Sec. 2. Sense of Congress
231 words·~1 min read·
/bill/116/s/854/is/section-2A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
It is the sense of Congress that— the advancement of human rights is critically important to the security, stability, peace, and prosperity of United States allies and partners, and the United States Government should promote the increased observance of internationally recognized human rights globally; as the world’s oldest democracy and the largest arms exporter, the human rights standards that the United States sets on arms transfers has global ramifications, influencing standards set by other nations around the world; global arms transfers continue to flow into conflict zones and countries rife with internal repression at an alarming rate; the United States Government has the ability to determine whether United States arms transfers are used to commit gross violations of human rights and other violations of United States law;
Congress took strong action to prohibit, in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), sales of defense articles or services to any country whose government engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights; and Congress should take further action to ensure that arms transfers— are not used to commit or facilitate violations of internationally recognized human rights or violations of international humanitarian law in conflict zones; and are provided only to countries that are demonstrably improving their efforts to protect the human rights and freedoms of their citizens and to promote participation and accountability in governance.