[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1539 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1539

To provide Taiwan with critically needed United States-built multirole 
fighter aircraft to strengthen its self-defense capability against the 
                 increasing military threat from China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 12, 2011

  Mr. Cornyn (for himself and Mr. Menendez) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide Taiwan with critically needed United States-built multirole 
fighter aircraft to strengthen its self-defense capability against the 
                 increasing military threat from China.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Taiwan Airpower Modernization Act of 
2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings.
            (1) The Department of Defense, in its 2011 report to 
        Congress on ``Military and Security Developments Involving the 
        People's Republic of China,'' found that ``China continued 
        modernizing its military in 2010, with a focus on Taiwan 
        contingencies, even as cross-Strait relations improved. The PLA 
        seeks the capability to deter Taiwan independence and influence 
        Taiwan to settle the dispute on Beijing's terms. In pursuit of 
        this objective, Beijing is developing capabilities intended to 
        deter, delay, or deny possible U.S. support for the island in 
        the event of conflict. The balance of cross-Strait military 
        forces and capabilities continues to shift in the mainland's 
        favor.'' In this report, the Department of Defense also 
        concludes that, over the next decade, China's air force will 
        remain primarily focused on ``building the capabilities 
        required to pose a credible military threat to Taiwan and U.S. 
        forces in East Asia, deter Taiwan independence, or influence 
        Taiwan to settle the dispute on Beijing's terms''.
            (2) The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) conducted a 
        preliminary assessment of the status and capabilities of 
        Taiwan's air force in an unclassified report, dated January 21, 
        2010. The DIA found that, ``[a]lthough Taiwan has nearly 400 
        combat aircraft in service, far fewer of these are 
        operationally capable.'' The report concluded, ``Many of 
        Taiwan's fighter aircraft are close to or beyond service life, 
        and many require extensive maintenance support. The retirement 
        of Mirage and F-5 aircraft will reduce the total size of the 
        Taiwan Air Force.''
            (3) Since 2006, authorities from Taiwan have made repeated 
        requests to purchase 66 F-16C/D multirole fighter aircraft from 
        the United States, in an effort to modernize the air force of 
        Taiwan and maintain its self-defense capability.
            (4) According to a report by the Perryman Group, a private 
        economic research and analysis firm, the requested sale of F-
        16C/Ds to Taiwan ``would generate some $8,700,000,000 in output 
        (gross product) and more than 87,664 person-years of employment 
        in the US,'' including 23,407 direct jobs, while ``economic 
        benefits would likely be realized in 44 states and the District 
        of Columbia''.
            (5) The sale of F-16C/Ds to Taiwan would both sustain 
        existing high-skilled jobs in key United States manufacturing 
        sectors and create new ones.
            (6) On August 1, 2011, a bipartisan group of 181 members of 
        the House of Representatives sent a letter to the President, 
        expressing support for the sale of F-16C/Ds to Taiwan. On May 
        26, 2011, a bipartisan group of 45 members of the Senate sent a 
        similar letter to the President, expressing support for the 
        sale. Two other members of the Senate wrote separately to the 
        President or the Secretary of State in 2011 and expressed 
        support for this sale.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) a critical element to maintaining peace and stability 
        in Asia in the face of China's two-decade-long program of 
        military modernization and expansion of military capabilities 
        is ensuring a militarily strong and confident Taiwan;
            (2) a Taiwan that is confident in its ability to deter 
        Chinese aggression will increase its ability to proceed in 
        developing peaceful relations with China in areas of mutual 
        interest;
            (3) the cross-Strait military balance between China and our 
        longstanding strategic partner, Taiwan, has clearly shifted in 
        China's favor;
            (4) China's military expansion poses a clear and present 
        danger to Taiwan, and this threat has very serious implications 
        for the ability of the United States to fulfill its security 
        obligations to allies in the region and protect our vital 
        United States national interests in East Asia;
            (5) Taiwan's air force continues to deteriorate, and it 
        needs additional advanced multirole fighter aircraft in order 
        to modernize its fleet and maintain a sufficient self-defense 
        capability;
            (6) the United States has a statutory obligation under the 
        Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.) to provide Taiwan 
        the defense articles necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain 
        sufficient self-defense capabilities, in furtherance of 
        maintaining peace and stability in the western Pacific region;
            (7) in order to comply with the Taiwan Relations Act, the 
        United States must provide Taiwan with additional advanced 
        multirole fighter aircraft, as well as significant upgrades to 
        Taiwan's existing fleet of multirole fighter aircraft; and
            (8) the proposed sale of F-16C/D multirole fighter aircraft 
        to Taiwan would have significant economic benefits to the 
        United States economy.

SEC. 4. SALE OF F-16 AIRCRAFT TO TAIWAN.

    The President shall carry out the sale of no fewer than 66 F-16C/D 
multirole fighter aircraft to Taiwan.
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