S.Amdt. 4402

SA 4402. Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself and Mr. Tillis) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 3867 submitted by Mr.
Reed and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 4350, to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2022 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. 1253. REPORT ON ABILITY OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO
INTERDICT OR BLOCKADE CERTAIN VESSELS IN THE
SOUTH AND EAST CHINA SEAS.

(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
submit to the congressional defense committees a report on
the ability of the Department of Defense, in the event of
hostilities between the United States and the People's
Republic of China, to interdict or blockade civilian merchant
shipping vessels transiting the South and East China Seas
under the flag of the People's Republic of China.
(b) Elements.--The report required by subsection (a) shall
include the following:
(1) An assessment of each of the following:
(A) The number of such vessels that transit the South and
East China Seas annually.
(B) The annual percentage of trade by the People's Republic
of China that is conducted through the South and East China
Seas by such vessels.
(C) The maritime choke points in the South and East China
Seas that are most important to the People's Republic of
China.
(D) The capacity and capability of the Department--
(i) to execute a blockade of such vessels around maritime
choke points in the South and East China Seas; and
(ii) to otherwise interdict such vessels.
(E) The manner in which the granting or rejection of
basing, overflight, or transit rights by countries bordering
the South and East China Seas would affect the ability of the
Department to interdict or blockade such vessels.
(2) A description of any instance of Department-funded
wargames in which the United States or the People's Republic
of China initiated any type of blockade, including the
lessons learned from any such instance and the views of the
game participants.
(c) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form and include a classified
annex.
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