S.Amdt. 289

SA 289. Mr. MENENDEZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 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. 1269. ENHANCED COOPERATION WITH ASEAN.

(a) Statement of Policy on Deepening Cooperation With
ASEAN.--It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to reaffirm the United States-ASEAN Comprehensive
Strategic Partnership, established in 2022 following 45 years
of Dialogue Partnership;
(2) to enhance United States-ASEAN cooperation in support
of an open, transparent, resilient, inclusive and rules-based
regional architecture in the Indo-Pacific;
(3) to support regular, high-level United States official
engagement with ASEAN, including the participation in the
annual ASEAN Summit held each year;
(4) to enhance cooperation with ASEAN member states, as
appropriate, as well as with the institution of ASEAN and the
ASEAN Secretariat, including through the United States
Mission to ASEAN, led by the United States Ambassador to
ASEAN; and
(5) to welcome the decision in-principle by ASEAN to admit
Timor-Leste to be ASEAN's 11th member state and to encourage
United States support to Timor-Leste in its capacity as an
official ASEAN observer.
(b) Sense of Congress on the Establishment of an ASEAN
Delegation to the United States.--It is the sense of Congress
that--
(1) it is in the United States interest to encourage the
establishment, at the earliest opportunity, of an ASEAN
delegation to the United States, to enhance cooperation
between ASEAN and the United States at all levels; and
(2) the establishment of an ASEAN center in the United
States would support United States economic and cultural
engagement with Southeast Asia.
(c) Extension of Diplomatic Immunities to the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations.--The provisions of the
International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288 et
seq.) may be extended to the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations in the same manner, to the same extent, and subject
to the same conditions as such provisions may be extended to
a public international organization in which the United
States participates pursuant to any treaty or under the
authority of any Act of Congress authorizing such
participation or making an appropriation for such
participation.
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