[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3950 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3950
To establish the Baltic Security and Economic Enhancement Initiative
for the purpose of increasing security and economic ties with the
Baltic countries and to establish the Baltic Security Initiative for
the purpose of deepening security cooperation with the Baltic
countries, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 29, 2022
Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Grassley, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Scott of
Florida, Mr. King, Mr. Blunt, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Cassidy, Mrs. Feinstein,
Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Booker, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Van Hollen,
and Mr. Coons) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the Baltic Security and Economic Enhancement Initiative
for the purpose of increasing security and economic ties with the
Baltic countries and to establish the Baltic Security Initiative for
the purpose of deepening security cooperation with the Baltic
countries, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Baltic Defense and Deterrence Act''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) supporting and strengthening the security of Estonia,
Latvia, and Lithuania (referred to in this Act as the ``Baltic
countries'') is in the national security interests of the
United States;
(2) continuing to strengthen and update the United States-
Baltics security cooperation roadmap is critical to achieving
strategic security priorities as the Baltic countries face
ongoing belligerence and threats from the Russian Federation,
including amid the Russian Federation's illegal and unprovoked
war in Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022;
(3) the United States should encourage advancement of the
Three Seas Initiative to strengthen transport, energy, and
digital infrastructures among Eastern European countries,
including the Baltic countries; and
(4) improved economic ties between the United States and
the Baltic countries, including to counter economic pressure by
the People's Republic of China, offer an opportunity to
strengthen the United States-Baltic strategic partnership.
SEC. 3. BALTIC SECURITY AND ECONOMIC ENHANCEMENT INITIATIVE.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of State shall establish and
implement an initiative, to be known as the ``Baltic Security and
Economic Enhancement Initiative'', for the purpose of increasing
security and economic ties with the Baltic countries.
(b) Objectives.--The objectives of the Baltic Security and Economic
Enhancement Initiative shall be--
(1) to ensure timely delivery of security assistance to the
Baltic countries, prioritizing assistance to bolster defenses
against hybrid warfare and improve interoperability with the
military forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization;
(2) to mitigate the impact on the Baltic countries of
economic coercion by the Russian Federation and the People's
Republic of China;
(3) to identify new opportunities for foreign direct
investment and United States business ties; and
(4) to bolster United States support for the economic and
energy security needs of the Baltic countries, including by
convening an annual trade forum with the Baltic countries and
the United States International Development Finance
Corporation.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated for the Department of State, $60,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2023 through 2027 to carry out the initiative authorized
under subsection (a).
SEC. 4. BALTIC SECURITY INITIATIVE.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Defense shall establish and
implement an initiative, to be known as the ``Baltic Security
Initiative'', for the purpose of deepening security cooperation with
the Baltic countries.
(b) Objectives.--The objectives of the Baltic Security Initiative
shall be--
(1) to achieve United States national security objectives,
including deterring aggression by the Russian Federation and
bolstering the long-term security of North Atlantic Treaty
Organization allies;
(2) to enhance regional planning and cooperation among the
Baltic countries, particularly with respect to long-term
regional capability projects, including--
(A) long-range precision fire systems and
capabilities;
(B) integrated air and missile defense;
(C) maritime domain awareness;
(D) land forces development, including stockpiling
large caliber ammunition;
(E) command, control, communications, computers,
intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance;
(F) special operations forces development; and
(G) coordination with and security enhancements for
Poland, which is a neighboring North Atlantic Treaty
Organization ally; and
(3) to improve the Baltic countries' cyber defenses and
resilience to hybrid threats.
(c) Strategy.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
submit to Congress a report setting forth the strategy of the
Department of Defense to achieve the objectives described in
subsection (b).
(2) Considerations.--The strategy required by paragraph (1)
shall include a consideration of--
(A) security assistance programs for the Baltic
countries managed by the Department of State;
(B) the ongoing security threats to the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization's eastern flank posed by
Russian aggression, including as a result of the
Russian Federation's 2022 invasion of Ukraine with
support from Belarus; and
(C) rising tensions with, and presence in the
Baltic countries of, the People's Republic of China,
including economic bullying of the Baltic countries by
the People's Republic of China.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated for the Department of Defense, $250,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2023 through 2027 to carry out the initiative authorized
under subsection (a).
<all>