may require, no defense articles or related
training or other defense service shall be furnished to any country or
international organization on a grant basis unless it shall have agreed
that--'';
(ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ``;
and'' and inserting a semicolon;
(iii) by redesignating paragraph (4) as
paragraph (5); and
(iv) by inserting after paragraph (3) the
following new paragraph:
``(4) it will not use such articles or services to commit
or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian
law or international human rights law; and''; and
(B) in subsection (e), by striking ``subsection
(a)(1) or (a)(4)'' each place it appears and inserting
``subsection (a)(1) or (a)(5)''.
(c) Authorized Purpose for Military Sales.--Section 4 of the Arms
Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2754) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``legitimate'' before ``internal
security''; and
(2) by inserting ``, to the extent that such defense
articles and defense services will not be used in the
commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian
law or international human rights law. The violation of
international humanitarian law or international human rights
law may not be construed to be an authorized purpose for
military sales or leases by the United States.'' after ``such
friendly countries''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take
effect 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(e) Updates to Existing Policy.--
(1) Secretary of state.--The Secretary of State shall--
(A) subsume the Civilian Harm Incident Response
Guidance into the requirements of this Act to carry out
the Department's operational end-use monitoring
responsibilities; and
(B) review other relevant policy and doctrine and,
as necessary, amend any such policy or doctrine to
ensure consistency with such amendments and to carry
out such responsibilities.
(2) Secretary of defense.--The Secretary of Defense shall--
(A) reissue Department of Defense Instruction
4140.66 to ensure consistency with the amendments made
by this Act to carry out the Department's operational
end-use monitoring responsibilities; and
(B) review other relevant policy and doctrine and,
as necessary, amend any such policy or doctrine to
ensure consistency with such amendments and to carry
out such responsibilities.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) Authorization.--There is authorized to be appropriated such
sums as may be necessary to implement the Silver Shield program
described in section 2.
(b) Application of Foreign Military Sales Administrative
Surcharge.--The Silver Shield program shall be considered an
administrative service of the administration of sales made pursuant to
section 21(e)(1) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2761).
(c) Application of Foreign Military Financing Administrative
Funds.--The Silver Shield program shall be considered an administrative
and operational cost of the Department of State related to military
assistance and sales pursuant to funds authorized to carry out title IV
of the annual Acts making appropriations for the State Department,
Foreign Operations, and Related programs (relating to the heading
Foreign Military Financing program).
SEC. 5. REPORTS.
(a) Report on Required Resources.--Not later than 180 days after
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report on the necessary
resources, staffing, and authorities to implement the Silver Shield
program and requirements described in section 2(a).
(b) Annual Implementation Report.--Not later than 1 year after the
establishment of the program required by section 2, and annually
thereafter as a part of the annual congressional presentation documents
submitted under section 634 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2394), the President shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report describing the actions taken to
implement this Act and the amendments made by this Act, including the
following:
(1) A detailed accounting of the costs and number of
personnel associated with the Silver Shield program.
(2) Resource constraints associated with the implementation
of the program, including staffing, funding, and authorities.
(3) The numbers and range of operational end-use monitoring
of United States arms transfers.
(4) The number of identified incidents for which
investigations have not yet been initiated.
(5) The number and status of ongoing investigations,
including the stage they are in, how long such incidents have
remained in such stage, and if any have remained in such stage
for more than 1 year.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(a) Appropriate Congressional Committees.--The term ``appropriate
congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on
Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on
Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate.
(b) Civilian Harm.--The term ``civilian harm'' means civilian
casualties, damage to or destruction of civilian objects, and
significant adverse effects on the civilian population and the
personnel, organizations, resources, infrastructure, essential
services, and systems on which civilian life depends resulting from
military operations.
(c) Defense Article; Defense Service.--The terms ``defense
article'' and ``defense service'' have the meanings given those terms
in section 47 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2794).
(d) Operational End-Use Monitoring.--The term ``operational end-use
monitoring'' means gathering and assessing information regarding the
use of a defense article or defense service, including in civilian
harm, violations of international humanitarian law, or international
human rights law.
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