A resolution recognizing that for 50 years, the Kingdom of Tonga has worked with the United States toward stability, prosperity, and peace in the Pacific and beyond, and expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States will continue to remain a strong, reliable, and active partner in the Pacific.

III 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. RES. 611 Recognizing that for 50 years, the Kingdom of Tonga has worked with the United States toward stability, prosperity, and peace in the Pacific and beyond, and expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States will continue to remain a strong, reliable, and active partner in the Pacific. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 8, 2020 Mr. GARDNER (for himself and Ms. HIRONO) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Recognizing that for 50 years, the Kingdom of Tonga has worked with the United States toward stability, pros- perity, and peace in the Pacific and beyond, and express- ing the sense of the Senate that the United States will continue to remain a strong, reliable, and active partner in the Pacific. Whereas Tonga’s Queen Salote Tupou III negotiated for the end of British protectorate status for her nation and transition to Commonwealth membership, which bore fruit in 1970; Whereas Tonga is a valued security partner of the United States, and the Tongan Defense Services deployed four contingents to Iraq between 2004 and 2008; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR611.IS SR611 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 611 IS Whereas, in the coming year, the United States is committed to deepening this relationship through security coopera- tion, including hosting Tongan defense forces for Inter- national Military Education and Training (IMET) pro- grams; Whereas the United States Government supports many coop- erative activities with the Government of Tonga in sus- tainable fisheries management and development assist- ance, including those authorized by the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–409); Whereas section 1252 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92) expands the number of countries that receive assistance under the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative, including Tonga; Whereas a peaceful, prosperous, and open Indo-Pacific rooted in a rule-based order that promotes security, opportunity, and dignity to all peoples benefits the people of both the United States and the Kingdom of Tonga; Whereas the Kingdom of Tonga, a constitutional monarchy, took steps towards democratic governance beginning in 2010; Whereas over 50,000 United States citizens trace their roots to the Kingdom of Tonga, and many of these reside in the States of Utah, California, and Hawaii; Whereas Tonga has hosted the Peace Corps since 1967; and Whereas the Nevada National Guard entered into a State Partnership Program with Tonga in 2014: Now, there- fore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR611.IS SR611 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 611 IS (1) commends the Kingdom of Tonga on a suc- 1 cessful transition to a constitutional monarchy and 2 3 elections deemed to be free and fair by inter- 3 national observers; 4 (2) supports and affirms the full implementa- 5 tion of provisions of the Asia Reassurance Initiative 6 Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–409) with regard to 7 deepening its cooperation with Tonga in areas of 8 mutual interest, including fisheries and marine re- 9 source conservation, environmental challenges and 10 resilience, global health, development and trade, peo- 11 ple-to-people ties, and continuing United States as- 12 sistance, as appropriate, to support the rule of law, 13 good governance, and economic development; and 14 (3) recognizes Tonga’s participation in multi- 15 national security forces and multilateral institutions 16 including the United Nations, International Mone- 17 tary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, 18 International Atomic Energy Agency, the World 19 Trade Organization, the Pacific Community, the 20 Secretariat of the Regional Environmental Pro- 21 gramme, and the Pacific Islands Forum. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR611.IS SR611 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS