[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 119 (Wednesday, July 12, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2424-S2425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 259. Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. King, Mr. Cassidy, 
Mr. Padilla, Ms. Collins, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. 
Booker, Ms. Stabenow, and Ms. Baldwin) submitted an amendment intended 
to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations 
for fiscal year 2024 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 C of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1240A. BALTIC SECURITY INITIATIVE.

       (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Defense shall 
     establish and carry out an initiative, to be known as the 
     ``Baltic Security Initiative'' (in this section referred to 
     as the ``Initiative'') for the purpose of deepening security 
     cooperation with the Baltic countries.
       (b) Relationship to Existing Authorities.--The Initiative 
     required by subsection (a) shall be carried out pursuant to 
     the authorities provided in title 10, United States Code.
       (c) Objectives.--The objectives of the Initiative shall 
     be--
       (1) to achieve United States national security objectives 
     by--
       (A) deterring aggression by the Russian Federation; and
       (B) implementing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's 
     new Strategic Concept, which seeks to strengthen the 
     alliance's deterrence and defense posture by denying 
     potential adversaries any possible opportunities for 
     aggression;
       (2) consistent with the Baltic defense assessment and 
     report submitted to Congress pursuant to section 1246 of the 
     National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 
     (Public Law 116-92; 133 Stat. 1661) and the annual United 
     States-Baltic Dialogue among Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, 
     and the Department of Defense and the Department of State, to 
     enhance regional planning and cooperation among the Baltic 
     countries, particularly with respect to long-term regional 
     capability projects, including--
       (A) long-range precision fire systems and capabilities;
       (B) integrated air and missile defense;
       (C) maritime domain awareness;
       (D) land forces development, including stockpiling large 
     caliber ammunition;
       (E) command, control, communications, computers, 
     intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance;
       (F) special operations forces development;
       (G) coordination with and security enhancements for Poland, 
     which is a neighboring North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
     ally; and
       (H) other military capabilities, as determined by the 
     Secretary of Defense; and
       (3) to improve the Baltic countries' cyber defenses and 
     resilience to hybrid threats.
       (d) Strategy.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 
     submit to Congress a report setting forth a strategy for the 
     Department of Defense to achieve the objectives described in 
     subsection (b).
       (2) Considerations.--The strategy required by this 
     subsection shall include a consideration of--
       (A) security assistance programs for the Baltic countries 
     authorized as of the date on which the strategy is submitted;
       (B) the ongoing security threats to the North Atlantic 
     Treaty Organization's eastern flank posed by Russian 
     aggression, including as a result of the Russian Federation's 
     2022 invasion of Ukraine with support from Belarus; and
       (C) the ongoing security threats to the Baltic countries 
     posed by the presence, coercive economic policies, and other 
     malign activities of the People's Republic of China.
       (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--
       (1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
     the Secretary of Defense $350,000,000 for each of the fiscal 
     years 2024, 2025, and 2026 to carry out the Initiative.
       (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     the Secretary of Defense should seek to require matching 
     funds from each of the Baltic countries that participate in 
     the Initiative in amounts commensurate

[[Page S2425]]

     with amounts provided by the Department of Defense for the 
     Initiative.
       (f) Baltic Countries Defined.--In this section, the term 
     ``Baltic countries'' means--
       (1) Estonia;
       (2) Latvia; and
       (3) Lithuania.
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