To express the Sense of Congress on support for coordinated action to ensure the security of Baltic allies.

SA 2168. Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. Grassley) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4049, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2021 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle D of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 1242. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON SUPPORT FOR COORDINATED
ACTION TO ENSURE THE SECURITY OF BALTIC ALLIES.

It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the continued security of the Baltic states of Estonia,
Latvia, and Lithuania is

[[Page S3563]]

critical to achieving United States national security
interests and defense objectives against the acute and
formidable threat posed by Russia;
(2) the United States and the Baltic states are leaders in
the mission of defending independence and democracy from
aggression and in promoting stability and security within the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), with non-NATO
partners, and with other international organizations such as
the European Union;
(3) the Baltic states are model NATO allies in terms of
burden sharing and capital investment in materiel critical to
United States and allied security, investment of over 2
percent of their gross domestic product on defense
expenditure, allocating over 20 percent of their defense
budgets on capital modernization, matching security
assistance from the United States, frequently deploying their
forces around the world in support of allied and United
States objectives, and sharing diplomatic, technical,
military, and analytical expertise on defense and security
matters;
(4) the United States should continue to strengthen
bilateral and multilateral defense by, with, and through
allied nations, particularly those that possess expertise and
dexterity but do not enjoy the benefits of national economies
of scale;
(5) the United States should pursue a dedicated initiative
focused on defense and security assistance, coordination, and
planning designed to ensure the continued security of the
Baltic states and on deterring current and future challenges
to the national sovereignty of United States allies and
partners in the Baltic region; and
(6) such an initiative should include an innovative and
comprehensive conflict deterrence strategy for the Baltic
region encompassing the unique geography of the Baltic
states, modern and diffuse threats to their land, sea, and
air spaces, and necessary improvements to their defense
posture, including command-and-control infrastructure,
intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities,
communications equipment and networks, and special forces.
______