The White House has issued a national security memorandum outlining safeguards and ensuring accountability concerning transferred defense articles and defense services.
The memorandum requires the Secretary of State to secure written assurances from foreign governments receiving defense services and articles from the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, the White House said Thursday.
The document also requires the secretaries of State and Defense to submit no later than 90 days from now a congressional report addressing the defense articles and defense services provided by the two departments.
The congressional report should include any new assurances obtained, an assessment of any credible reports, a description of procedures used to make the assessment and an analysis and evaluation of any reports indicating that the use of such defense services and articles “has been found to be inconsistent with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm.”
In the event that the reliability or credibility of assurances provided by the foreign country has been put into question, the secretary of State or Defense should report to the president and state the necessary steps to be taken to remediate the situation.
“Such remediation could include actions from refreshing the assurances to suspending any further transfers of defense articles or, as appropriate, defense services,” the memorandum reads.
