Us Congress House Bill HB562 Latest Draft

                            I 
119THCONGRESS 
1
STSESSION H. R. 562 
To advance a comprehensive, long-term United States strategy and policy 
for the Pacific Islands, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY20, 2025 
Mr. C
ASE(for himself, Mr. MOYLAN, Mr. LARSENof Washington, Ms. TITUS, 
Ms. T
OKUDA, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, and Mr. SHER-
MAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Re-
sources, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To advance a comprehensive, long-term United States strat-
egy and policy for the Pacific Islands, 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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
(a) S
HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
‘‘Boosting Long-term U.S. Engagement in the Pacific 5
Act’’ or the ‘‘BLUE Pacific Act’’. 6
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(b) TABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1
this Act is as follows: 2
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Definitions. 
Sec. 3. Authority to consolidate reports; form of reports. 
TITLE I—POLITICAL LEADERSHIP AND REGIONALISM 
Sec. 101. Findings. 
Sec. 102. Statement of policy. 
Sec. 103. Strategy for Pacific Islands Partnership. 
Sec. 104. Staffing. 
Sec. 105. Strategic communications in the Pacific Islands. 
Sec. 106. Assistance with international organizations. 
Sec. 107. Allies and partners in the Pacific Islands region. 
Sec. 108. Extension of diplomatic immunities to the Pacific Islands Forum. 
Sec. 109. Ambassador’s Self-Help Small Grants Program. 
Sec. 110. Establishing a senior official for the Compacts of Free Association at 
the Department of State. 
TITLE II—PEOPLE-CENTERED DEVELOPMENT 
Sec. 201. Assistance to improve public health outcomes and build public health 
capacity. 
Sec. 202. Assistance to promote freedom of the press. 
Sec. 203. Indo-Pacific Media Advancement Program. 
Sec. 204. Program to promote educational and professional development for 
young adult leaders and professionals. 
Sec. 205. Education assistance. 
Sec. 206. People-to-people ties. 
Sec. 207. Pacific Islands TRADES Program. 
Sec. 208. Investment agreements. 
Sec. 209. Committee on Engagement with Civil Society Organizations in the 
Pacific Islands. 
Sec. 210. American Spaces in the Pacific Islands. 
TITLE III—PEACE AND SECURITY 
Sec. 301. Building the capacity of local civilian and national security institu-
tions. 
Sec. 302. Reporting. 
Sec. 303. International Law Enforcement Academy. 
TITLE IV—RESOURCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 
Sec. 401. Trade development with the Pacific Islands. 
Sec. 402. Trade capacity building initiative for the Pacific Islands. 
Sec. 403. United States Commercial Service. 
TITLE V—ENVIRONMENTAL AND DISASTER RESILIENCE 
Sec. 501. Assistance to enhance preparedness for and resilience to natural dis-
asters and other emergencies. 
Sec. 502. Climate resilient infrastructure. 
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TITLE VI—OCEAN AND ENVIRONMENT 
Sec. 601. Oceans management. 
Sec. 602. Sea level rise. 
Sec. 603. Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. 
TITLE VII—TECHNOLOGY AND CONNECTIVITY 
Sec. 701. Digital access and inclusion. 
Sec. 702. Cybersecurity. 
TITLE VIII—REPORT ON THE STRATEGY FOR PACIFIC ISLANDS 
PARTNERSHIP AND AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS 
Sec. 801. Report on the Strategy for Pacific Islands Partnership. 
