II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1465 To establish the Baltic Security Initiative for the purpose of strengthening the defensive capabilities of the Baltic countries, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 4, 2023 Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. KING, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. CASEY, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on For- eign Relations A BILL To establish the Baltic Security Initiative for the purpose of strengthening the defensive capabilities of the Baltic countries, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Baltic Security Initia- 4 tive Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. BALTIC SECURITY INITIATIVE. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Defense 7 shall establish and carry out an initiative, to be known 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1465 IS as the ‘‘Baltic Security Initiative’’ (in this section referred 1 to as the ‘‘Initiative’’) for the purpose of deepening secu- 2 rity cooperation with the Baltic countries. 3 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING AUTHORITIES.— 4 The Initiative required by subsection (a) shall be carried 5 out pursuant to the authorities provided in title 10, United 6 States Code. 7 (c) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of the Initiative 8 shall be— 9 (1) to achieve United States national security 10 objectives by— 11 (A) deterring aggression by the Russian 12 Federation; and 13 (B) implementing the North Atlantic Trea- 14 ty Organization’s new Strategic Concept, which 15 seeks to strengthen the alliance’s deterrence 16 and defense posture by denying potential adver- 17 saries any possible opportunities for aggression; 18 (2) to enhance regional planning and coopera- 19 tion among the Baltic countries, particularly with re- 20 spect to long-term regional capability projects, in- 21 cluding— 22 (A) long-range precision fire systems and 23 capabilities; 24 (B) integrated air and missile defense; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1465 IS (C) maritime domain awareness; 1 (D) land forces development, including 2 stockpiling large caliber ammunition; 3 (E) command, control, communications, 4 computers, intelligence, surveillance, and recon- 5 naissance; 6 (F) special operations forces development; 7 (G) coordination with and security en- 8 hancements for Poland, which is a neighboring 9 North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally; and 10 (H) other military capabilities, as deter- 11 mined by the Secretary of Defense; and 12 (3) to improve the Baltic countries’ cyber de- 13 fenses and resilience to hybrid threats. 14 (d) STRATEGY.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 17 retary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report 18 setting forth a strategy for the Department of De- 19 fense to achieve the objectives described in sub- 20 section (b). 21 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—The strategy required 22 by this subsection shall include a consideration of— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1465 IS (A) security assistance programs for the 1 Baltic countries authorized as of the date on 2 which the strategy is submitted; 3 (B) the ongoing security threats to the 4 North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s eastern 5 flank posed by Russian aggression, including as 6 a result of the Russian Federation’s 2022 inva- 7 sion of Ukraine with support from Belarus; and 8 (C) the ongoing security threats to the 9 Baltic countries posed by the presence, coercive 10 economic policies, and other malign activities of 11 the People’s Republic of China. 12 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 14 appropriated to the Secretary of Defense 15 $350,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2024, 16 2025, and 2026 to carry out the Initiative. 17 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 18 Congress that the Secretary of Defense should seek 19 to require matching funds from each of the Baltic 20 countries that participate in the Initiative in 21 amounts commensurate with amounts provided by 22 the Department of Defense for the Initiative. 23 (f) BALTIC COUNTRIES DEFINED.—In this section, 24 the term ‘‘Baltic countries’’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1465 IS (1) Estonia; 1 (2) Latvia; and 2 (3) Lithuania. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS