[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 190 (Thursday, October 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7469-S7470]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3945. Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Grassley, and Mrs. Feinstein) 
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 3867 
submitted by Mr. Reed and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 
4350, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2022 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:

        Strike section 1236 and insert the following:

     SEC. 1236. SENSE OF SENATE ON CONTINUING SUPPORT FOR ESTONIA, 
                   LATVIA, AND LITHUANIA.

       It is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) the security of the Baltic region is crucial to the 
     security of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance, 
     and the United States should continue to prioritize support 
     for efforts by the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and 
     Lithuania to build and invest in critical security areas, as 
     such efforts are important to achieving United States 
     national security objectives, including deterring Russian 
     aggression and bolstering the security of North Atlantic 
     Treaty Organization allies;
       (2) robust support to accomplish United States strategic 
     objectives, including by providing assistance to the Baltic 
     countries through security cooperation referred to as the 
     Baltic Security Initiative pursuant to sections 332 and 333 
     of title 10, United States Code, should be prioritized in the 
     years to come;
       (3) Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania play a crucial role in 
     strategic efforts--
       (A) to deter the Russian Federation; and
       (B) to maintain the collective security of the North 
     Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance;
       (4) the United States should continue to pursue efforts 
     consistent with the comprehensive, multilateral assessment of 
     the military requirements of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania 
     provided to Congress in December 2020;
       (5) the Baltic security cooperation roadmap has proven to 
     be a successful model to enhance intraregional Baltic 
     planning and cooperation, particularly with respect to 
     longer-term regional capability projects, including--
       (A) integrated air defense;
       (B) maritime domain awareness;
       (C) command, control, communications, computers, 
     intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; and
       (D) Special Operations Forces development;
       (6) Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are to be commended for 
     their efforts to pursue joint procurement of select defense 
     capabilities and should explore additional areas for joint 
     collaboration; and

[[Page S7470]]

       (7) the Department of Defense should--
       (A) continue robust, comprehensive investment in Baltic 
     security efforts consistent with the assessment described in 
     paragraph (4);
       (B) continue efforts to enhance interoperability among 
     Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and in support of North 
     Atlantic Treaty Organization efforts;
       (C) encourage infrastructure and other host-country support 
     improvements that will enhance United States and allied 
     military mobility across the region;
       (D) invest in efforts to improve resilience to hybrid 
     threats and cyber defenses in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania; 
     and
       (E) support planning and budgeting efforts of Estonia, 
     Latvia, and Lithuania that are regionally synchronized.
                                 ______