Sec. 802. Authorization of appropriations. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
1
In this Act: 2
(1) A
PPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT -3
TEES.—Except as otherwise provided, the term ‘‘ap-4
propriate congressional committees’’ means— 5
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 6
the Committee on Appropriations of the House 7
of Representatives; and 8
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 9
and the Committee on Appropriations of the 10
Senate. 11
(2) P
ACIFIC ISLANDS.—The terms ‘‘Pacific Is-12
lands’’ means the Cook Islands, the Republic of Fiji, 13
the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of the Mar-14
shall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, 15
the Republic of Nauru, Niue, the Republic of Palau, 16
the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the 17
Independent State of Samoa, the Solomon Islands, 18
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the Kingdom of Tonga, Tuvalu, and the Republic of 1
Vanuatu. 2
SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO CONSOLIDATE REPORTS; FORM OF 3
REPORTS. 4
(a) A
UTHORITYTOCONSOLIDATEREPORTS.—Any 5
reports required to be submitted to the appropriate con-6
gressional committees under this Act that are subject to 7
deadlines for submission consisting of the same units of 8
time may be consolidated into a single report that is sub-9
mitted to the appropriate congressional committees pursu-10
ant to such deadlines and that contains all information 11
required under such reports. 12
(b) F
ORM OFREPORTS.—Each report required to be 13
submitted to the appropriate congressional committees 14
under this Act and any consolidated report described in 15
subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but 16
may contain a classified annex. 17
TITLE I—POLITICAL 18
LEADERSHIP AND REGIONALISM 19
SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 20
Congress finds the following: 21
(1) The Pacific Islands— 22
(A) are home to roughly 12,300,000 resi-23
dents; 24
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(B) are spread across an expanse of the 1
Pacific Ocean equivalent to 15 percent of the 2
Earth’s surface, including the three subregions 3
of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia; and 4
(C) face shared challenges in development 5
that have distinct local contexts, including 6
unique environmental challenges and rising sea 7
levels, geographic distances from major mar-8
kets, and vulnerability to external shocks such 9
as natural disasters in both slow and sudden 10
onset situations. 11
(2) The United States is a Pacific country with 12
longstanding ties and shared values and interests 13
with the Pacific Islands, including through the Com-14
pacts of Free Association with the Freely Associated 15
States, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the 16
Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of 17
Palau. 18
(3) The United States has vital national secu-19
rity interests in the Pacific Islands, including— 20
(A) protecting regional peace and security 21
that fully respects the sovereignty of all nations; 22
(B) advancing economic prosperity free 23
from coercion and unfair practices through 24
trade and sustainable development; and 25
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(C) supporting democracy, good govern-1
ance, the rule of law, and human rights and 2
fundamental freedoms. 3
(4) Successive United States administrations 4
have recognized the importance of the Pacific region, 5
including the Pacific Islands, in high-level strategic 6
documents, including the following: 7
(A) The 2015 National Security Strategy, 8
which first declared the rebalance to Asia and 9
the Pacific, affirmed the United States as a Pa-10
cific nation, and paved the way for subsequent 11
United States engagement with the Pacific Is-12
lands, including several new policies focused on 13
conservation and environmental resilience an-14
nounced in September 2016. 15
(B) The 2017 National Security Strategy, 16
which includes a commitment to ‘‘shore up 17
fragile partner states in the Pacific Islands re-18
gion to reduce their vulnerability to economic 19
fluctuations and natural disasters’’. 20
(C) The 2019 Indo-Pacific Strategy Re-21
port, which identified the Pacific Islands as 22
‘‘critical to U.S. strategy because of our shared 23
values, interests, and commitments’’ and com-24
mitted the United States to ‘‘building capacity 25
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and resilience to address maritime security; Ille-1
gal, Unreported, and Unregulated fishing; drug 2
trafficking; and resilience to address climate 3
change and disaster response’’. 4
(D) The 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy Re-5
port, which recognized the need to engage fur-6
ther with the Pacific Islands on shared security 7
goals. 8
(E) The 2022 Strategy for Pacific Island 9
Partnership, which outlined goals and methods 10
for deepening the United States partnerships 11
with Pacific Island nations. 12
(F) The 2022 National Security Strategy, 13
which identified the Pacific Islands as an area 14
of particular focus for expansion of regional 15
diplomatic, development, and economic engage-16
ment in the broader Indo-Pacific. 17
(5) The United States has deepened its diplo-18
matic engagement with the Pacific Islands through 19
several recent initiatives, including— 20
(A) the Pacific Pledge, which provided an 21
additional $100,000,000 in 2019 and 22
$200,000,000 in 2020, in addition to the for-23
eign assistance that the United States provided 24
annually to the region, to support shared prior-25
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ities in economic and human development, envi-1
