,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bffi  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,august #a1    
#bjbe,mr4 ,bennet 7for himself and ,mr4 
,sullivan7 introduced the following     
bill2 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 region4
  #a4 ,strategy to strengthen           
multilateral deterrence in the          
,indo-,pacific region  7a7 ,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 region1 particularly     
,japan1 the ,republic of ,korea1 the    
,philippines1 and ,australia1 including 
by enhancing multilateral access and    

basing agreements1 command and control  
structures1 intelligence-sharing1 and   
exercises and operations4  7b7 ,elements
 ,the strategy required by subsection   
7a7 shall-- 7#a7 describe current       
activities and identify future actions  
to be taken over the next #e years by   
the ,department of ,defense-- 7,a7 to   
leverage reciprocal access agreements   
between the ,united ,states and allies  
and partners in the ,indo-,pacific      
region1 particularly ,japan1 the        
,republic of ,korea1 the ,philippines1  
and ,australia1 to expand regional      
access for the military forces of such  
allies and partners1 including for      
purposes of enhancing interoperability  
at locations across the ,indo-,pacific  
region1 pre-positioning munitions       
stockpiles1 and jointly supporting and  
leveraging shared facilities1           
operational access1 and infrastructure2 
7,b7 to improve command and control     
structures enabling enhanced            
multilateral coordination with allies   

and partners in the ,indo-,pacific      
region1 including through the ,combined 
,coordination ,center in the            
,philippines1 the joint force           
headquarters of the ,united ,states in  
,japan1 the ,combined ,forces ,command  
in the ,republic of ,korea1 and a       
potential combined coordination         
structure in ,australia2  7,c7 to expand
 intelligence-sharing and maritime      
domain awareness among the ,united      
,states and allies and partners in the  
,indo-,pacific region1 including through
 the ,bilateral ,intelligence ,analysis 
,cell in ,japan and the ,combined       
,coordination ,center in the            
,philippines2 and  7,d7 to expand the   
scope and scale of multilateral military
 exercises and operations as well as    
basing infrastructure and posture in the
 ,indo-,pacific region1 particularly    
among the ,united ,states1 ,japan1 the  
,republic of ,korea1 the ,philippines1  
and ,australia1 including more frequent 
combined maritime operations through the

 ,taiwan ,strait1 the ,south ,china     
,sea1 and the ,aleutian ,islands2  7#b7 
fully consider strategic and operational
 contingencies for security of likely   
military and economic avenues of        
approach and trade routes across the    
,south1 ,central1 and ,north            
,indo-,pacific region2 and  7#c7 address
 the conduct of operations in accordance
 with such strategic and operational    
contingencies4  7c7 ,submission ,not    
later than #ahj days after the date of  
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary of ,defense shall submit to  
the congressional defense committees 7as
 defined in section #aja of title #aj1  
,united ,states ,code7 the written      
strategy required by subsection 7a71    
including an identification of-- 7#a7   
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  
aggression2 and  7#b7 any additional    

resources required to carry out specific
 initiatives described in subsection    
7b71 such as expanding regional access  
to the military forces of such allies   
and partners1 improving command and     
control structures1 expanding           
intelligence-sharing and maritime domain
 awareness1 and expanding the scope and 
scale of multilateral exercises and     
operations in the ,indo-,pacific region4
  7d7 ,interim report on implementation 
,not later than ,march #ae1 #bjbg1 the  
,secretary of ,defense shall submit to  
the congressional defense committees 7as
 defined in section #aja of title #aj1  
,united ,states ,code7 a report on the  
progress of the implementation of the   
strategy required by subsection 7a71    
including any resource or authority gaps
 identified in the ability of the       
,department of ,defense to implement the
 strategy4  7e7 ,indo-,pacific region   
defined ,in this section1 the term      
,indo-,pacific region means-- 7#a7 the  
geographical area encompassing the area 

of responsibility of the ,united ,states
 ,indo-,pacific ,command2 and  7#b7 the 
,alaska theater of operations1 including
 the entirety of the ,state of ,alaska  
and the entirety of the oceans or other 
such maritime features bordering the    
,state of ,alaska4