S. 854: Enhancing Human Rights Protections in Arms Sales Act of 2019

116th Congress · introduced 2019-03-25 · International Affairs · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

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Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2019-03-25 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Enhancing Human Rights Protections in Arms Sales Act of 2019

Plain summary

Enhancing Human Rights Protections in Arms Sales Act of 2019 This bill requires the Department of State to certify that a proposed recipient of certain controlled defense articles and services complies with various human rights-related requirements. For each proposed export of articles and services that fall within certain categories of the U.S. Munitions List, excluding ground-based missile defense systems, the State Department shall make various certifications, including that during the fiscal year in which the transfer will take place, the articles or services will not be used in hostilities where the receiving government has committed gross violations of internationally recognized human rights; during the last three fiscal years and the one in which the transfer took place, the receiving government has not ordered ethnic cleansing or used child soldiers; and the receiving government will facilitate unfettered civilian access to humanitarian relief in any conflict it is engaged in. The State Department shall report to Congress if it learns of facts that contradict a certification made in the last three years. The President may waive the certification requirement for national security purposes, unless Congress enacts a joint resolution prohibiting the transaction. The State Department shall report to Congress a strategy to ensure human rights protections for U.S. military assistance and arms transfers. The bill expands an existing monitoring program to include monitoring to ensure that arms and services exported as foreign assistance are not being used by non-state actors and proxies for committing gross human rights abuses.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Enhancing Human Rights Protections in Arms Sales Act of 2019

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD] · 8 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Rand Paul (R-KY), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Christopher Murphy (D-CT)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (4)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Fiscal year: The 12-month period a government uses for its budget. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30 and is named for the calendar year in which it ends. Most states use July 1 to June 30.
Joint resolution: In Texas, the type of measure the Legislature uses to propose a constitutional amendment (marked HJR or SJR). The governor does not sign or veto it; the voters decide. In Congress a joint resolution can also be used like a bill. In Florida, a joint resolution passed by three-fifths of the members of each chamber puts a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-116s854.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/116/s>

Record fed-us-cong116-s854 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116