As readers of the Round-Up know, every year the annual National Defense Authorization bill (NDAA) is an occasion – in both the House and Senate — for members to submit many, many, many, many (etc) amendments (see the Round-Up’s tracking of amendments offered in the House to the FY23).  Many of these amendments have nothing to do with the underlying bill. All of them reflect pet issues/initiatives of various members of Congress, including with respect to the Middle East. As such, regardless of whether the amendments are ever voted on, they are worth paying attention to, offering a valuable window into the intentions/plans/aspirations of lawmakers.

The table below tracks all Middle East-related amendments (that I could find) offered in the Senate to HR 7900, the FY23-NDAA-Turned-FY23-Omnibus (to be updated as more amendments are submitted, and as actions are taken on amendments).

A few things to note:

• The amendments listed in the table are NOT seeking to amend the House-passed HR 7900 text. The Senate’s consideration of the bill will be based on SA 5499 – an “amendment in the nature of a substitute” offered by the chair and ranking members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, comprised of the SASC-passed version of the FY23 NDAA. For full Middle East-related details of that text, see the 7/22/22 edition of the Round-Up.
• Many of these amendments are identical to (or nearly identical to) existing bills — sometimes major legislation — previously introduced by senators but having gone nowhere. By re-introducing the initiates as amendments, senators are in fact seeking to get their initiatives passed without any normal consideration/oversight/debate (a tactic that is often successful — this is how laws often get made, notwithstanding the comforting fairy tale many of us learned from Schoolhouse Rock).
• The FY23 NDAA (HR 7900 — passed by the House, and S. 4543 — by the Senate Armed Services Committee) includes authorizations not only for DOD but also for Military Construction, and Department of Energy. Amendments offered in the Senate include full authorization bills for other accounts, including State and Foreign Operations (SFOPS) and Intelligence.

This table will be updated as more amendments are introduced or voted on.

Last update: 10/12/22 at 10:17am EST

Amdt #	Subject	Sponsor(s)	Title/Summary	Related bill(s) previously introduced	Final status
SA 5523	Repeal AUMFs	Durbin (D-IL)	To add a section entitled, “Termination Of Authorizations For The Use Of Military Force And Declarations Of War.”
SA 5569	Iran/Human Rights	Toomey (R-PA) and Cardin (D-MD)	To add a section titled the “Masih Alinejad Harassment and Unlawful Targeting Act of 2022” or the “Masih Alinejad HUNT Act of 2022”, requiring a report and the imposition of sanctions – with limited exceptions/waivers, on persons “responsible for or complicit in abuses toward dissidents on behalf of the government of Iran”and on “foreign financial institutions conducting significant transactions with persons responsible for or complicit in abuses toward dissidents on behalf of the government of Iran.”	See:  S.3347 (introduced by Toomey on 12/8/21);  for further details see reporting in the 12/10/21 and 12/3/21 editions of the Round-Up.
SA 5608	Targeting Iran/nuclear diplomacy	Hagerty (R-TN)	To add a  section entitled, “Congressional Review Of Certain Actions Relating To Sanctions Imposed With Respect To Iran” As described by its backers (when it was intro’d as a freestanding bill), this legislation is “an effort that would enable Congress to approve—or block—any effort by the administration to suspend or terminate U.S. sanctions against the Iranian regime.”	See: S. 488, (introduced by Hagerty 2/25/21 and currently having 41 all-Republican cosponsors). As a reminder, Hagerty also tried (and failed) to add this text to the December 2021 Continuing Resolution, and as an amendment to last year’s NDAA.  See previous reporting in the Round-Up – 2/26/21, 3/5/21, 3/12/21, 12/3/21
SA 5662	Targeting UNRWA & Palestinian Education	Kennedy (R-LA)	To add a section entitled, “Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education,” including requiring the Secretary of State to submit a report to Congress “reviewing the curriculum used in schools in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority or located in Gaza and controlled by any other entity.”	See: HR 2374, the “Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act” (the version before HFAC’s markup inserting language targeting the use of the word “apartheid”). For further information see the 4/9/21, 9/9/22 and 9/16/22 editions of the Round-Up.
SA 5669	Targeting boycotts of Israel and/or settlements	Kennedy (R-LA)	To require “a report on whether any contractor of the Department of Defense participates in or supports any organized effort or organization that, based on a belief that Israel is oppressing Palestinians, promotes a boycott of, removal of investments from, or economic sanctions against Israel or any person or entity in Israel.”	On 7/29/33 Jewish Insider reported on remarks by Cotton (R-AR) stating his plan to introduce legislation to “prevent the military from contracting with any companies that engage in boycotts of Israel.” For details see the 7/22/22 edition of the Round-Up
SA 5684	Repeal AUMFs	Kaine (D-VA)	To add a section entitled, “Repeal of Authorizations for Use of Military Force Against Iraq.”	See: Young, Kaine Call For Repeal of 2002 AUMF Ahead of 20th Anniversary
SA 5702	Targeting Iran/nuclear diplomacy	Cruz (R-TX) + 7 Senate Republicans	To add a new section entitled “Termination Of Certain Waivers Of Sanctions With Respect To Nuclear Activities In Or With Iran.”	See: S. 3857, (introduced 3/16/22 by Cruz & currently having 12 all-Republican cosponsors), which earlier this month Cruz tried to attach to the 2023 State Department Authorization bill during SFRC mark-up; for details see the 3/18/22 edition of the Round-Up.
SA 5707	Targeting Iran/ potential investments in US	Cruz (R-TX)	To add a section entitled “Review By Committee On Foreign Investment In The United States Of Real Estate Purchases Or Leases Near Military Installations Or Military Airspace.” The section focuses on acts if a foreign person “owned or controlled by..acting for or on behalf of, or receives subsidies from” a list of countries including the Islamic Republic of Iran	See: S. 1278, (introduced 4/21/21 by Cruz and currently having two Republican cosponsors); for details see the 4/23/21 edition of the Round-Up
SA 5716	Targeting Palestinians and UNRWA	Scott (R-FL)	To add a section (misleadingly) entitled, “Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act”, legislating that (a) no US funding can go to Gaza until the President certifies that no such funds will in any way benefit Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or any other terrorist organization, or anyone who in any way is linked to, or controlled/influenced by any such group, and (b)  no US funds may go to Gaza via any UN agency “ unless the President certifies to the congressional committees referred to in subsection (b) that such entity or office is not encouraging or teaching anti-Israel or anti-Semitic ideas or propaganda.”	See: S. 1899 (introduced 5/27/21 by Scott and currently having three Republican cosponsors); for details see the 5/28/21 edition of the Round-Up
SA 5754	Turkey	Menendez (D-NJ)	To add a section entitled, “Limitation on transfer of F-16 Aircraft” — banning sales to “the Government of Turkey, or to any agency or instrumentality of Turkey” unless the president makes a certification to Congress related to US national interest and to Greece-Turkey.	See: Menendez (D-NJ) tweet -“An #NDAA amendment is only one tool at our disposal to advance US interests in the Eastern Med. Let me be clear: as #SFRC Chairman, I will not approve any F-16 case for Turkey until Erdogan halts his campaign of aggression across the region. Full stop.”	See: U.S. Senate Drops Amendments Restricting F-16s Sale to Turkey (Greek Reporter 10/12/22)
SA 5767	Targeting UNRWA, legislating Palestinian refugees out of existence & Adopting the IHRA definition of Antisemitism	Risch (R-ID)	To add a new subtitle to the bill entitled “UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act”	See: S. 3467 (introduced 1/10/22 by Risch and 6 Republican cosponsors – none adeed since it was introduced) and S. 2479 (introuced by Risch 7/27/21). This legislation: attacks/seeks to de-fund UNRWA (the organization); attacks Palestinian refugees (legislating them out of existence); delegitimizes Palestinian history/narrative/rights (by targeting the mere idea of the right of return); attacks non-violent protest of Israel via boycotts of either Israel or settlements (citing an Obama-era trade law to conflate the two); and legislates/weaponizes a definition of “antisemitism” that explicitly conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. For further details see the 1/14/22 edition of the Round-Up.
SA 5776	Yemen	Cruz (R-TX)	To add a section entitled, “Imposition of sanctions with respect to Ansarallah“	See: S. 3532 (Introduced 1/20/22 by Cruz (R-TX) and 12 Republican cosponsors); for further details see 1/21/22 edition of the Round-Up.
SA 5782	Syria	Marshall (R-KS), Risch (R-ID) and Rounds (R-SD)	To add a section entitled, “Interagency strategy to disrupt and dismantle narcotics production and trafficking and affiliated networks linked to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.“	See: S. 3392 (introduced 12/14/21 by Marshall); for details see the 12/17/21 edition of the Round-Up. Also offered by Marshall as an amendment to the FY22 NDAA; for further details see the 11/19/21 edition of the Round-Up.	Per list posted by random Twitter account closely following Senate NDAA, this amendment made it into the Senate bill
SA 5795	Arms Exports & Human Rights	Murray (D-WA)	To add sections entitled, “Required assessment of risk of exported weapons being used to violate principles of human rights or the law of armed conflict” and “Consideration of risk of violations of human rights or the law of armed conflict in issuing export licenses“	See: S.3558 (Introduced 2/2/22 by Murray and having no cosponsors); for details see the 2/4/22 edition of the Round-Up.  (The amendment represents just a small part of the original bill)
SA 5826	Targeting Iran/nuclear diplomacy	Risch (R-ID) and Menendez (D-NJ)	To add a section entitled, “Stop Iranian Drones Act“	See: S. 3421 (introduced 12/16/21 by Menendez and Risch, and currently having 24 bipartisan cosponsors) and HR 6089 (introduced by McCaul, R-TX, passed by the House 4/27/22 and passed by the SFRC 6/9/22); for further details see the 12/17/21, 4/29/22, & 6/10/22 editions of the Round-Up.
SA 5839	MENA personnel in US Armed Forces	Stabenow (D-MI)	To add a section entitled, “Study on feasibility of gathering demographic information on Middle East and North African (MENA) personnel“
SA 5844	Targeting Iran/nuclear diplomacy	Graham (R-SC) and Menendez (D-NJ)	To add a section entitled, “Iran Nuclear Weapons Capability Monitor Act of 2022“	See: S. 4554 (introduced 7/19/22 by Graham & Menendez, and currently having no other cosponsors); for further details see the 7/22/22 edition of the Round-Up.	Per list posted by random Twitter account closely following Senate NDAA, this amendment made it into the Senate bill. On 10/11/22, Graham tweeted that this was the case.
SA 5858	Syria	Shaheen (D-NH) and Graham (R-SC)	To add a section entitled, “Modification of establishment of coordinator for detained ISIS members and relevant populations in Syria”	See:  S. 4996: Introduced 9/28/22 Shaheen (D-NH) and Graham; for further details see the 9/30/22 edition of the Round-Up.
SA 5881	Saudi Arabia/WMD	Markey (D-MA) and Merkley (D-OR)	To add a new subtitle, “Stopping Activities Underpinning Development In Weapons of Mass Destruction Act” or the “SAUDI WMD Act”	See: S. 1146 (Introduced 4/15/21 by Markey and Merkley, and having no other cosponsors) — “To counter Saudi Arabia’s possible pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and for other purposes.” For further details see the 4/16/21 edition of the Round-Up.
SA 5884	Lebanon	Menendez (D-NJ)	To add a section entitled, “Assistance to Lebanese institutions of higher learning“
SA 5908	Saudi Arabia/Khashoggi Murder	Wyden (D-OR), Leahy (I-VT) and Van Hollen (D-MD)	To add a section entitled, “Report on entities connected to foreign persons identified as involved in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi“	See: S. 544 (introduced 2/25/19) and S. 3658 (introduced 11/27/18) [not identical to the amendment but similar objectives]
SA 5924	Targeting Iran/nuclear diplomacy	Scott (R-SC) and Hagerty (R-TN)	To add a section entitled, “Repeal Sunset Provision of Iran Sanctions Act of 1996.”	See: S. 4746, (introduced 8/2/22 and having 3 bipartisan cosponsors)
SA 5932	Targeting Palestinians/United Nations	Scott (R-SC) and Rosen (D-NV)	To add a section entitled the “COI Elimination Act”, to withhold from the U.S. contribution to the UN Human Rights Council an amount equal to 22% of the amount budgeted for the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian (the COI), unless the Secretary of State certifies that the COI has been abolished.	See: S. 4389 (introduced 6/14/22 by Scott and Rosen and having 11 cosponsors); for further details see the 6/17/22 edition of the Round-Up.
