§2561. Humanitarian assistance

(a) Authorized Assistance.-(1) To the extent provided in defense authorization Acts, funds authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Defense for a fiscal year for humanitarian assistance shall be used for the purpose of providing transportation of humanitarian relief and for other humanitarian purposes worldwide.

(2) The Secretary of Defense may use the authority provided by paragraph (1) to transport supplies intended for use to respond to, or mitigate the effects of, an event or condition, such as an oil spill, that threatens serious harm to the environment, but only if other sources to provide such transportation are not readily available. The Secretary may require reimbursement for costs incurred by the Department of Defense to transport supplies under this paragraph.

(b) Availability of Funds.-To the extent provided in appropriation Acts, funds appropriated for humanitarian assistance for the purposes of this section shall remain available until expended.

(c) Status Reports.-(1) The Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional committees specified in subsection (f) an annual report on the provision of humanitarian assistance pursuant to this section for the prior fiscal year. The report shall be submitted each year at the time of the budget submission by the President for the next fiscal year.

(2) Each report required by paragraph (1) shall cover all provisions of law that authorize appropriations for humanitarian assistance to be available from the Department of Defense for the purposes of this section.

(3) Each report under this subsection shall set forth the following information regarding activities during the previous fiscal year:

(A) The total amount of funds obligated for humanitarian assistance under this section.

(B) A comprehensive list of humanitarian assistance efforts for which support was provided under this section, disaggregated by foreign partner country, amount obligated, and purpose specified in subsection (b).

(C) A description of the manner in which such efforts address-

(i) the humanitarian needs of the foreign partner country; and

(ii) Department of Defense objectives and broader United States national security objectives.

(D) A description of any transfer of nonlethal excess supplies of the Department of Defense made available for humanitarian relief purposes under section 2557 of this title, including, for each such transfer-

(i) the date of the transfer;

(ii) the entity to which the transfer is made; and

(iii) the quantity of items transferred.

(d) Report Regarding Relief for Unauthorized Countries.-In any case in which the Secretary of Defense provides for the transportation of humanitarian relief to a country to which the transportation of humanitarian relief has not been specifically authorized by law, the Secretary shall notify the congressional committees specified in subsection (f) and the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and House of Representatives of the Secretary's intention to provide such transportation. The notification shall be submitted not less than 15 days before the commencement of such transportation.

(e) Definition.-In this section, the term "defense authorization Act" means an Act that authorizes appropriations for one or more fiscal years for military activities of the Department of Defense, including authorizations of appropriations for the activities described in paragraph (7) of section 114(a) of this title.

(f) Congressional Committees.-The congressional committees referred to in subsections (c)(1) and (d) are the following:

(1) The Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

(2) The Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.

(Added Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title III, §304(c)(1), Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2361 , §2551; amended Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title XIII, §1312, Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 474 ; Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title X, §1067(1), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 774 ; renumbered §2561 and amended Pub. L. 106–398, §1 [[div. A], title X, §1033(b)(1), (c)(1)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654 , 1654A-260; Pub. L. 108–136, div. A, title III, §312(d), Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1430 ; Pub. L. 112–239, div. A, title X, §1076(f)(31), Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat. 1953 ; Pub. L. 117–263, div. A, title X, §1053(a), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 2777 .)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2022-Subsec. (c)(3)(A). Pub. L. 117–263, §1053(a)(1), substituted "assistance" for "relief".

Subsec. (c)(3)(B) to (D). Pub. L. 117–263, §1053(a)(2), added subpars. (B) to (D) and struck out former subpars. (B) and (C) which read as follows:

"(B) The number of scheduled and completed transportation missions for purposes of providing humanitarian assistance under this section.

"(C) A description of any transfer of excess nonlethal supplies of the Department of Defense made available for humanitarian relief purposes under section 2557 of this title. The description shall include the date of the transfer, the entity to whom the transfer is made, and the quantity of items transferred."

2013-Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 112–239 substituted "Committee on Foreign Affairs" for "Committee on International Relations".

2003-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 108–136 designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2).

2000-Pub. L. 106–398, §1 [[div. A], title X, §1033(b)(1)], renumbered section 2551 of this title as this section.

Subsec. (c)(3)(C). Pub. L. 106–398, §1 [[div. A], title X, §1033(c)(1)], substituted "section 2557" for "section 2547".

1999-Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 106–65 substituted "Committee on Armed Services" for "Committee on National Security".

1996-Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–106, §1312(1), (2), redesignated subsec. (d) as (b) and struck out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: "Authority To Transfer Funds.-To the extent provided in defense authorization Acts for a fiscal year, the Secretary of Defense may transfer to the Secretary of State funds appropriated for the purposes of this section to provide for-

"(1) the payment of administrative costs incurred in providing the transportation described in subsection (a); and

"(2) the purchase or other acquisition of transportation assets for the distribution of humanitarian relief supplies in the country of destination."

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–106, §1312(1), (3), added subsec. (c) and struck out former subsec. (c) which read as follows:

"(c) Transportation of Humanitarian Relief.-(1) Transportation of humanitarian relief provided with funds appropriated for the purposes of this section shall be provided under the direction of the Secretary of State.

"(2) Such transportation shall be provided by the most economical commercial or military means available, unless the Secretary of State determines that it is in the national interest of the United States to provide such transportation other than by the most economical means available. The means used to provide such transportation may include the use of aircraft and personnel of the reserve components of the Armed Forces.

"(3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as waiving the requirements of section 2631 of this title and sections 901(b) and 901b of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 (46 U.S.C. App. 1241(b) and 1241f)."

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–106, §1312(4), redesignated subsec. (f) as (d) and substituted "the congressional committees specified in subsection (f) and the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and House of Representatives of the" for "the Committees on Appropriations and on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives, the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives of the". Former subsec. (d) redesignated (b).

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104–106, §1312(3), (5), redesignated subsec. (g) as (e) and struck out former subsec. (e) which required status reports and specified time for submission, coverage, and contents.

Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 104–106, §1312(6), added subsec. (f). Former subsec. (f) redesignated (d).

Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 104–106, §1312(5), redesignated subsec. (g) as (e).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Notifications Regarding Humanitarian Relief

Notification provided to appropriate congressional committees with respect to assistance under this section to include detailed description of items for which transportation is provided that are excess nonlethal supplies of Department of Defense, including quantity, acquisition value, and value at time of transportation of such items, see section 1504(c) of Pub. L. 103–160, set out in a Humanitarian and Civic Assistance note under section 401 of this title.

Laws Covered by Initial Reports

Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title III, §304(d), Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 2362 , provided that for purposes of subsec. (e) of this section, section 304 of Pub. L. 102–190 (105 Stat. 1333) and the humanitarian relief laws referred to in section 304(f)(4) of Pub. L. 102–190 (as in effect on the day before Oct. 23, 1992) were to be considered as provisions of law that authorized appropriations for humanitarian assistance to be available for the purposes of this section.