If an "unforeseen emergency" should arise overseas, two sections of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (P.L. 87-195, or the "FAA"), as amended, empower the President to "draw down" articles and services from existing U.S. government holdings, budgets or arsenals without awaiting congressional approval.

A "drawdown" is a transfer of weapons, parts, equipment, services or training that are not considered "excess." Drawdown provisions give the President a limited ability to shift resources from other agencies' budgets and inventories into security assistance.

Section 506 of the FAA contains two provisions which, taken together, allow the President to carry out drawdowns valued at up to $300 million per year. Of this amount, up to $100 million may be drawn down from the Defense Department for unspecified emergencies that require immediate military assistance. This provision -- known as subsection 506(a)(1) -- has not been used recently to transfer arms to the Western Hemisphere.

Subsection 506(a)(2) authorizes yearly drawdowns of up to $200 million for four purposes:

1. International narcotics control;
2. International disaster assistance;
3. Migration and refugee assistance;
4. Anti-terrorism assistance;
5. Non-proliferation assistance; or
6. Efforts to locate U.S. personnel unaccounted for from the Vietnam War or Defense Department-sponsored humanitarian projects related to such efforts
   

506(a)(2) was tapped twice in November 1998 to access $75 million in articles and services from the Department of Defense to provide disaster assistance to Central America after Hurricane Mitch. However, in the past few years 506(a)(2) has been more frequently used to provide anti-drug assistance to security forces in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Drawdowns under 506(a)(2) can come from any U.S. government agency.  The law specifies, however, that no more than $75 million per year may come from Defense Department inventories.  Counternarcotics cannot be used to justify more than $75 million per year in drawdowns under this subsection.  Large counternarcotics drawdowns designated for Latin America were made in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999.  These drawdowns often happen at the very end of the fiscal year (September 30).

Section 552 of the FAA authorizes drawdowns for international peacekeeping activities, allowing the transfer of up to $25 million per year. Haiti is the only Western Hemisphere country to have received a drawdown under section 552 in the past few years. Haiti's new civilian security forces have been the main beneficiaries.

Before carrying out a drawdown, the President must notify the House International Relations Committee, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and both appropriations committees. This notification must specify the nature and purpose of the drawdown, as well as the country or countries involved. If the drawdown is for international narcotics control or anti-terrorism assistance under section 506(a)(2), the committees must receive at least 15 days' notice.

Before a drawdown for peacekeeping under section 552, the President must determine that a peacekeeping emergency exists.

All drawdown notifications are published in the Federal Register. These notifications, however, normally do not specify the items that are to be provided. This information is included in justification documents sent to the congressional committees.

Reporting

Section 655 of the FAA requires a yearly report on arms-transfer programs. This report includes breakdowns, by country and by category, of defense articles supplied through drawdowns.