SA 5946	Egypt	Durbin (D-IL), Murphy (D-CT), Leahy (I-VT), Merkley (D-OR), Brown (D-OH)	To add a section stating: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, funds appropriated pursuant to the Foreign Military Financing Program for assistance for Egypt for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 shall be disbursed to the Foreign Military Sales Trust Fund.”	Also see Durbin press release: Durbin Files NDAA Amendments To Hold Egypt Accountable For Disappearances Of Family Members Of Illinois Resident
SA 5953	Iran	Padilla (D-CA)	To add a section entitled “Iran Hostages Congressional Gold Medal“	See: S. 2607 (introduced 8/4/21 by Padilla D-CA and currently having 69 bipartisan cosponsors); for further details see the 8/6/21 edition of the Round-Up
SA 5978	Yemen	Lee (R-UT)	To add language extending the prohibition “on in-flight re-feuling of non-United States aircraft that engage in hostilities in the ongoing civil war in Yemen”
SA 6001	Syria	Lee (R-UT)	To add a section entitled, “Prohibition on use of funds to provide assistance to vetted Syrian opposition“
SA 6058	US-Israel cyber sharing	Risch (R-ID)	To add a section entitled, “Sharing cyber capabilities and related information with foreign operational partners” including Israel.
SA 6082	Egypt	Murphy (D-CT)	To add a section entitled, “Transfer of Excess Oliver Hazard Perry-Class Guided-Missile Frigates to Egypt.”
SA 6083	Egypt/Jordan- IMF	Murphy (D-CT)	To add a section entitled “Review of Loan Surcharge Policy of International Monetary Fund” [incl: “Surcharges increased Ukraine’s borrowing costs on its IMF lending program by nearly 27 percent, Jordan’s by 72 percent, and Egypt’s by over 104 percent.“]
SA 6102	Regional security/Israel normalization	Risch (R-ID)	To add a section entitled, “Authority to enter into a cooperative agreement to protect civilians in Iraq and on the Arabian peninsula from weaponized unmanned aerial systems.” [Includes Sense of Congress that the US “should improve cooperation with allies, including Israel, and like-minded partners to systematically map out, expose, and disrupt missile and drone procurement networks used by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and other Iranian proxies targeting United States forces and assets and United States allies and partners in the region”
SA 6106	Turkey	Thune (R-SD)	To add a section entitled, “Procurement of S-400 air defense missile system from Republic of Turkey and transfer to Ukraine.”
SA 6140	Iran	Toomey (R-PA)	To add a title: “Masih Alinejad HUNT Act of 2022″	See: S. 3347
SA 6161	civilian casualties	Warren (D-MA), Murphy (D-CT), Leahy (I-VT), & Durbin (D-IL)	To add a section entitled, “Annual report on civilian casualties in connection with united states military operations.”	See: S. 4108
SA 6178	Yemen	Merkley (D-OR)	To add a new section entitled, “Guidance on investigations of use of United States-origin defense articles in Yemen.”
