HR4481-119

Introduced

To amend the Arms Export Control Act to modify the authorities relating to the Special Defense Acquisition Fund.

119th Congress Introduced Jul 17, 2025

Legislative Progress

Introduced
Introduced Committee Passed
Jul 17, 2025

Mr. Aderholt (for himself, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Panetta, and Mr. …

Summary

What This Bill Does

The Accelerate Revenue for Manufacturing and Sales (ARMS) Act modifies the Special Defense Acquisition Fund (SDAF) under the Arms Export Control Act. It removes existing restrictions on how proceeds from defense sales can be credited to the fund, allowing greater flexibility in managing defense article deliveries to foreign partners.

Who Benefits and How

  • U.S. Defense Manufacturers: Benefit from increased foreign demand, larger production runs, and economies of scale through expanded SDAF authorities
  • U.S. Defense Industrial Base: Gains stronger, more agile production capacity to meet global demand
  • Allied and Partner Nations: Benefit from faster delivery times and more predictable access to U.S. defense systems
  • Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program: Enhanced efficiency through streamlined acquisition processes

Who Bears the Burden and How

  • Federal Budget/Taxpayers: Less oversight over how SDAF proceeds are used may reduce fiscal accountability
  • Arms Control Advocates: Relaxed restrictions may concern those focused on limiting weapons proliferation
  • Congressional Oversight: Reduced visibility into specific funding flows within the SDAF

Key Provisions

  1. Section 1: Establishes the short title as the "ARMS Act"
  2. Section 2: Provides Congressional findings supporting expansion of SDAF, including data on foreign demand exceeding domestic procurement
  3. Section 3: Amends the Arms Export Control Act to remove restrictions on crediting sales proceeds to SDAF
Model: claude-opus-4-5-20251101
Generated: Jan 16, 2026 04:30

Evidence Chain:

This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

Primary Purpose

Expands the Special Defense Acquisition Fund (SDAF) by removing restrictions on how sales proceeds can be used, enabling faster and more efficient delivery of defense articles to allied and partner nations.

Policy Domains

Defense Foreign Policy Trade

ARMS Act — Defense Sales Fund Expansion

Likely Beneficiaries
  • U.S. Defense Manufacturers
  • U.S. Defense Industrial Base
  • Allied and Partner Nations
  • Foreign Military Sales Program
Model: claude-opus-4-5-20251101 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Allied and Partner Nations:
U.S. Defense Manufacturers:
U.S. Defense Industrial Base:
Foreign Military Sales Program: ,
Likely Burden Bearers
  • Arms Control Oversight
  • Congressional Budget Oversight
Model: claude-opus-4-5-20251101 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Arms Control Oversight:
Congressional Budget Oversight:

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Defense Foreign Policy Trade
Actor Mappings
"congress"
→ U.S. Congress
"the_president"
→ President of the United States (Arms Export Control Act authority)

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

4 terms
"ARMS Act" §1

Short title for "Accelerate Revenue for Manufacturing and Sales Act"

"Special Defense Acquisition Fund (SDAF)" §2

A revolving fund used to finance advance procurement of defense articles before formal sales agreements are completed, reducing delivery times to foreign partners

"Direct Commercial Sales (DCS)" §2_dcs

Commercial sales of defense articles directly from U.S. manufacturers to foreign buyers

"Foreign Military Sales (FMS)" §2_fms

U.S. government-to-government sales of defense articles and services to foreign nations

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology