Allied Defense Sales Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8665) to require the implementation of a strategy to encourage foreign partners to participate in the foreign military sales and direct commercial sales processes on a multinational basis, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 8665.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, it has long been recognized by our partners and allies that the American foreign military sales system is slow, inefficient, and opaque. While the benefits outweigh the costs for many of our closest allies, it takes a real investment of personnel, time, and resources for our foreign partners to be able to successfully participate in our foreign military sales.

American-made defense systems remain the most effective, advanced, and sought-after in the world, but we need to keep expanding our base of foreign partners that purchase American defense systems.

H.R. 8665, the Allied Defense Sales Act, is a bipartisan effort to break down barriers for smaller allies and smaller countries that do not have a longstanding defense sales relationship with the United States.

This bill allows smaller countries to pool resources and participate in the foreign military sales system, expanding America's circle of equipped, interoperable allies without requiring new foreign aid spending.

I thank my colleague Mr. Zinke of Montana, the sponsor of this bill, who led the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Foreign Arms Sales Task Force and has continued the important work of ensuring America remains the partner of choice for foreign defense sales.

This legislation passed the Foreign Affairs Committee with broad bipartisan support, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting it on the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim), who is the chairwoman of the East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it is essential that we do everything we can to equip our allies, big and small, with the best U.S. defense technology, ensuring that we remain interoperable with our partners in a conflict. This legislation is a key step forward to strengthening the U.S. defense industrial base and bolstering our allies' defense capabilities with the best equipment anywhere on the globe, the United States of America equipment, which is generations beyond everybody else's.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 8665, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 8665, the Allied Defense Sales Act.

As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Foreign Military Sales Task Force, I am proud to cosponsor this bipartisan bill introduced by our task force chair, Representative Zinke.

H.R. 8665 is a practical step forward to strengthen our defense industrial base while reinforcing partnerships with trusted partners.

America produces the most advanced and reliable defense systems in the world. Our partners across Europe, Asia, and beyond consistently prefer U.S. equipment for its quality, performance, and the security relationships that come with it. Yet, many smaller nations face significant obstacles when pursuing individual purchases. The administrative burden, minimum order sizes, and unpredictable timelines often discourage sales that would otherwise benefit both our allies and American industry.

H.R. 8665 addresses these challenges head-on. The bill directs the State Department to develop a clear strategy for enabling multinational procurement. A partner nation would agree to serve as the lead nation to enable a multinational procurement, ensuring other qualified allies are able to participate in important foreign military sales.

By combining demand, we can achieve more predictable production schedules, lower unit costs, faster deliveries, and greater overall efficiency for manufacturers here at home.

This model also improves interoperability among our partners, allowing them to work more seamlessly alongside U.S. forces and with one another.

This legislation requires the Department to assess allied interest, identify suitable lead coordinators, examine financing options for partners that may not qualify for standard programs, address regulatory hurdles under existing export laws, and highlight opportunities to make more U.S. capabilities available for export. The Department will need to regularly report to Congress on implementation and on its results.

In an era when competitors are aggressively marketing their systems abroad, we must make it easier for allies to choose American. This bill does that without compromising our rigorous oversight or security standards.

It supports good-paying jobs in defense manufacturing hubs nationwide, including in Orange and Riverside Counties in my district, which many aerospace and defense primes, SMEs,

and startups call home. It enhances collective deterrence and advances U.S. foreign policy that prioritizes both economic strength and strategic advantage.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 8665 is a commonsense step forward. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of a bill I co-led with Representative Zinke regarding the promotion of multicountry defense article purchases, which can result in lower prices, greater efficiencies, and interoperability for our allies and partners.

While most foreign defense sales are conducted by individual countries as purchasers, multicountry purchases can provide more competitive pricing, coordination, and other benefits, including for smaller countries that are less frequent purchasers, as well as multinational alliances.

This bill directs the Secretary of State to develop and implement a strategy to encourage U.S. foreign partners to participate in the foreign military sales, FMS, and direct commercial sales, DCS, processes on a multinational basis.

The bill also includes reporting requirements providing Congress with details on this strategy and its implementation. While multinational purchases are not currently prohibited by statute, this bill requires a strategy for socializing, promoting, and making available said options for multinational cases to purchasing countries and an accompanying report to Congress.

This will be beneficial to both the U.S. and our partners and allies and provides helpful additional information to Congress as we conduct necessary oversight over this initiative. Therefore, I am pleased to support it, and I encourage my colleagues to do so, as well.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill will promote multicountry defense article purchases that will, in practice, lower prices, boost interoperability, and provide other benefits. It will help streamline these purchases, including for multinational alliances and smaller countries. I support this bill and encourage my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.