January 14, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 8 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
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INDO-PACIFIC COOPERATION ACT OF 2019; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 8
(Senate - January 14, 2020)
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[Pages S199-S200] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] INDO-PACIFIC COOPERATION ACT OF 2019 Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 363, S. 2547. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title. The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows: A bill (S. 2547) to state the policy of the United States with respect to the expansion of cooperation with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region and Europe regarding the People's Republic of China. There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign Relations with an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Indo-Pacific Cooperation Act of 2019''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress makes the following findings: (1) Congress supports the finding on the People's Republic of China articulated in the 2018 National Defense Strategy and the 2017 National Security Strategy. (2) The Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-409) established the policy of the United States ``to develop and commit to a long-term strategic vision and a comprehensive, multifaceted, and principled United States policy for the Indo-Pacific region'' so as to advance United States national security, economic, human rights, and other regional interests, and for such purposes, Congress has authorized appropriate funding. (3) The People's Republic of China is leveraging military modernization, influence operations, and predatory economics to coerce neighboring countries to reorder the Indo-Pacific region to the advantage of the People's Republic of China. (4) As the People's Republic of China continues its economic and military ascendance, asserting power through a whole of government long-term strategy, the People's Republic of China will continue to pursue a military modernization program that seeks Indo-Pacific regional hegemony in the near-term and displacement of the United States to achieve global preeminence in the future. (5) The most far-reaching objective of the defense strategy of the United States is to set the military relationship between the United States and the People's Republic of China on a path toward transparency and nonaggression. (6) The People's Republic of China uses economic inducements and penalties, influence operations, and implied military threats to persuade other countries to heed the political and security agenda of the People's Republic of China. (7) United States allies and partners are critical to effective competition with the People's Republic of China. SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. It is the policy of the United States-- (1) to expand military, diplomatic, and economic alliances and partnerships in the Indo- [[Page S200]] Pacific region and with Europe and like-minded countries around the globe that are critical to effective competition with the People's Republic of China; (2) to develop, in collaboration with such allies and partners, a unified approach to addressing and deterring significant diplomatic, economic, and military challenges posed by the People's Republic of China; and (3) to promote, in partnership with like-minded countries around the globe, the values of democracy and human rights. Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the Romney amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; that the committee-reported substitute amendment, as amended, be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment (No. 1282) was agreed to as follows: (Purpose: To modify a finding relating to the defense strategy of the United States) In section 2, strike paragraph (5) and insert the following: (5) A critical objective of the defense strategy of the United States is to set the military of the People's Republic of China on a path toward transparency and nonaggression. The committee-reported amendment, in the nature of a substitute, as amended, was agreed to. The bill (S. 2547), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, was read the third time, and passed, as follows: S. 2547 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 ``Indo-Pacific Cooperation Act of 2019''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress makes the following findings: (1) Congress supports the finding on the People's Republic of China articulated in the 2018 National Defense Strategy and the 2017 National Security Strategy. (2) The Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-409) established the policy of the United States ``to develop and commit to a long-term strategic vision and a comprehensive, multifaceted, and principled United States policy for the Indo-Pacific region'' so as to advance United States national security, economic, human rights, and other regional interests, and for such purposes, Congress has authorized appropriate funding. (3) The People's Republic of China is leveraging military modernization, influence operations, and predatory economics to coerce neighboring countries to reorder the Indo-Pacific region to the advantage of the People's Republic of China. (4) As the People's Republic of China continues its economic and military ascendance, asserting power through a whole of government long-term strategy, the People's Republic of China will continue to pursue a military modernization program that seeks Indo-Pacific regional hegemony in the near-term and displacement of the United States to achieve global preeminence in the future. (5) A critical objective of the defense strategy of the United States is to set the military of the People's Republic of China on a path toward transparency and nonaggression. (6) The People's Republic of China uses economic inducements and penalties, influence operations, and implied military threats to persuade other countries to heed the political and security agenda of the People's Republic of China. (7) United States allies and partners are critical to effective competition with the People's Republic of China. SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. It is the policy of the United States-- (1) to expand military, diplomatic, and economic alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region and with Europe and like-minded countries around the globe that are critical to effective competition with the People's Republic of China; (2) to develop, in collaboration with such allies and partners, a unified approach to addressing and deterring significant diplomatic, economic, and military challenges posed by the People's Republic of China; and (3) to promote, in partnership with like-minded countries around the globe, the values of democracy and human rights. ____________________
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