One Hundred Tenth Congressof theUnited States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
the third day of January, two thousand and eight
An Act
To authorize the transfer of naval vessels to certain foreign recipients, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE I—NAVAL VESSEL TRANSFER
SECTION 101. SHORT TITLE. This title may be cited as the `Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2008'.
SEC. 102. TRANSFER OF NAVAL VESSELS TO CERTAIN FOREIGN RECIPIENTS. (a) Transfers by Grant— The President is authorized to transfer the vessels specified in paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) of section 501(a) of H.R. 5916 of the 110th Congress, as passed the House of Representatives on May 15, 2008, to the foreign recipients specified in paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) of such section, respectively, on a grant basis under section 516 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j). (b) Grants Not Counted in Annual Total of Transferred Excess Defense Articles— The value of a vessel transferred to a recipient on a grant basis pursuant to authority provided by subsection (a) shall not be counted against the aggregate value of excess defense articles transferred in any fiscal year under section 516 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j). (c) Costs of Transfers— Any expense incurred by the United States in connection with a transfer authorized by this section shall be charged to the recipient (notwithstanding section 516(e) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j(e))). (d) Repair and Refurbishment in United States Shipyards— To the maximum extent practicable, the President shall require, as a condition of the transfer of a vessel under this section, that the recipient to which the vessel is transferred have such repair or refurbishment of the vessel as is needed, before the vessel joins the naval forces of the recipient, performed at a shipyard located in the United States, including a United States Navy shipyard. (e) Expiration of Authority— The authority to transfer a vessel under this section shall expire at the end of the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
TITLE II—UNITED STATES ARMS EXPORTS
SEC. 201. ASSESSMENT OF ISRAEL'S QUALITATIVE MILITARY EDGE OVER MILITARY THREATS. (a) Assessment Required— The President shall carry out an empirical and qualitative assessment on an ongoing basis of the extent to which Israel possesses a qualitative military edge over military threats to Israel. The assessment required under this subsection shall be sufficiently robust so as to facilitate comparability of data over concurrent years.
(b) Use of Assessment—
The President shall ensure that the assessment required under subsection (a) is used to inform the review by the United States of applications to sell defense articles and defense services under the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) to countries in the Middle East.
(c) Reports-
(1) INITIAL REPORT—
Not later than June 30, 2009, the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the initial assessment required under subsection (a). (2) QUADRENNIAL REPORT— Not later than four years after the date on which the President transmits the initial report under paragraph (1), and every four years thereafter, the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the most recent assessment required under subsection (a).
(d) Certification—
Section 36 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776) is amended by adding at the end the following: