[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 194 (Thursday, November 4, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7989-S7990]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 4494. Mr. RISCH 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:

       At the end of subtitle E of title XII of division A, add 
     the following:

     SEC. 1253. INCREASING DEPARTMENT OF STATE PERSONNEL AND 
                   RESOURCES DEVOTED TO THE INDO-PACIFIC REGION.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) In fiscal year 2020, the Department of State allocated 
     $1,500,000,000 to the Indo-Pacific region in bilateral and 
     regional foreign

[[Page S7990]]

     assistance resources, including as authorized by section 
     201(b) of the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 (Public 
     Law 115-409; 132 Stat. 5391), and $798,000,000 in the 
     diplomatic engagement budget. These amounts represent only 5 
     percent of the diplomatic engagement budget and only 4 
     percent of the combined Department of State and United States 
     Agency for International Development budget.
       (2) Between fiscal years 2017 through 2021, the diplomatic 
     engagement budget and personnel levels in the Indo-Pacific 
     region averaged only 5 percent of the total Department of 
     States budget, while foreign assistance resources averaged 
     only 4 percent of the total resources committed worldwide.
       (3) In 2020, the Department of State began a process to 
     realign certain positions at posts to ensure that its 
     personnel footprint matches the demands of great-power 
     competition, including in the Indo-Pacific region.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the size of the United States diplomatic corps must be 
     sufficient to meet the current and emerging challenges of the 
     21st century, including those posed by the People's Republic 
     of China in the Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere;
       (2) increases in the diplomatic corps must be designed to 
     meet the objectives of an Indo-Pacific strategy focused on 
     strengthening the good governance and sovereignty of states 
     that adhere to and uphold the rules-based international 
     order; and
       (3) increase in the diplomatic corps must be implemented 
     with a focus on increased numbers of economic, political, and 
     public diplomacy officers, representing a cumulative increase 
     of at least 200 foreign service officer generalists--
       (A) to advance free, fair, and reciprocal trade and open 
     investment environments for United States companies, and 
     engaged in increased commercial diplomacy in key markets;
       (B) to better articulate and explain United States 
     policies;
       (C) to strengthen civil society and democratic principles;
       (D) to enhance reporting on the People's Republic of 
     China's global activities;
       (E) to promote people-to-people exchanges;
       (F) to advance United States' influence in the Indo-Pacific 
     region; and
       (G) to increase capacity at small- and medium-sized 
     embassies and consulates in the Indo-Pacific region and in 
     other regions around the world, as necessary.
       (c) Statement of Policy.--It shall be the policy of the 
     United States--
       (1) to ensure that Department of State funding levels and 
     its personnel footprint in the Indo-Pacific region reflect 
     the region's high degree of importance and its significance 
     to United States political, economic, and security interests;
       (2) to increase diplomatic engagement and foreign 
     assistance funding and the quantity of personnel dedicated to 
     the Indo-Pacific region respective to the Department of 
     State's total budget; and
       (3) to increase the number of resident Defense attaches in 
     the Indo-Pacific region, particularly in locations where the 
     People's Republic of China has a resident military attache 
     and the United States does not have a resident military 
     attache, to ensure coverage at all appropriate posts.
       (d) Action Plan.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 
     submit an action plan to the appropriate committees of 
     Congress that--
       (1) identifies requirements to advance United States 
     strategic objectives in the Indo-Pacific region and the 
     personnel and budgetary resources needed to meet such 
     objectives, assuming an unconstrained resource environment;
       (2) includes a plan for increasing the portion of the 
     Department of State's budget that is dedicated to the Indo-
     Pacific region in terms of diplomatic engagement and foreign 
     assistance focused on development, economic, and security 
     assistance;
       (3) includes a plan for increasing the number of positions 
     at posts in the Indo-Pacific region and bureaus with 
     responsibility for the Indo-Pacific region, including--
       (A) a description of increases at each post or bureau;
       (B) a breakdown of increases by cone; and
       (C) a description of how such increases in personnel will 
     advance United States strategic objectives in the Indo-
     Pacific region;
       (4) defines concrete and annual benchmarks that the 
     Department of State will meet in implementing the action 
     plan; and
       (5) describes any barriers to implementing the action plan.
       (e) Updates to Report and Briefing.--Not later than 90 days 
     after the submission of the action plan required under 
     subsection (d), and quarterly thereafter until September 30, 
     2030, the Secretary of State shall submit an updated action 
     plan and brief the appropriate committees of Congress on the 
     implementation of such action plan, with supporting data, 
     including a detailed assessment of benchmarks that have been 
     reached.
       (f) Secretary of State Certification.--Not later than 2 
     years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
     Secretary of State shall submit a certification to the 
     appropriate committees of Congress that indicates whether or 
     not the benchmarks described in the action plan required 
     under subsection (d) have been met. This certification 
     requirement may not be delegated to another Department of 
     State official.
       (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--
       (1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated, 
     for fiscal year 2022--
       (A) $2,000,000,000 for bilateral and regional foreign 
     assistance resources to carry out the purposes of part 1 and 
     chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
     (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq. and 2346 et seq.) in the Indo-Pacific 
     region; and
       (B) $1,250,000,000 for diplomatic engagement resources to 
     the Indo-Pacific region.
       (2) Inclusion of amounts appropriated pursuant to asia 
     reassurance initiative act of 2018.--Amounts authorized to be 
     appropriated under paragraph (1) include the amounts that 
     were authorized to be appropriated under section 201(b) of 
     the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-
     409) for fiscal year 2022.
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