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1 1 (January 10, 2000)

handle is hein.crs/crsahgw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS20428 January 10, 2000 Excess Defense Articles: Grants and Sales to Allies and Friendly Countries Richard F. Grimmett Specialist in National Defense Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Summary The Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program provides one means by which the United States can advance foreign policy objectives - assisting friendly and allied nations through provision of equipment excess to the requirements of its own defense forces. The current program is an outgrowth of military assistance programs developed by the United States in the 1950s and 1960s to provide allies and friends with relatively inexpensive military items during the Cold War. Since many EDA recipients already have U.S. military equipment in their inventories, U.S. EDA items can supplement earlier acquisitions at a reduced cost to the recipient. They can be made available through outright grants or sales at a depreciated price. Among objectives furthered by transfer of EDA are assisting modernization efforts of U.S. allies, assisting in multilateral peacekeeping efforts, combating illegal narcotics production and narco-trafficking, and aiding de-mining programs. United States Partnership for Peace (PfP) initiatives have been augmented by providing grant EDA materiel which meets NATO standards; supplying such equipment helps fulfill modernization and standardization needs of eligible PfP partners in a timely and less costly manner. This report provides background on the EDA program. It gives the rationale for the program, discusses the key elements of the program, and how it operates. It provides data on recent EDA transactions, and also discusses the means by which Congress oversees the program and its uses. The report will be updated only if significant developments occur regarding the EDA program. Legal Authority Authority for the EDA program is found in section 516 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2321j). Under current law, the President is authorized to transfer excess defense articles if: * such articles are drawn from existing stocks of the Defense Department; Congressional Research Service + The Library of Congress CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web