S.Amdt. 323

SA 323. Ms. DUCKWORTH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by her to the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2020 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 E of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 12__. STATEMENT OF POLICY AND SENSE OF SENATE ON MUTUAL
DEFENSE TREATY WITH THE REPUBLIC OF THE
PHILIPPINES.

(a) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United
States that--
(1) while the United States has long adopted an approach
that takes no position on the ultimate disposition of the
disputed sovereignty claims of the Spratly Islands, the use
of force is unacceptable;
(2) respect for and adherence to arbitral decisions issued
pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea by all parties is crucial; and
(3) an attack on the armed forces, public vessels, or
aircraft of the Republic of the Philippines within the
metropolitan territory of the Republic of the Philippines or
on island territories in the Pacific under the jurisdiction
of the Republic of the Philippines, including the South China
Sea, would compel the United States to act pursuant to
Article IV of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the Republic
of the Philippines and the United States of America, done at
Washington August 30, 1951, to meet common dangers in
accordance with the constitutional processes of the Republic
of the Philippines.
(b) Sense of Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that
the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense should--
(1) affirm the commitment of the United States to the
Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the
Republic of the Philippines;
(2) preserve and strengthen the alliance of the United
States with the Republic of the Philippines;
(3) prioritize efforts to develop a shared understanding of
alliance commitments and defense planning; and
(4) provide appropriate support to the Republic of the
Philippines to strengthen the self-defense capabilities of
the Republic of the Philippines, particularly in the maritime
domain.
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