Sec. 216. Increasing Department of State personnel and resources devoted to the Indo-Pacific
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Congress makes the following findings: In fiscal year 2020, the Department of State allocated $1,500,000,000 to the Indo-Pacific region in bilateral and regional foreign assistance
(FA)resources and $798,000,000 in the fiscal year 2020 diplomatic engagement
(DE)budget. These amounts represent only 5 percent of the DE budget and only 4 percent of the total Department of State-USAID budget. Over the last 5 years the DE budget and personnel levels in the Indo-Pacific averaged only 5 percent of the total, while FA resources averaged only 4 percent of the total. In 2020, the Department of State began a process to realign certain positions at posts to ensure that its personnel footprint matches the demands of great-power competition, including in the Indo-Pacific. It shall be the policy of the United States to ensure Department of State funding levels and personnel footprint in the Indo-Pacific reflect the region’s high degree of importance and significance to United States political, economic, and security interests. It shall be the policy of the United States to increase DE and FA funding and the quantity of personnel dedicated to the Indo-Pacific region respective to the Department of State’s total budget. It shall be the policy of the United States to increase the number of Defense attaches in the Indo-Pacific region number of to assure coverage of all appropriate Posts. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall provide to the appropriate committees of Congress an action plan with the following elements: Identification of requirements and the personnel budgetary resources needed to meet them, assuming an unconstrained resource environment. A plan to increase the portion of the Department’s budget dedicated to the Indo-Pacific in terms of DE and FA focused on development, economic, and security assistance. A plan to increase the number of positions at posts in the Indo-Pacific region and bureaus with responsibility for the Indo-Pacific region, including a description of increases at each post or bureau, a breakdown of increases by cone, and a description of what each new officer will do to advance United States strategic objectives in the Indo-Pacific region. Defined concrete and annual benchmarks that the Department will meet in implementing the action plan. A description of any barriers to implementing the action plan. Every 90 days after the submission of the action plan described in subsection (c), the Secretary shall submit an update and brief the appropriate committees of Congress on the implementation of such action plan, with supporting data and including a detailed assessment of benchmarks reached. There is authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000,000 in bilateral and regional foreign assistance resources to the Indo-Pacific region and $1,250,000,000 in diplomatic engagement resources to the Indo-Pacific region. Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall certify whether or not the benchmarks described in the action plan in subsection
(c)have been met. This certification is non-delegable. In this section, the term appropriate committees of Congress means— the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.