Next week, the Foreign Affairs Committee will discuss the first measure from a House task group tasked with expediting the foreign military sales process. This might be the next legislative move toward clearing the backlog in arms agreements. The law requires the withdrawal of weapons from U.S. stockpiles to make up for delayed foreign military sales, and it doubles the monetary barrier at which the president may authorize an arms transfer without informing Congress. Some proponents of arms control are opposed to it because they believe the proposal will weaken a crucial congressional monitoring system that is used to monitor arms sales to foreign nations.
Enhanced Flexibility
Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., presented the Tiger Act in December while serving as the leader of the task committee that was formed the previous year. Speaking on the bill under anonymity, a Waltz staffer stated, “The tempo of conventional high-intensity war that we’re seeing means that countries are burning through their defense equipment much faster.” “In places like Ukraine, the scarcity of 155mm shells and precision munitions caught us off guard here on the Hill.” Since Hamas’ strikes on October 7, the Biden administration has sent thousands of munitions to Israel in addition to Ukraine, all the while attempting to equip Taiwan in anticipation of a possible Chinese invasion.
Adaptation to Contemporary Threats
The measure increases from $14 million to $23 million the minimum amount that the executive branch can approve of an arms sale of significant defense equipment without notifying Congress. Additionally, it increases to $83 million the barrier for the sale of defense products, upgrades, associated training, or other services without notifying Congress. The previous level was $50 million. According to the worker, the figures were chosen to account for inflation since Congress last changed the standards in 2003.
The employee stated, “It seems common sense to ensure that countries can purchase some of these weapons without, as years go by, being increasingly penalized by rising inflation rates.” However, proponents of weapons control contend that the measure would relinquish legislative oversight power. As an advocacy and legal fellow at the Center for Civilians in Conflict in Washington, John Chappell told Defense News that “notification thresholds are really at the core of Congress’ arms sale oversight regime.”
Promotion of Defense Industry Competitiveness
Increasing the criterion would make it more difficult for Congress to learn about the planned arms transfer. Congress would therefore be unable to carry out supervision, he added, and they would also forfeit the chance to inquire about individual arms transactions, place informal holds on them, and voice concerns about problems pertaining to harm to civilians, human rights, armed conflict, and other matters. Since October 7, several U.S. weapons shipments to Israel have fallen short of the current notification criteria, according to Chappell. He also cited a 2020 State Department Inspector General investigation that revealed, between January 2017 and August 2020, the Trump administration authorized 4,221 below-threshold arms transactions totaling $11.2 billion to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Congressional Oversight
Three Republicans and two Democrats who serve on the Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, and military appropriations committees formed a bipartisan team that produced Waltz’s proposal. However, the senior Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, chose not to comment on the bill. The Waltz bill also mandates that if a sale has been postponed for three years or more, the secretary of state must utilize drawdown power from US stocks to transfer weapons to an ally or security partner.
The secretary of state may, nonetheless, disregard this clause, provided that they give Congress an explanation for doing so.The Waltz staffer stated, “This is saying that if there is a long-running [foreign military sale], the secretary must explain why it can’t be prioritized.” “Assume that we have harpoons in our arsenal and that you have an outstanding three-year sale of harpoons to Taiwan.” The staff member pointed out that the drawdown wording is still being negotiated and that changes to the measure may occur during the Foreign Affairs Committee markup the following week.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the approximately $19 billion backlog of foreign military sales to Taiwan includes harpoon anti-ship missiles, which can be attributed in part to contracting delays and limitations on the U.S. industrial base. There have been delays in arms sales to a number of other US allies, particularly those in the Middle East. Chappell countered that the clause may be used to get over legislative blocks on arms transfers, which are occasionally imposed for human rights concerns, and that it would make “presidential drawdown authority specifically a routine occurrence.”
