S.Amdt. 802

SA 802. Mr. MORAN 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 appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. ___. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON COUNTERING CHINESE ECONOMIC
INFLUENCE IN THE INDO-PACIFIC REGION.

(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) China has used economic coercion to pressure, punish,
and influence other countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
(2) China's use of economic coercion to exert influence in
the region threatens the interests of the United States.
(3) The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership serves
to strengthen China's economic power in the region.
(4) Research shows that people throughout Southeast Asia
believe China is now the most influential economic power in
the region.
(5) The United States' economic and commercial integration
with many Indo-Pacific partners lags behind that of China.
(6) The United States has not concluded comprehensive,
high-standard economic agreements with most countries in the
Indo-Pacific.
(7) Economic ties with Indo-Pacific partners are a crucial
complement to defense cooperation to counteract China's
influence.
(b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate
that--
(1) the United States should seek to counteract China's
economic coercion of Indo-Pacific countries by expanding
trade, investment, and economic ties with Indo-Pacific
nations;
(2) comprehensive, high-standard economic and commercial
accords between the United States and Indo-Pacific countries
are critical to countering China's economic influence; and
(3) the United States should prioritize securing critical
supply chains in the region through robust economic and
commercial agreements.
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