A bipartisan bill submitted to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) by Democratic Senator Cory Booker and Republican Senator Jerry Moran would extend the duration of the U.S. waiver on the arms embargo on the Republic of Cyprus from one to five fiscal years. The aim is to give U.S.-Cyprus military cooperation greater stability without requiring an annual renewal of the exemption.
A committee vote at the SFRC is scheduled for Wednesday, 22 October. Although final approval by the full U.S. Senate will still be required, a positive committee vote would significantly boost the bill’s legislative momentum.
Link to the House of Representatives
In the House of Representatives, Congressman Chris Pappas has included a parallel provision in the State Department Reauthorization Act (SDRA), the annual bill that sets policies and priorities for U.S. diplomacy. There is no identical Senate version of the SDRA. This means the embargo measure must either advance as a standalone bill approved by both chambers or be incorporated as an amendment into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets the annual U.S. defence budget. If the Booker-Moran bill clears the SFRC and the House has already advanced the provision through the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) via the SDRA, the chances improve that the language will appear in the final NDAA text.
What the Booker-Moran bill changes
The Senate bill amends two core statutes that currently require annual renewal of the Cyprus waiver. It revises Section 205 of the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act of 2019 (EastMed Act) and Section 1250A of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 NDAA. In both laws, the bill replaces the phrase “one fiscal year” with “five fiscal years,” so the suspension of the embargo would not need yearly reapproval by the U.S. Department of State but would remain in effect for five years before requiring review.
Source: AMNA