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Expanding the Defense Industrial Base Sales Act
To amend the Arms Export Control Act to authorize the use of foreign military financing for direct commercial contracts, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill would amend the Arms Export Control Act to allow foreign military financing funds to be used for direct commercial purchases of defense articles and services from private defense contractors, rather than only for sales by the U.S. Government. The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, would need to approve any country or international organization's use of foreign military financing for direct commercial contracts, subject to conditions determined to advance U.S. foreign policy and national security interests. The Secretary of State would be required to issue implementing regulations within 180 days establishing procedures for review and approval, audit and reporting standards, export control compliance, and measures to encourage participation by nontraditional defense companies. This authority would supplement, not replace, the existing foreign military sales program.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor
Actions (4)
- May 13, 2026 Ordered to be Reported Unfavorably by the Yeas and Nays: 23 - 23. · house
- May 13, 2026 Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held · house
- May 4, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. · house
- May 4, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Committee action
What happened to this bill in committee — the meetings where it was considered and every recorded vote taken on it.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 4, 2026
Mr. Baumgartner introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
A BILL
To amend the Arms Export Control Act to authorize the use of foreign military financing for direct commercial contracts, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Expanding the Defense Industrial Base Sales Act”.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF FOREIGN MILITARY FINANCING FOR DIRECT COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS.
The Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 23 the following new section:
“SEC. 23A. USE OF FOREIGN MILITARY FINANCING FOR DIRECT COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS.
“(a) Authority.—Notwithstanding section 23(h), funds made available to carry out the foreign military financing program under this Act may be used to finance the procurement by any foreign country or international organization eligible to receive such financing under this Act of defense articles, defense services, and design and construction services that are not sold by the United States Government.
“(b) Approval and Oversight.—The use of foreign military financing authorized in subsection (a) shall—
“(1) be approved by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, prior to the extension of such authority to any foreign country or international organization; and
“(2) be subject to such terms, conditions, and limitations as the Secretary of State determines appropriate to advance the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States.
“(c) Implementing Regulations.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall prescribe regulations to implement this section, including regulations relating to, with respect to foreign military financing for direct commercial contracts authorized in subsection (a)—
“(1) procedures for review and approval;
“(2) audit, reporting, and financial accountability standards;
“(3) compliance with end-use monitoring and export control requirements; and
“(4) efforts to encourage participation by nontraditional defense companies.
“(d) Rule of Construction.—The authority provided by this section is in addition to, and shall not be construed to limit or replace, the foreign military sales program otherwise authorized by this Act.”. <all>
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