ronmental resilience, and more; 2
(B) the Small and Less Populous Island 3
Economies (SALPIE) Initiative launched in 4
March 2021 to strengthen United States col-5
laboration with island countries and territories, 6
including in the Pacific Islands, on COVID–19 7
economic challenges, long-term economic devel-8
opment, climate change, and other shared inter-9
ests; 10
(C) the declaration on U.S.-Pacific Part-11
nership of 2022 in which the United States and 12
the Pacific Islands resolved to strengthen their 13
partnership, bolstering Pacific regionalism; 14
(D) the Partners in the Blue Pacific Initia-15
tive, a new initiative, to increase diplomatic en-16
gagement and coordination in the region; 17
(E) the establishment of a U.S.-Pacific Is-18
lands Summit held in Washington, DC in 2022 19
and 2023; and 20
(F) the increase in the total amount of 21
United States foreign assistance provided to the 22
Pacific Islands, from $302,500,000 in fiscal 23
year 2022 to $466,100,000 in fiscal year 2023. 24
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(6) The Boe Declaration on Regional Security, 1
adopted in 2018 by leaders of the Pacific Islands 2
Forum, the central multilateral organization of the 3
Pacific Islands and partners, affirmed that climate 4
change ‘‘remains the single greatest threat to the 5
livelihoods, security, and well-being of the peoples of 6
the Pacific’’ and asserted ‘‘the sovereign right of 7
every Member to conduct its national affairs free of 8
external interference and coercion’’. 9
(7) The Asian Development Bank has estimated 10
that the Pacific Islands region requires upwards of 11
$2,800,000,000 a year in investment through 2030, 12
in addition to $300,000,000 a year for climate miti-13
gation and adaptation over the same period. 14
(8) Since 1966, thousands of Peace Corps vol-15
unteers have proudly served in the Pacific Islands, 16
building strong people-to-people relationships and 17
partnerships demonstrating the United States com-18
mitment to peace and sustainable development in the 19
region, including supporting education, health, and 20
economic development initiatives. Since having to 21
suspend operations during the COVID–19 pandemic, 22
the Peace Corps has reopened its posts in Fiji, 23
Tonga, Samoa, and Vanuatu and has signed a 24
Memorandum of Understanding with Palau regard-25
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ing its intent to reopen that post by the end of 1
2025. Peace Corps volunteers continue to be in high 2
demand in the Pacific Islands and have been re-3
quested across the region. 4
SEC. 102. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 5
It is the policy of the United States— 6
(1) to articulate and commit to a comprehen-7
sive, multifaceted, and principled United States pol-8
icy in the Pacific Islands that— 9
(A) promotes peace, security, and pros-10
perity for all countries through a rules-based 11
regional order that respects the sovereignty, 12
self-determination, and political independence of 13
all nations; 14
(B) preserves the Pacific Ocean as an open 15
and vibrant corridor for international maritime 16
trade and promotes trade and sustainable devel-17
opment that supports inclusive economic growth 18
and autonomy for all nations and addresses so-19
cioeconomic and environmental challenges re-20
lated to public health, education, renewable en-21
ergy, digital connectivity, and more; 22
(C) supports regional efforts to strengthen 23
resilience to natural disasters and through re-24
sponsible stewardship of natural resources and 25
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the needs for collective action to mitigate its 1
impacts and build resilience; 2
(D) improves civil society, strengthens 3
democratic governance and the rule of law, and 4
promotes human rights and the preservation of 5
the region’s unique cultural heritages; and 6
(E) supports existing regional architecture 7
and the international rules-based order and 8
principles of international law; 9
(2) to support the vision, values, and objectives 10
of existing regional multilateral institutions and 11
frameworks, such as the Pacific Islands Forum and 12
the Pacific Community, including— 13
(A) the 2000 Biketawa Declaration; 14
(B) the 2014 Framework for Pacific Re-15
gionalism; 16
(C) the 2018 Boe Declaration on Regional 17
Security; 18
(D) the Boe Declaration Action Plan; and 19
(E) the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific 20
Continent; and 21
(3) to work closely with United States allies 22
and partners with existing relationships and inter-23
ests in the Pacific Islands, including Australia, New 24
Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the United 25
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Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, in advancing 1
common goals. 2
SEC. 103. STRATEGY FOR PACIFIC ISLANDS PARTNERSHIP. 3
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 2027, 4
and every 4 years thereafter, the President shall submit 5
to the appropriate congressional committees a strategy to 6
be known as the ‘‘Strategy for Pacific Islands Partner-7
ship’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Strategy’’). 8
(b) M
ATTERSTOBEINCLUDED.—The Strategy shall 9
include the following: 10
(1) A description of overarching goals for the 11
United States-Pacific Island Partnership. 12
(2) A description of measurable objectives for 13
United States engagement in the Pacific Islands. 14
(3) An assessment of threats to the Pacific Is-15
lands region. 16
(4) A plan to address the security of the Pacific 17
Islands region. 18
(5) A strategy to invest in and improve critical 19
infrastructure. 20
(6) A regional Development Cooperation Strat-21
egy formulated by the United States Agency for 22
International Development. 23
(c) C
ONSULTATION.—In developing the Strategy, the 24
President should consult, as appropriate, with— 25
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(1) regional organizations, such as the Pacific 1
Islands Forum, the Pacific Islands Development 2
Program, the Pacific Community and Secretariat for 3
the Pacific Regional Environment Programme; 4
(2) the countries of the Pacific Islands; 5
(3) stakeholders such as civil society, faith- 6
based organizations, and non-state actors; 7
(4) United States allies and partners; and 8
(5) United States Pacific territories and States. 9
(d) C
OORDINATION.—In implementing the Strategy, 10
the President shall coordinate with the heads of other Fed-11
eral agencies, including the Secretary of State, the Sec-12
retary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Commerce, 13
the Administrator of United States Agency for Inter-14
national Development, the Secretary of Defense, and the 15
United States Trade Representative. 16
SEC. 104. STAFFING. 17
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State, the Ad-18
ministrator of the United States Agency for International 19
Development, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Chief 20
Executive Officer of the United States International De-21
velopment Finance Corporation shall endeavor to increase 22
the number of staff working on Pacific Islands issues and 23
in the Pacific Islands to carry out this Act. 24
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(b) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of State and 1
the Secretary of Commerce are authorized to hire locally- 2
employed staff in the Pacific Islands to promote increased 3
diplomatic engagement and economic and commercial en-4
gagement between the United States and the Pacific Is-5
lands. 6
SEC. 105. STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS IN THE PACIFIC 7
ISLANDS. 8
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-9
ment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the 10
Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter-11
national Development and the Secretary of Defense, shall 12
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 13
strategy for strategic communications in the Pacific Is-14
lands, including— 15
(1) a review of such communications, including 16
United States interagency and multilateral efforts 17
with like-minded partners; 18
(2) an assessment of the resources being used 19
for such communications, including the number of 20
staff devoted to such communications, the location 21
of such staff, and the funds appropriated for such 22
communications; 23
(3) an assessment of any additional resources 24
needed for such communications; 25
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(4) an assessment of how United States engage-1
ment is being perceived in the Pacific Islands and 2
how such perception might be improved; 3
(5) an assessment of how engagement by other 4
actors is being perceived in the Pacific Islands; and 5
(6) specific recommendations for the expansion 6
and improvement of such communications. 7
SEC. 106. ASSISTANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZA-8
TIONS. 9
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in coordi-10
nation with the Administrator of the United States Agen-11
cy for International Development, the Secretary of the 12
Treasury, and the Chief Executive Officer of the United 13
States International Development Finance Corporation, as 14
appropriate, shall provide support and technical assistance 15
to Pacific Islands countries to assist such countries to ac-16
cess existing development support and funding from inter-17
national organizations, such as the United Nations and 18
multilateral financial institutions. Such support and tech-19
nical assistance may include— 20
(1) technical support navigating grant pro-21
grams, international investment mechanisms, and 22
other opportunities offered by international organi-23
zations for sustainable development; 24
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(2) support receiving necessary certifications 1
and complying with technical requirements to par-2
ticipate in international financial mechanisms from 3
which Pacific Islands countries may benefit; and 4
(3) support complying with reporting and over-5
sight requirements for programs conducted by inter-6
national organizations. 7
(b) I
NTERNATIONAL FINANCIALINSTITUTIONS.— 8
The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the represent-9
atives of the United States to the World Bank Group, the 10
International Monetary Fund, and the Asian Development 11
Bank to use the voice and vote of the United States to 12
support resilient infrastructure projects and to build envi-13
ronmental resilience in the Pacific Islands. 14
SEC. 107. ALLIES AND PARTNERS IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 15
REGION. 16
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The President, in consultation 17
with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland 18
Security, the Secretary of Commerce, the Administrator 19
of the United States Agency for International Develop-20
ment, the Secretary of Defense, the United States Trade 21
Representative, and any other relevant official, should con-22
sult and coordinate with allies and partners in the Pacific 23
Islands region, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, 24
South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, France, Ger-25
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many, and India, and regional institutions such as the Pa-1
cific Islands Forum, the Pacific Islands Development Pro-2
gram, the Pacific Community and Secretariat for the Pa-3
cific Regional Environment Programme, with respect to 4
