117th CONGRESS 1st Session |
To clarify that section 107 of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act applies sanctions with respect to unmanned combat aerial vehicles following a 2019 change by the United Nations providing additional clarity to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms.
December 16, 2021
Mr. Menendez (for himself and Mr. Risch) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
To clarify that section 107 of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act applies sanctions with respect to unmanned combat aerial vehicles following a 2019 change by the United Nations providing additional clarity to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Stop Iranian Drones Act of 2021”.
Congress finds the following:
(1) A United Nations General Assembly report entitled, “Continuing operation of the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms and its further development” (document A/68/140) and dated July 15, 2013, states, in paragraph 45, the following: “The Group noted the discussion of the 2006 Group that category IV already covered armed unmanned aerial vehicles and of the 2009 Group on a proposal to include a new category for such vehicles. The Group reviewed proposals for providing greater clarity to category IV. . . .”.
(2) Section 107 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 9406) requires that the President impose sanctions on any person that the President determines “knowingly engages in any activity that materially contributes to the supply, sale, or transfer directly or indirectly to or from Iran, or for the use in or benefit of Iran, of any battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles or missile systems, as defined for the purpose of the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms, or related materiel, including spare parts”.
(3) In 2019, the United Nations formally changed the title of category IV of the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms to “Combat aircraft and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV)”.
It is the policy of the United States to prevent Iran and terrorist and militia groups aligned with Iran from acquiring unmanned aerial vehicles, including commercially available component parts that can be used in attacks against United States persons and allies and partners of the United States.
SEC. 4. Amendment to Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act relating to sanctions with respect to Iran.
(a) In general.—Section 107 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 9406) is amended—
(1) in the section heading, by striking “Enforcement of arms embargos” and inserting “Sanctions with respect to major conventional arms”; and
(2) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting “or unmanned combat aerial vehicles” after “combat aircraft”.
(b) Clerical amendment.—The table of contents for the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act is amended by striking the item relating to section 107 and inserting the following:
“Sec. 107. Sanctions with respect to major conventional arms.”.
(c) Effective date; applicability.—The amendments made by this section shall—
(1) take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act; and
(2) apply with respect to any person that knowingly engages, before, on, or after such date of enactment, in any activity that materially contributes to the supply, sale, or transfer of an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (as defined by the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms)—
(A) directly or indirectly to or from Iran; or
(B) for the use in or benefit of Iran.