Kaine, Hagerty Introduce Legislation to Strengthen & Modernize U.S.-Philippines Military Alliance

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  United States Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN), members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today introduced the Philippines Enhanced Resilience Act of 2024 (PERA Act), a bill to strengthen and modernize the U.S.-Philippines alliance through significantly increased U.S. security assistance. The bipartisan legislation follows increased aggression by Beijing in the South China Sea and comes as the United States, Japan, and the Philippines hold a leaders-level summit in Washington, D.C., on April 11, 2024.

“China’s aggression towards the Philippines – a key U.S. ally – threatens the security and stability of the entire region,” said Senator Kaine. “It is pivotal that the people of the Philippines have the resources and support they need in the face of those threats. As a member of the Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, I will continue to work to link arms with our allies and build a safe and stable future.”

“As the United States and the Philippines face growing challenges to security and prosperity in the West Philippines Sea and the wider Indo-Pacific, it’s critical for our two nations to deepen cooperation and raise our decades-long Alliance to even greater heights,” said Senator Hagerty. “I’m pleased to work with Senator Kaine to introduce this important bipartisan bill that would significantly increase U.S. security assistance to the Philippines and profoundly strengthen and modernize the defense and deterrence capabilities of our Alliance. This legislation is all the more timely given not only Communist China’s growing aggression in the West Philippines Sea and South China Sea, but also the leaders-level summit among the United States, Japan, and the Philippines this week.”

The Philippines Enhanced Resilience Act of 2024:

• Annually authorizes $500 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) grant assistance to the Philippines for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029—a total of $2.5 billion over five fiscal years;
• Requires the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, to submit an annual spending plan to Congress on how the U.S. government would spend FMF as security assistance to the Philippines; and
• Requires the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and other appropriate department/agency heads, to submit an annual report to Congress on steps taken to enhance the United States-Philippines defense relationship, including:
• A description of the capabilities needed to modernize the defense capabilities of the Philippines, including with respect to coastal defense, long-range fires, integrated air defenses, maritime security, manned and unmanned aerial systems, mechanized ground mobility vehicles, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, defensive cybersecurity, and any other defense capabilities that the Secretary of State determines, including jointly with the Philippines, are crucial to the defense of the Philippines.
• A description of additional appropriations and/or authorization laws required to provide support for and cooperation with the Philippines on these capabilities.

Full text of the Philippines Enhanced Resilience Act of 2024 can be found here.

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