S.Amdt. 3576

This amendment, submitted by Mr. Bennet and Mr. Sullivan, adds a new section to bill S. 2296. Its purpose is to require the Secretary of Defense to create and carry out a strategy to strengthen multilateral deterrence against regional aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.

The amendment aims to expand coordination with partners and allies, specifically Australia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, and Japan. This includes:

• Military Coordination: Improving command and control structures, intelligence-sharing, basing agreements, and operations.
• Specific Actions: Expanding the scale of military exercises, increasing combined maritime operations in the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and the Aleutian Islands, and leveraging reciprocal access agreements for munitions stockpiles and infrastructure.
• Strategic Planning: Considering security for trade routes and military avenues of approach across the North, Central, and South Indo-Pacific region.

The Secretary of Defense must submit the written strategy to congressional defense committees within 180 days of the Act's enactment. This submission must identify any necessary policy changes, funding updates, or additional resources. Additionally, an interim report on the progress of this strategy is required by March 15, 2027.