[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 77 (Thursday, May 4, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2778-S2780]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 157--RECOGNIZING THAT FOR 50 YEARS, THE ASSOCIATION 
   OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN NATIONS (ASEAN) AND ITS TEN MEMBERS--BRUNEI, 
    CAMBODIA, INDONESIA, LAOS, MALAYSIA, MYANMAR, THE PHILIPPINES, 
    SINGAPORE, THAILAND, AND VIETNAM--HAVE WORKED TOWARD STABILITY, 
                PROSPERITY, AND PEACE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

  Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Markey, Mr. Coons, Mr. 
Schatz, Mrs. Feinstein, and Ms. Hirono) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 157

       Whereas the United States and ASEAN have worked together to 
     advance our shared goals for 40 years, having established 
     dialogue relations on September 10, 1977, with the issuing of 
     the 1977 Joint Communique of the First ASEAN-United States 
     Dialogue, and the United States acceding to the Treaty of 
     Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) at the ASEAN 
     Post Ministerial Conference Session with the United States in 
     Thailand on July 22, 2009;
       Whereas the United States was the first non-ASEAN country 
     to appoint an ambassador to ASEAN on April 29, 2008, and the 
     first dialogue partner to establish a permanent mission to 
     ASEAN in 2010;
       Whereas the United States has supported efforts to 
     strengthen the ASEAN Secretariat and expand its role in 
     providing greater coordination between, and enhancing the 
     effectiveness of, regional institutions;
       Whereas working together, the Governments and people of the 
     United States and ASEAN can help realize their common vision 
     of a peaceful, prosperous, rules-based Asia-Pacific region 
     that offers security, opportunity, and dignity to all of its 
     citizens;
       Whereas ASEAN's 10 members, taken collectively, are the 7th 
     largest economy in the world, with an annual gross domestic 
     product of $2,400,000,000,000, and represent the United 
     States' fourth-largest export market with total two-way trade 
     in goods and services reaching $254,000,000,000, allowing 
     over 780,000 visitors to the United States in 2015, which 
     contribute more than $5,000,000,000 to the United States 
     economy, and accounting for more than 500,000 jobs in the 
     United States;
       Whereas ASEAN's 10 members represent a diverse group of 
     nations and dynamic economies with an expanding workforce, a 
     growing middle class, and a diverse set of skills, cultures, 
     and resources, which of the estimated 20,000,000 Asian 
     Americans in the United States, includes over 7,000,000 who 
     identify with an ASEAN ethnicity, including 4,000,000 
     Filipinos and 1,900,000 Vietnamese;
       Whereas ASEAN is home to critical global sea lanes located 
     at the center of the world's strongest economic growth area, 
     with $5,300,000,000,000 of global trade and more than half of 
     total shipped tonnage transiting through ASEAN's waters each 
     year;
       Whereas ASEAN, taken collectively, is one of the fastest 
     growing economies in Asia after China and India, expanding by 
     66 percent since 2006 and exceeding the global growth average 
     for the past ten years;
       Whereas the ASEAN Economic Community aims to create one of 
     the largest single market economies in the world, 
     facilitating the free movement of goods, services, and 
     professionals and engendering a sense of economic community 
     among its member states;

[[Page S2779]]

       Whereas the United States is the largest investor in 
     Southeast Asia, with total foreign direct investment stock of 
     nearly $273,500,000,000 in 2014, creating millions of jobs in 
     the United States and in ASEAN Member States, while 
     investment in the United States from Southeast Asia has 
     increased more than any other region's investment in the past 
     decade;
       Whereas the United States has helped ASEAN create a Single 
     Window customs facilitation system that will aid in 
     expediting intra-ASEAN trade and make it easier for United 
     States businesses to operate in the region;
       Whereas the United States-ASEAN Business Alliance for 
     Competitive Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) has 
     already trained more than 4,600 small to medium enterprises, 
     with nearly half of the individuals trained being young women 
     entrepreneurs;
       Whereas United States-ASEAN development cooperation has 
     focused on innovation and capacity-building efforts in 
     technology, education, disaster management, food security, 
     human rights, and trade facilitation;
       Whereas the Lower Mekong Initiative, established on July 
     23, 2009, is a multinational effort that helps promote 
     sustainable economic development in mainland Southeast Asia 
     to foster integrated, multisectoral, subregional cooperation 
     and capacity building;
       Whereas the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the 
     South China Sea (DOC) was signed by all members of ASEAN and 
     the People's Republic of China (PRC) on November 4, 2002, 
     committing ASEAN and the PRC to ``exercise self-restraint in 
     the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate 
     disputes and affect peace and stability,'' and reaffirming 
     that ``the adoption of a code of conduct in the South China 
     Sea would further promote peace and stability in the region 
     and agree to work, on the basis of consensus, toward the 
     eventual attainment of this objective'';
       Whereas the leaders of the United States and ASEAN, at 
     their Special Leaders Summit in Sunnylands, California on 
     February 16, 2016, reaffirmed their shared commitment to 
     maintain peace, security, and stability in the region and 
     ensure maritime security and safety, including by respecting 
     the rights of freedom of navigation and overflight and other 
     lawful uses of the seas, and unimpeded lawful maritime 
     commerce as described in the 1982 United Nations Convention 
     on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as well as non-militarization 
     and self-restraint in the conduct of activities;
       Whereas ASEAN is a partner to the United States on key 
     transnational challenges, such as terrorism, violent 
     extremism, climate change, environmental degradation and 
     pollution, energy, infectious diseases, disarmament, 
     proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cybersecurity, 
     trafficking in persons, illicit trafficking of wildlife and 
     timber, and illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing;
       Whereas the United States supports the East Asia Summit 
     (EAS) as the premier leaders-led forum for dialogue and 
     cooperation on political, security, and economic issues in 
     the region and commends the direction set in the Kuala Lampur 
     Declaration at the EAS' 10th anniversary, including the new 
     exchange mechanism for EAS members' ambassadors;
       Whereas the United States, ASEAN, and other Dialogue 
     Partners, through the 2015 East Asia Summit, adopted a 
     statement on transnational cyber issues that emphasizes the 
     importance of regional cooperation to improve the security 
     and stability of cyber networks, setting an important 
     precedent for strengthening practical cooperation, risk 
     reduction, and confidence building in cyberspace;
       Whereas the 2016 East Asia Summit in Vientiane adopted a 
     statement on non-proliferation that reaffirmed the United 
     States', ASEAN's, and other Dialogue Partners' leaders' 
     support for efforts at the national, regional, and 
     international level to promote nuclear disarmament, nuclear 
     non-proliferation, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and 
     reiterated the importance of nuclear security to combating 
     nuclear terrorism;
       Whereas North Korea's provocative missile launches and 
     nuclear tests highlights the threat posed by its nuclear and 
     ballistic missile programs and contradicts calls by ASEAN 
     leaders at the 2016 East Asia Summit in Vientiane for North 
     Korea to abide by multiple United Nations Security Council 
     resolutions and international obligations;
       Whereas changes in climatic conditions in the ASEAN region 
     over the past four decades have resulted in major loss and 
     damage throughout the ASEAN region with a disproportionate 
     impact on developing countries, with the experiences of 
     Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and Typhoon Haiyan in the 
     Philippines, as well as the impacts that climate-caused ocean 
     acidification has had on fish stocks, coral resources, and 
     coastal agriculture, providing stark evidence of the 
     destructive impacts on the region;
       Whereas conservation and sustainable management of forests 
     throughout ASEAN play an important role in helping to 
     mitigate changes in the climate, reduce the risks of extreme 
     weather events and other climate-driven disasters, and 
     provide sustainable economic livelihood opportunities for 
     local communities;
       Whereas the United States will pursue initiatives that are 
     consistent with broader sustainable development, including 
     the achievement of food security and poverty alleviation 
     throughout the ASEAN region;
       Whereas the United States is a committed partner with ASEAN 
     on the protection of human rights, which are not only 
     essential for fostering and maintaining stability, security, 
     and good governance, but protecting the basic rights and 
     fundamental dignities of the people of ASEAN;
       Whereas the United States supports the work and mandate of 
     the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights 
     (AICHR), including capacity building for the promotion and 
     protection of human rights and the AICHR's priorities 
     programs, and activities;
       Whereas the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Program has now 
     engaged over 100,000 people between the ages of 18 and 35 
     across all 10 ASEAN nations to promote innovation among young 
     people while also providing skills to a new generation who 
     will create and fill the jobs of the future;
       Whereas the irregular movement of persons continues to be 
     one of the main security threats in the Southeast Asia 
     region;
       Whereas addressing migration flows and combating human 
     smuggling and human trafficking in ASEAN is an important, 
     ongoing challenge requiring increased coordination and shared 
     responsibility;
       Whereas, on November 21, 2015, ASEAN Member Sates signed 
     the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, 
     Especially Women and Children, which represents an important 
     step forward in preventing human trafficking, prosecuting the 
     perpetrators, and protecting the survivors;
       Whereas the United States supports ASEAN Member States in 
     anticorruption efforts through, among other initiatives, the 
     implementation of the United Nations Convention Against 
     Corruption;
       Whereas Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Jakarta, 
     Indonesia on April 20, 2017, where he met with the ASEAN 
     Secretary General and ASEAN Permanent Representatives, 
     congratulated ASEAN on its 50th anniversary, and remarked on 
     the 40th anniversary of the United States' diplomatic 
     relationship with ASEAN, noting that the United States-ASEAN 
     relationship ``without a doubt has benefitted both ASEAN and 
     America--diplomatically, economically, and from the 
     standpoint of national security'';
       Whereas, on this visit, Vice President Pence pledged that 
     the United States would ``redouble our cooperation with ASEAN 
     on issues of regional security'' and continue to support 
     ``increased information sharing and security efforts to 
     protect our people and our way of life across the ASEAN 
     region and across the wider world,'' and ``continue to work 
     closely with ASEAN to promote peace and stability in the 
     South China Sea by upholding a rules-based order, ensuring 
     the lawful and unimpeded flow of commerce, and encouraging 
     the peaceful and diplomatic resolution of disputes'';
       Whereas, on this visit, Vice President Pence remarked that 
     ``by strengthening our economic ties, the United States and 
     ASEAN member nations can foster jobs, prosperity, and growth 
     in new and unprecedented ways'' and that ``American exports 
     to ASEAN member nations already support more than 550,000 
     jobs in the United States, and almost 42,000 U.S. companies 
     export more than $100,000,000,000 in goods and services to 
     ASEAN nations every year''; and
       Whereas, on this visit, Vice President Pence announced that 
     President Trump will attend the U.S.-ASEAN Summit, the East 
     Asia Summit in the Philippines, and the APEC Leaders Meeting 
     in Vietnam this November: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) welcomes the leaders of the Association of South East 
     Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the United States for the meetings 
     with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and congressional 
     members, and affirms the meeting as the first regular United 
     States-ASEAN meetings;
       (2) supports and affirms the elevation of the United 
     States-ASEAN relationship to a strategic partnership and 
     recommits the United States to ASEAN centrality and to 
     helping to build a strong, stable, politically cohesive, 
     economically integrated, and socially responsible ASEAN 
     community with common rules, norms, procedures, and standards 
     consistent with international law and the principles of a 
     rules-based Asia-Pacific community;
       (3) urges ASEAN to continue its efforts to foster greater 
     integration and unity toward the ASEAN community;
       (4) recognizes the value of ASEAN working with economic, 
     political, and security partners such as Australia, Canada, 
     the European Union, India, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the 
     Republic of Korea, and Taiwan both inside of and outside of 
     Asia, as well as the advantage of strategic economic 
     initiatives like the U.S.-ASEAN Connect that demonstrate a 
     commitment to ASEAN and the AEC and build upon economic 
     relationships in the region;
       (5) reaffirms the enhancement of United States-ASEAN 
     economic engagement, including the elimination of barriers to 
     cross-border commerce, and supports the ASEAN Economic 
     Community's goals, including strong, inclusive, and 
     sustainable growth and cooperation with the United States 
     that focuses on innovation and capacity building efforts in 
     technology, education, disaster management, food security, 
     human rights, and trade facilitation, including for ASEAN's 
     poorest countries;
       (6) supports efforts by ASEAN nations to address maritime 
     and territorial disputes in

