HR 8817

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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 14, 2026

Ms. Johnson of Texas (for herself, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Keating, Mr. Bacon, and Mr. Carbajal) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

A BILL

To permit the transfer of United States defense articles and defense services among the Baltic states.

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 “Facilitating Operational Readiness Through Inter-Baltics Flexibility Act” or the “FORTIFY Act”.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that—

(1) the Baltic states play an important role in deterring aggression by the Russian Federation due to the strategic geographic location of the Baltic states in relation to—

(A) the ongoing war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation; and

(B) the Russian Federation’s increasing interest in Europe overall; and

(2) if the Baltic states were given standing permission and the capability to use the defense articles and services of each other Baltic state, and were provided the training to do so, the Russian Federation would likely assume that the entire combined fleet in the Baltic states could operate at any time anywhere in the Baltic region, which would significantly complicate Russian Federation planning and enhance deterrence at no cost.

SEC. 3. PERMISSION TO TRANSFERS UNITED STATES DEFENSE ARTICLES AND DEFENSE SERVICES AMONG BALTIC STATES.

(a) Exemptions From Requirement for Consent To Transfer.—

(1) In general.—Notwithstanding section 3(a)(2) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2753(a)(2)) and Section 505(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2314(a)(1)), retransfers of any defense article or defense service among the Baltic states shall not require prior Presidential consent.

(2) Prior agreements.—

(A) Consent to transfer not required.—Any agreement between the United States and a Baltic state under section 3 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2753) with respect to any defense article or defense service shall not require the Baltic state to seek approval from the United States to transfer such article or service to any other Baltic state.

(B) Modification.—With respect to any agreement under section 3(a)(2) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2753(a)(2)) in effect as of the date of the enactment of this Act that requires the consent of the President before a Baltic state may transfer a defense article or defense service, the United States shall modify such agreement so as to remove such requirement with respect to such a transfer to any other Baltic state.

(b) Common Coalition Key.—The Secretary of Defense shall establish among the Baltic countries a common coalition key within the Baltic states for the purpose of sharing ammunition for any defense article or service among the Baltic states for training and operational purposes.

(c) Definitions.—In this section:

(1) Baltic state.—The term “Baltic state” means the following:

(A) Estonia.

(B) Lithuania.

(C) Latvia.

(2) Defense article; defense service.—The terms “defense article” and “defense service” have the meanings given such terms in section 47 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2794). <all>