[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S2960]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 802. Mr. MORAN 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 appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. ___. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON COUNTERING CHINESE ECONOMIC 
                   INFLUENCE IN THE INDO-PACIFIC REGION.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) China has used economic coercion to pressure, punish, 
     and influence other countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
       (2) China's use of economic coercion to exert influence in 
     the region threatens the interests of the United States.
       (3) The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership serves 
     to strengthen China's economic power in the region.
       (4) Research shows that people throughout Southeast Asia 
     believe China is now the most influential economic power in 
     the region.
       (5) The United States' economic and commercial integration 
     with many Indo-Pacific partners lags behind that of China.
       (6) The United States has not concluded comprehensive, 
     high-standard economic agreements with most countries in the 
     Indo-Pacific.
       (7) Economic ties with Indo-Pacific partners are a crucial 
     complement to defense cooperation to counteract China's 
     influence.
       (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate 
     that--
       (1) the United States should seek to counteract China's 
     economic coercion of Indo-Pacific countries by expanding 
     trade, investment, and economic ties with Indo-Pacific 
     nations;
       (2) comprehensive, high-standard economic and commercial 
     accords between the United States and Indo-Pacific countries 
     are critical to countering China's economic influence; and
       (3) the United States should prioritize securing critical 
     supply chains in the region through robust economic and 
     commercial agreements.
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