[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 12, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S3410]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 323. Ms. DUCKWORTH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
by her to the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2020 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 E of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 12__. STATEMENT OF POLICY AND SENSE OF SENATE ON MUTUAL 
                   DEFENSE TREATY WITH THE REPUBLIC OF THE 
                   PHILIPPINES.

       (a) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United 
     States that--
       (1) while the United States has long adopted an approach 
     that takes no position on the ultimate disposition of the 
     disputed sovereignty claims of the Spratly Islands, the use 
     of force is unacceptable;
       (2) respect for and adherence to arbitral decisions issued 
     pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the 
     Sea by all parties is crucial; and
       (3) an attack on the armed forces, public vessels, or 
     aircraft of the Republic of the Philippines within the 
     metropolitan territory of the Republic of the Philippines or 
     on island territories in the Pacific under the jurisdiction 
     of the Republic of the Philippines, including the South China 
     Sea, would compel the United States to act pursuant to 
     Article IV of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the Republic 
     of the Philippines and the United States of America, done at 
     Washington August 30, 1951, to meet common dangers in 
     accordance with the constitutional processes of the Republic 
     of the Philippines.
       (b) Sense of Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that 
     the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense should--
       (1) affirm the commitment of the United States to the 
     Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the 
     Republic of the Philippines;
       (2) preserve and strengthen the alliance of the United 
     States with the Republic of the Philippines;
       (3) prioritize efforts to develop a shared understanding of 
     alliance commitments and defense planning; and
       (4) provide appropriate support to the Republic of the 
     Philippines to strengthen the self-defense capabilities of 
     the Republic of the Philippines, particularly in the maritime 
     domain.
                                 ______