The US congress has allocated in its foreign military assistance program for fiscal year 2021 an additional sum of up to $500 million for Jordanian defense spending with a commitment to keep the overall minimum support to no less than $1.65 billion.

The Jordanian segment was along with $500 million appropriated for Israel. The funds come under the segment for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency in ‘‘Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide’’. The law which passed both houses of Congress and was signed by President Trump “may be used to provide assistance to the Government of Jordan to support the armed forces of Jordan and to enhance security along its borders.

In addition to the above SEC. 9026 of the bill states that amounts appropriated under the heading ‘‘Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide’’, for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, $250M to remain available until September 30, 2022. These monies shall be available to reimburse Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, and Oman under section 1226 of the National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year 2016  “for enhanced border security, of which not less than $150M shall be for Jordan.”

The bill concludes that “of the funds appropriated by this Act under titles III and IV, not less than $1.65 Billion shall be made available for assistance for Jordan, of which: not less than $845.1 million shall be made available for budget support for the Government of Jordan; not less than $10 Million shall be made available for programs Activities for which policy justifications and decisions shall be the responsibility of the United States Chief of Mission in Jordan.”

Read the entire bill here