S.Amdt. 3689

This amendment seeks to add a section to bill S. 2296 to create the Baltic Security Initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to deepen security cooperation between the United States and the military forces of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Aims and Objectives

The amendment aims to change the bill by adding the following:

• National Security Goals: It intends to deter aggression by the Russian Federation and implement the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's new Strategic Concept to deny adversaries opportunities for aggression.

• Regional Cooperation: It seeks to enhance planning and cooperation for the Baltic countries regarding:

  • Long-range precision fire systems and capabilities.
  • Integrated air and missile defense.
  • Maritime domain awareness.
  • Land forces development, including stockpiling large caliber ammunition.
  • Command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
  • Special operations forces development.
  • Security enhancements and coordination with Poland.
  • Other capabilities as decided by the Secretary.

• Cyber and Hybrid Defense: It aims to improve the cyber defenses and resilience to hybrid threats for the military forces of the Baltic countries.

Requirements and Funding

• Strategy Report: The Secretary must submit a report to the Senate and House Committees on Armed Services within one year of the Act's enactment. This strategy must consider existing security assistance, threats from Russian aggression (including the 2022 invasion of Ukraine with Belarus's support), and threats from the People's Republic of China.

• Budget: The amendment authorizes $350,000,000 for each fiscal year from 2026 through 2028.

• Matching Funds: Congress expresses that the Secretary should try to require participating Baltic countries to provide matching funds commensurate with the amounts provided by the Department.