S.Amdt. 677

SA 677. 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 in the South China Sea, disputing
States should--
(A) resolve their disputes peacefully without the threat or
use of force; and
(B) ensure that their maritime claims are consistent with
international law; and
(2) an attack on the armed forces, public vessels, or
aircraft of the Republic of the Philippines in the Pacific,
including the South China Sea, would trigger the mutual
defense obligations of the United States under 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 its constitutional processes''.
(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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