S.Amdt. 3156

SA 3156. Mr. SCHATZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2025 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. 1266. PACIFIC ISLANDS RESTORATION AND HAZARDS REMOVAL
PROGRAM.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall establish an
Pacific Islands Restoration and Hazards Removal Program (in
this section referred to as the ``Program'').
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of the Program is--
(1) to coordinate with the Pacific Island countries--
(A) to support survey and clearance operations of buried
and abandoned bombs, mortars, artillery shells, and
unexploded ordnance from battlefields of World War II; and
(B) to identify, isolate, and, where appropriate, mitigate
environmental risks associated with submerged maritime
vessels that pose a threat to public health or marine
resources because of the presence of oil, fuel, corrosive
metals, or other toxins; and
(2) to build the national capacity of the Pacific Island
countries to identify, isolate, and mitigate risks related to
explosive ordnance hazards, submerged maritime vessels, or
related hazardous marine debris through survey and disposal
training, funding to nongovernmental organizations, and
support to regional cooperation initiatives with countries
that are partners and allies of the United States, including
Australia, France, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea,
and the United Kingdom.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary of State $1,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029 to carry out this
section.
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