SA 6180	Saudi Arabia/UAE/Yemen	Merkley (D-OR)	To add a new section entitled, “Ceasefire Protection Measures” [related to “any ceasefire or cessation of hostilities among the military forces aligned with and under the control of the internationally recognized Government of Yemen, Ansar Allah, the Saudi- and Emirati-led coalition, and any other armed group”]
SA 6181	Saudi Dissidents	Merkley (D-OR) & Markey (D-MA)	To add a section entitled, “Protection of Saudi Dissidents“	See: HR 1392
SA 6207	Israeli Settlements	Markey (D-MA), Van Hollen (D-MD), Sanders (I-VT) and Baldwin (D-WI)	To add a section entitled, “Report on Israeli settlement activity in occupied West Bank.“
SA 6236	US-Israel Artificial Intelligence Cooperation	Rubio (R-FL)	To add a section entitled,”United States – Israel artificial intelligence center“	See: S. 2120	Per list posted by random Twitter account closely following Senate NDAA, this amendment made it into the Senate bill
SA 6267	Egypt/MFO	Rosen (D-NV)	To add a section entitled, “Sense of Congress and Briefing on Multinational Force & Observers“
SA 6291	Human Rights	Cornyn (R-TX)	To add a section entitled, “Review and controls on export of items with critical capabilities to enable human rights abuses.“
SA 6314	Iran/Turkey	Shaheen (D-NH) and 10 bipartisan cosponsors	To add a new subtitle to the bill: “Black Sea Security“. Includes: “the United States should explore efforts to rebuild trust and bilateral relations with Turkey, a key NATO Ally in the Black Sea region and a bulwark against Iran“
SA 6334	Egypt	Brown (D-OH)	To add a section entitled, “Report on Political Prisoners in Egypt”
SA 6343	ISIS	Van Hollen (D-MD)	To add a section entitled, “Report on ongoing threat posed by ISIS“
SA 6344	Human Rights	Van Hollen (D-MD)	To add a section entitled, “Upholding Human Rights Abroad“
SA 6345	Turkey	Van Hollen (D-MD)	To add a section entitled, “Limitation on transfer of F-16 aircraft“	See: Menendez (D-NJ) tweet -“An #NDAA amendment is only one tool at our disposal to advance US interests in the Eastern Med. Let me be clear: as #SFRC Chairman, I will not approve any F-16 case for Turkey until Erdogan halts his campaign of aggression across the region. Full stop.”	See: U.S. Senate Drops Amendments Restricting F-16s Sale to Turkey (Greek Reporter 10/12/22)
SA 6370	Syria	Rubio (R-FL)	To add a section entitled, “Modification Of Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019.”
SA 6371	Green light for US defense activities in the Gulf	Cotton (R-IN)	To delete a section in the bill and repleace it with text reading: ““(c) Rule of Construction.–Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit– (1) United States counterterrorism cooperation with Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates against al-Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or associated forces; (2) the United States Armed Forces from protecting members of the United States Armed Forces and United States persons and interests in the region against hostile action by Iran or groups backed by Iran; (3) support intended to assist Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, or other members of the Saudi-led coalition in defending against threats emanating from Yemen to their sovereignty or territorial integrity, the sovereignty or territorial integrity of any other United States partner or ally, or the safety of United States persons or property, including– (A) threats from ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, or unmanned aerial vehicles; and (B) explosive boat threats to international maritime traffic; (4) the provision of humanitarian assistance; or (5) the preservation of freedom of navigation.”
SA 6379	Israel/UN	Risch (R-ID) & Whitehouse (D-RI)	To add a new subtitle to the bill: “Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs Act of 2022“. Includes adding new required reporting on UN General Assembly resolutions “specifically related to Israel that are opposed by the United States”
SA 6435	Iran	Cantwell (D-WA) and Wicker (R-MS)	To add a new division to the bill: “Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2022“. Includes section entitled, “Assessment of Iran sanctions relief on Coast Guard operations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.”	Per list posted by random Twitter account closely following Senate NDAA, this amendment made it into the Senate bill
SA 6443	Iran	Cantwell (D-WA) and Wicker (R-MS)	To add a new division to the bill: “Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2022“. Includes section entitled, “Assessment of Iran sanctions relief on Coast Guard operations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.”
SA 6446	Iran & Syria/FARA	Cornyn (R-TX) and Whitehouse (D-RI)	To add a new section entitled “Treatment of exemptions under FARA” to add a list of “countries of concern” including Syria and Iran.
SA 6453	Iran	Graham (R-SC) and Menendez (D-NJ)	To add a new section entitled, “Iran Nuclear Weapons Capability and Terrorism Monitoring Act of 2022“
SA 6465	US-Israel AI cooperation	Rubio (R-FL)	To add a section entitled, “United States – Israel Artificial Intelligence Center Act”	See: S. 2120
SA 6470	Iran & Syria/FARA	Cornyn (R-TX) and Whitehouse (D-RI)	To add a new section entitled “Treatment of exemptions under FARA” to add a list of “countries of concern” including Syria and Iran.
SA 6474	Oil Cartels (code for KSA/OPEC)	Grassley (R-IA) Klobuchar (D-MN), Lee (R-UT), Leahy (I-VT), & Durbin (D-IL)	To add a new title entitled, “No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2022” or “NOPEC”