[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4097 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4097

To modernize the defense capabilities of the Philippines, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 10, 2024

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To modernize the defense capabilities of the Philippines, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 ``Philippines Enhanced Resilience 
Act'' or the ``PERA Act''.

SEC. 2. MODERNIZING THE DEFENSE CAPABILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES.

    (a) Use of Authorities.--The Secretary of State, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Defense, shall use the authorities under this 
section--
            (1) to strengthen the United States-Philippines alliance; 
        and
            (2) to support the acceleration of the modernization of the 
        defense capabilities of the Philippines.
    (b) Purpose.--In addition to the purposes otherwise authorized for 
Foreign Military Financing programs under the Arms Export Control Act ( 
22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), a purpose of such programs shall be to provide 
assistance, including equipment, training, and other support, to 
modernize the defense capabilities of the Armed Forces of the 
Philippines--
            (1) to safeguard the territorial sovereignty of the 
        Philippines;
            (2) to improve maritime domain awareness;
            (3) to counter coercive military activities;
            (4) to improve the military and civilian infrastructure and 
        capabilities necessary to prepare for regional contingencies; 
        and
            (5) to strengthen cooperation between the United States and 
        the Philippines on counterterrorism-related efforts.
    (c) Annual Spending Plan.--Not later than March 1, 2025, and 
annually thereafter for a period of 5 years, the Secretary of State, in 
coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a plan describing how amounts 
authorized to be appropriated pursuant to subsection (e), if made 
available, would be used to achieve the purpose described in subsection 
(b).
    (d) Annual Report on Enhancing the United States-Philippines 
Defense Relationship.--
            (1) Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for a period of 
        7 years, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
        Secretary of Defense, and in consultation with such other heads 
        of Federal departments and agencies as the Secretary of State 
        considers appropriate, shall submit to the appropriate 
        congressional committees a report that describes steps taken to 
        enhance the United States-Philippines defense relationship.
            (2) Matters to be included.--Each report required under 
        paragraph (1) shall include the following:
                    (A) A description of the capabilities needed to 
                modernize the defense capabilities of the Philippines, 
                including with respect to--
                            (i) coastal defense;
                            (ii) long-range fires;
                            (iii) integrated air defenses;
                            (iv) maritime security;
                            (v) manned and unmanned aerial systems;
                            (vi) mechanized ground mobility vehicles;
                            (vii) intelligence, surveillance, and 
                        reconnaissance;
                            (viii) defensive cybersecurity; and
                            (ix) any other defense capabilities that 
                        the Secretary of State determines, including 
                        jointly with the Philippines, are crucial to 
                        the defense of the Philippines.
                    (B) A description of additional statutory 
                authorities and funding levels required to provide 
                support for and cooperation with the Philippines on the 
                capabilities described in subparagraph (A).
            (3) Form.--Each report required under paragraph (1) shall 
        be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified 
        annex.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to amounts 
otherwise authorized to be appropriated for Foreign Military Financing, 
there is authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State for 
Foreign Military Financing grant assistance for the Philippines 
$500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2029.
    (f) Use of Funds.--Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated 
pursuant to subsection (e), the Secretary of State shall obligate and 
expend not less than $500,000 each fiscal year for one or more blanket 
order agreements for Foreign Military Financing training programs 
related to the defense needs of the Philippines.
    (g) Sunset Provision.--Assistance may not be provided under this 
section after September 30, 2030.
    (h) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
                Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on 
                Appropriations of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 
                on Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations 
                of the House of Representatives.
            (2) Blanket order agreement.--The term ``blanket order 
        agreement'' means an agreement between a foreign customer and 
        the United State Government for a specific category of items or 
        services (including training) that--
                    (A) does not include a definitive list of items or 
                quantities; and
                    (B) specifies a dollar ceiling against which orders 
                may be placed.
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