Sec. 1249. Sense of Congress on enhancing defense and security cooperation with Singapore
388 words·~2 min read·
/bill/117/hr/4350/rh/section-1249·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
It is the sense of Congress as follows: The United States and Singapore have built a strong, enduring, and forward-looking strategic partnership based on long-standing and mutually beneficial cooperation, including through security, defense, economic, and people-to-people ties. Robust security cooperation between the United States and Singapore is crucial to promoting peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. The status of Singapore as a Major Security Cooperation Partner of the United States, as recognized in the Strategic Framework Agreement between the United States and the Republic of Singapore for a Closer Partnership in Defense and Security, done at Washington, D.C. on July 12, 2005, plays an important role in the global network of strategic partnerships, especially in promoting maritime security and countering terrorism.
The United States values Singapore’s provision of access to its military facilities, which supports the continued security presence of the United States in Southeast Asia and across the Indo-Pacific region. The United States should continue to welcome the presence of the military forces of Singapore in the United States for exercises and training, and should consider opportunities to expand such activities at additional locations in the United States as appropriate, including through cooperation mechanisms such as the memorandum of understanding agreed to by the United States and Singapore in December 2019 to establish a fighter jet training detachment in Guam.
The United States should continue to strengthen all aspects of the bilateral defense relationship with Singapore, which benefitted from the signing of the 2015 enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement to expand cooperation in the military, policy, strategic and technology spheres, as well as cooperation in non-conventional security areas such as piracy and transnational terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, cyber-security, and biosecurity. As the United States and Singapore have renewed the 1990 Memorandum of Understanding Regarding the United States Use of Facilities in Singapore and mark the 55th anniversary of bilateral relations in 2021, the United States should— continue to enhance defense and security cooperation with Singapore to promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region based on common interests and shared values; reinforce the status of Singapore as a major security cooperation partner of the United States; and explore additional steps to better facilitate interoperability between the United States Armed Forces and the military forces of Singapore to promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.