119-s2669

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2669 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2669

To require the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a strategy 
 to strengthen multilateral deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 August 1, 2025

 Mr. Bennet (for himself and Mr. Sullivan) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
 Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To require the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a strategy 
 to strengthen multilateral deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. STRATEGY TO STRENGTHEN MULTILATERAL DETERRENCE IN THE INDO-
 PACIFIC REGION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense shall develop and 
implement a strategy to strengthen multilateral deterrence against 
regional aggression in the Indo-Pacific region by expanding 
multilateral coordination with United States allies and partners in the 
Indo-Pacific region, particularly Japan, the Republic of Korea, the 
Philippines, and Australia, including by enhancing multilateral access 
and basing agreements, command and control structures, intelligence-
sharing, and exercises and operations.

    (b) Elements.--The strategy required by subsection

    (a) shall--

    (1) describe current activities and identify future actions 
 to be taken over the next 5 years by the Department of 
 Defense--
        (A) to leverage reciprocal access agreements 
 between the United States and allies and partners in 
 the Indo-Pacific region, particularly Japan, the 
 Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Australia, to 
 expand regional access for the military forces of such 
 allies and partners, including for purposes of 
 enhancing interoperability at locations across the 
 Indo-Pacific region, pre-positioning munitions 
 stockpiles, and jointly supporting and leveraging 
 shared facilities, operational access, and 
 infrastructure;
        (B) to improve command and control structures 
 enabling enhanced multilateral coordination with allies 
 and partners in the Indo-Pacific region, including 
 through the Combined Coordination Center in the 
 Philippines, the joint force headquarters of the United 
 States in Japan, the Combined Forces Command in the 
 Republic of Korea, and a potential combined 
 coordination structure in Australia;
            (C) to expand intelligence-sharing and maritime 
 domain awareness among the United States and allies and 
 partners in the Indo-Pacific region, including through 
 the Bilateral Intelligence Analysis Cell in Japan and 
 the Combined Coordination Center in the Philippines; 
 and
            (D) to expand the scope and scale of multilateral 
 military exercises and operations as well as basing 
 infrastructure and posture in the Indo-Pacific region, 
 particularly among the United States, Japan, the 
 Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Australia, 
 including more frequent combined maritime operations 
 through the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, and the 
 Aleutian Islands;

    (2) fully consider strategic and operational contingencies 
 for security of likely military and economic avenues of 
 approach and trade routes across the South, Central, and North 
 Indo-Pacific region; and

    (3) address the conduct of operations in accordance with 
 such strategic and operational contingencies.
            (c) Submission.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the 
congressional defense committees (as defined in 

section 101 of title 
10, United States Code) the written strategy required by subsection

    (a) , including an identification of--

    (1) any changes to funding or policy required to strengthen 
 multilateral deterrence among the United States and allies and 
 partners in the Indo-Pacific region against regional 
 aggression; and

    (2) any additional resources required to carry out specific 
 initiatives described in subsection

    (b) , such as expanding 
 regional access to the military forces of such allies and 
 partners, improving command and control structures, expanding 
 intelligence-sharing and maritime domain awareness, and 
 expanding the scope and scale of multilateral exercises and 
 operations in the Indo-Pacific region.
            (d) Interim Report on Implementation.--Not later than March 15, 
2027, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional 
defense committees (as defined in 

section 101 of title 10, United 
States Code) a report on the progress of the implementation of the 
strategy required by subsection

    (a) , including any resource or 
authority gaps identified in the ability of the Department of Defense 
to implement the strategy.

    (e) Indo-Pacific Region Defined.--In this section, the term ``Indo-
Pacific region'' means--

    (1) the geographical area encompassing the area of 
 responsibility of the United States Indo-Pacific Command; and

    (2) the Alaska theater of operations, including the 
 entirety of the State of Alaska and the entirety of the oceans 
 or other such maritime features bordering the State of Alaska.
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