Title II — Enhanced United States-Israel cooperation

S. 3176 · 116th Congress · Jan 9, 2020 · Lineage

II Enhanced United States-Israel cooperation

Sec. 201 United States Agency for International Development memoranda of understanding to enhance cooperation with Israel

(a)

Sense of Congress regarding USAID policy— It is the sense of Congress that the United States Agency for International Development should cooperate with Israel to advance common goals across a wide variety of sectors, including energy, agriculture, food security, democracy, human rights, governance, economic growth, trade, education, environment, global health, water, and sanitation.

(b)

Memoranda of understanding— The Secretary of State, acting through the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, may enter into memoranda of understanding with Israel to advance common goals on energy, agriculture, food security, democracy, human rights, governance, economic growth, trade, education, environment, global health, water, and sanitation, with a focus on strengthening mutual ties and cooperation with nations throughout the world.

Sec. 202 Cooperative projects among the United States, Israel, and developing countries

Section 106 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151d) is amended by striking subsection (e) and (f) and inserting the following:

“(e) There are authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2020 through 2024 to finance cooperative projects among the United States, Israel, and developing countries that identify and support local solutions to address sustainability challenges relating to water resources, agriculture, and energy storage, including—

“(1) establishing public-private partnerships;

“(2) supporting the identification, research, development testing, and scaling of innovations that focus on populations that are vulnerable to environmental and resource-scarcity crises, such as subsistence farming communities;

“(3) seed or transition-to-scale funding, publicity and marketing promotional support, or mentorship and partnership brokering support; and

“(4) accelerating demonstrations or applications of local solutions to sustainability challenges, or the further refinement, testing, or implementation of innovations that have previously effectively addressed sustainability challenges.”

Sec. 203 Joint cooperative program related to innovation and high-tech for the Middle East region

(a)

Sense of Congress— It is the sense of Congress that—

(1)

the United States should help foster cooperation in the Middle East region by financing and, as appropriate, cooperating in projects related to innovation and advanced technologies; and

(2)

projects referred to in paragraph (1) should—

(A)

contribute to development and the quality of life in the Middle East region through the application of research and advanced technology; and

(B)

contribute to Arab-Israeli cooperation by establishing strong working relationships that last beyond the life of such projects.

(b)

Establishment— The Secretary of State, acting through the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, is authorized to seek to establish a program between the United States, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip to provide for cooperation in the Middle East region by financing and, as appropriate, cooperating in projects related to innovation and advanced technologies.

(c)

Project requirements— Each project carried out under the program established pursuant to subsection (b)—

(1)

shall include the participation of at least 1 entity from Israel and 1 entity of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip; and

(2)

should include participation from not fewer than 3 or more such entities to the maximum extent practicable.

Sec. 204 Sense of Congress on United States-Israel economic cooperation

It is the sense of Congress that—

(1)

the United States-Israel economic partnership—

(A)

has achieved great tangible and intangible benefits to both countries; and

(B)

is a foundational component of the strong alliance;

(2)

science and technology innovations present promising new frontiers for United States-Israel economic cooperation, particularly in light of widespread drought, cybersecurity attacks, and other major challenges impacting the United States; and

(3)

the President should regularize and expand existing forums of economic dialogue with Israel and foster both public and private sector participation.

Sec. 205 Cooperation on directed energy capabilities

(a)

Authority—

(1)

In general— The Secretary of Defense, upon a request from the Ministry of Defense of Israel, and with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, is authorized to carry out research, development, test, and evaluation activities, on a joint basis with Israel, to establish directed energy capabilities that address threats to the United States, deployed forces of the United States, or Israel. Any activities carried out under this paragraph shall be conducted in a manner that appropriately protects sensitive information, the national security interests of the United States, and the national security interests of Israel.

(2)

Report— The activities described in paragraph (1) may be carried out after the Secretary of Defense submits a report to the appropriate congressional committees that includes—

(A)

a memorandum of agreement between the United States and Israel regarding sharing of research and development costs for the capabilities described in paragraph (1), and any supporting documents; and

(B)

a certification that the memorandum of agreement referred to in subparagraph (A)—

(i)

requires sharing of costs of projects, including in-kind support, between the United States and Israel;

(ii)

establishes a framework to negotiate the rights to any intellectual property developed under the memorandum of agreement; and

(iii)

requires the United States Government to receive semiannual reports on expenditure of funds, if any, by the Government of Israel, including—

(I)

a description of what the funds have been used for and when funds were expended; and

(II)

the identification of entities that expended such funds.

(b)

Support in connection with activities—

(1)

In general— The Secretary of Defense is authorized to provide maintenance and sustainment support to Israel for the directed energy capabilities research, development, test, and evaluation activities authorized under subsection (a)(1), including the installation of equipment that is necessary to carry out such research, development, test, and evaluation.

(2)

Report— The support described in paragraph (1) may not be provided until 15 days after the Secretary of Defense submits a report to the appropriate congressional committees that describes in detail the support to be provided.

(3)

Matching contribution— The support described in paragraph (1) may not be provided unless the Secretary of Defense certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Israel will contribute to such support—

(A)

an amount equal to not less than the amount of support to be so provided; or

(B)

an amount that otherwise meets the best efforts of Israel, as mutually agreed to by the United States and Israel.

(c)

Lead agency— The Secretary of Defense shall designate an appropriate research and development entity of a military department as the lead agency of the Department of Defense in carrying out this section.

(d)

Semiannual report— The Secretary of Defense shall submit a semiannual report to the appropriate congressional committees that includes the most recent semiannual report provided by the Government of Israel to the Department of Defense pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(B)(iii).

Sec. 206 Contingency plans to provide Israel with necessary defense articles and services

(a)

In general— The President, acting through the Secretary of Defense and in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall establish and update, as appropriate, contingency plans to provide Israel with defense articles and services that are determined by the Secretary of Defense to be necessary for the defense of Israel.

(b)

Congressional briefing— Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall brief the appropriate congressional committees regarding the status of the contingency plans required under subsection (a).

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Jan 9, 2020viewing Reported in Senate Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Coons, Ms. Collins, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Jones, Mrs. Capito, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Markey, Mr. Grassley, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Young, Mr. Hawley, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Hassan, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Casey, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Booker, Mrs. Loeffler, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Perdue, Mr. Warner, Mr. Braun, Mr. Tester, Ms. Smith, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Moran, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Thune, and Ms. Rosen) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations See what changed
Jan 9, 2020 Introduced in Senate Mr. Rubio (for himself and Mr. Coons) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations