STEADFAST Act
Latest action · Jul 12, 2023 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJul 12, 2023
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Speeding the Execution of Arms Deliveries for Allies and Securing Trust Act or the STEADFAST Act
This bill addresses issues related to foreign military sales, including by establishing deadlines for responses to certain requests.
Specifically, the bill requires responses to requests within a certain number of days, with different deadlines for different types of requests. For example, if an eligible foreign purchaser submits a letter of request for pricing and availability data, the Department of Defense (DOD) must ensure that the relevant agency responds within 45 days of receipt. If a defense industry provider applies for a license to release sensitive technology as part of foreign military sales negotiations, the Department of State must issue a decision within 120 days of receiving the completed application.
DOD must modify the foreign military sales process to prioritize certain countries (e.g., Israel, Japan, and NATO members) for rapid technology release review and rapid acquisition of U.S. defense articles and services.
Furthermore, the bill increases the value thresholds that a contract must exceed before that contract is subject certain contracts to congressional oversight. (Congress may block a proposed transaction for defense articles or services if the contract's value is above certain thresholds.)
The bill also establishes the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Technology Cooperation and Security Review.
The bill expands eligibility for certain assistance under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to include activities performed in any country, whereas currently the activities must be performed in the United States or Canada.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jul 12, 2023Introduced in Senate
- Jul 12, 2023Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: International Affairs.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jul 12, 2023Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.