This annual bill provides legal authority for new and existing programs carried out by the State Dept. and USAID, the funds for which are appropriated in the annual State Dept. and Foreign Operations Appropriations Act (S. 3241 of 5/24/12).
The section of the bill directly relevant to Israel authorizes the president to ‘establish special licensing procedures’ to sell items not designated as ‘major defense equipment or significant military equipment’ to major U.S. allies, including Israel.
Iran and Syria are also mentioned in the bill. They are among a handful of states that are not permitted destinations for the export of commercial satellites or other related technology.
Since 2002, no Foreign Relations Authorizations Acts have been passed in Congress, let alone signed into law. This bill passed in the House with bipartisan support (7/17/12) after 40 minutes of debate, the tone of which was conciliatory. -Former chairman of the House Cmte. on Foreign Affairs Howard Berman summed up the consensus in his statement on the floor of the House, ‘On balance, I do support this bill. It’s not perfect. The authorization numbers are well below the FY13 requested levels, lower than what I think is needed to exert strong and effective global leadership, and in a perfect world, I would have preferred a more comprehensive bill that authorizes the full range of our global activities.’ Throughout the floor remarks, there was a sense of resignation about the bill’s prospects; also notable was the lack of any discussion about Israeli security.
See also: S. 3241 of 5/24/12, H.R. 5857 of 5/25/12, and H.R. 4310 of 3/29/12.
Last major action: 7/18/12 referred to Senate cmte. (7/17/12 passed in House 333–61).