[[Page S2780]]

     a constructive manner and to pursue claims through peaceful, 
     diplomatic, and legitimate regional and international 
     arbitration mechanisms, consistent with international law, 
     including through the adoption of a code of conduct in the 
     South China Sea to further promote peace and stability in the 
     region;
       (7) urges all parties to maritime and territorial disputes 
     in the Asia-Pacific region, including the PRC--
       (A) to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities 
     that would undermine stability or complicate or escalate 
     disputes through the use of coercion, intimidation, or 
     military force; and
       (B) to refrain from new efforts to militarize uninhabited 
     islands, reefs, shoals, and other features, including the 
     construction of new garrisons and facilities and the 
     relocation of additional military personnel, materiel, or 
     equipment;
       (8) opposes actions by any country to prevent any other 
     country from exercising its sovereign rights to the resources 
     of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf by 
     seeking to enforce claims to those areas in the South China 
     Sea that have no support in international law;
       (9) opposes unilateral declarations of administrative and 
     military districts in contested areas in the South China Sea;
       (10) supports efforts to negotiate the joint management of 
     maritime resources through diplomacy and peaceful 
     negotiation;
       (11) urges parties to refrain from unilateral actions that 
     cause permanent physical damage to the marine environment and 
     supports the efforts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration and ASEAN to implement guidelines to address 
     illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the region;
       (12) supports efforts by United States partners and allies 
     in ASEAN--
       (A) to enhance maritime capability and maritime domain 
     awareness;
       (B) to protect unhindered access to and use of 
     international waterways in the Asia-Pacific region that are 
     critical to ensuring the security and free flow of commerce;
       (C) to counter piracy;
       (D) to disrupt illicit maritime trafficking activities such 
     as the trafficking of persons, goods, and drugs; and
       (E) to enhance the maritime capabilities of countries or 
     regional organizations to respond to emerging threats to 
     maritime security in the Asia-Pacific region;
       (13) urges ASEAN Member States to develop a common approach 
     to reaffirm the decision of the Permanent Court of 
     Arbitration in The Hague's ruling with respect to the case 
     between the Republic of the Philippines and the People's 
     Republic of China;
       (14) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to 
     continue joint efforts with ASEAN to halt human smuggling and 
     trafficking in persons and urges ASEAN to make increased 
     efforts to create and strengthen regional mechanisms to 
     provide assistance and support to refugees and migrants;
       (15) supports the Lower Mekong Initiative, which has made 
     significant progress in promoting sustainable economic 
     development in mainland Southeast Asia and fostering 
     integrated subregional cooperation and capacity building;
       (16) urges ASEAN to build capacity for the promotion and 
     protection of human rights by ASEAN member states, and the 
     implementation of related priorities, programs, and 
     activities;
       (17) urges ASEAN governments to engage directly with 
     leaders of civil society and human rights, including 
     advocates of religious freedom and victims of human rights 
     abuses, and environmental groups and to prioritize the 
     construction of forums that give these stakeholders a voice 
     to instruct public policy, before, during, and after the 
     February 2016 summit;
       (18) encourages the President to communicate to ASEAN 
     leaders the importance of protecting human rights, ending 
     extrajudicial killings, including releasing political 
     prisoners and ending politically motivated prosecutions, 
     strengthening civil society, safeguarding freedom of the 
     press, freedom of assembly, and the free flow of information 
     and ideas, and promoting the rule of law and open and 
     transparent government;
       (19) supports the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative 
     program as an example of people-to-people partnership 
     building that provides skills, networks, and leadership 
     capabilities to a new generation of people who will create 
     and fill jobs, foster cross-border cooperation and 
     partnerships, and rise to solve the regional and global 
     challenges of the future; and
       (20) urges ASEAN governments to fully uphold and implement 
     all United Nations Security Council resolutions and 
     international agreements with respect to North Korea's 
     nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

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