programs to provide assistance to the Pacific Islands, in-5
cluding programs established by this Act, including for 6
purposes of— 7
(1) deconflicting programming; 8
(2) ensuring that any programming does not 9
adversely affect the absorptive capacity of the Pa-10
cific Islands; 11
(3) ensuring complementary programs benefit 12
the Pacific Islands to the maximum extent prac-13
ticable; and 14
(4) ensuring that programming aligns with re-15
gional development goals, as outlined by documents 16
such as the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Con-17
tinent in order to support sustainable development 18
and promote a shared vision for the future of the 19
Pacific Islands. 20
(b) F
ORMALCONSULTATIVEPROCESS.—The Presi-21
dent shall endeavor to establish a formal consultative proc-22
ess with such regional allies and partners to coordinate 23
with respect to such programs and future-years program-24
ming. 25
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SEC. 108. EXTENSION OF DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITIES TO THE 1
PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM. 2
The provisions of the International Organizations Im-3
munities Act (22 U.S.C. 288 et seq.) may be extended to 4
the Pacific Islands Forum in the same manner, to the 5
same extent, and subject to the same conditions as such 6
provisions may be extended to a public international orga-7
nization in which the United States participates pursuant 8
to any treaty or under the authority of any Act of Con-9
gress authorizing such participation or making an appro-10
priation for such participation. 11
SEC. 109. AMBASSADOR’S SELF-HELP SMALL GRANTS PRO-12
GRAM. 13
(a) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-14
gress that— 15
(1) at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders 16
Meeting, the United States Government announced 17
that the United States Agency for International De-18
velopment and the Department of State are working 19
together to set up an Ambassador’s Self-Help Small 20
Grants Program that will provide targeted funding 21
for small-scale projects and increase the flexibility of 22
United States funding resources across the Pacific; 23
and 24
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(2) this program will support community-led 1
initiatives, filling a gap by providing more accessible 2
resources for small projects that address local needs. 3
(b) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State and Ad-4
ministrator of the United States Agency for International 5
Development shall continue to administer and implement 6
the Ambassador’s Self-Help Small Grants Program. 7
(c) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 8
authorized to be appropriated $650,000 for each of the 9
fiscal years 2026 through 2033 to carry out this section. 10
SEC. 110. ESTABLISHING A SENIOR OFFICIAL FOR THE 11
COMPACTS OF FREE ASSOCIATION AT THE 12
DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 13
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall des-14
ignate a senior official at the Department of State respon-15
sible for administering the Compacts of Free Association 16
(in this section referred to as the ‘‘Compacts’’) at the De-17
partment of State (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sen-18
ior Official’’). The Senior Official shall report to the As-19
sistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Af-20
fairs. 21
(b) D
UTIES.—The Senior Official shall— 22
(1) be responsible for the conduct of United 23
States foreign policy with respect to the countries 24
affiliated with the United States Government under 25
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the Compacts, namely the freely associated states 1
of— 2
(A) the Republic of Palau; 3
(B) the Republic of the Marshall Islands; 4
and 5
(C) the Federated States of Micronesia; 6
(2) assist the Assistant Secretary of State for 7
East Asian and Pacific Affairs in providing overall 8
direction, coordination, and supervision of inter-9
departmental activities of the United States Govern-10
ment in these countries, including ensuring the time-11
ly transfer of assistance and provision of benefits 12
through the United States Department of the Inte-13
rior, as specified in the Compacts; 14
(3) oversee and evaluate the adequacy and ef-15
fectiveness of United States policy with respect to 16
these countries as well as of the plans, programs, re-17
sources, and performance for implementing that pol-18
icy, including programs and other activities imple-19
mented by the Department of the Interior; 20
(4) directly supervise the policy and operations 21
of the Compacts and provide guidance to relevant 22
United States missions within the Indo-Pacific re-23
gion; 24
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(5) ensure the provision of an adequate, regular 1
flow of information to posts abroad on United States 2
Government policies, policy deliberations, and diplo-3
matic exchanges in Washington, D.C.; and 4
(6) ensure the continuity of implementation of 5
commitments and Compact obligations and benefits, 6
consistent with United States national interests in 7
the Indo-Pacific region. 8
(c) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 9
authorized to be appropriated $250,000 to support the 10
Senior Official in the conduct and discharge of the duties 11
described in subsection (b). 12
TITLE II—PEOPLE-CENTERED 13
DEVELOPMENT 14
SEC. 201. ASSISTANCE TO IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH OUT-15
COMES AND BUILD PUBLIC HEALTH CAPAC-16
ITY. 17
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State, is author-18
ized to assist the Pacific Islands to improve public health 19
outcomes and build public health capacity. 20
(b) A
CTIVITIESSUPPORTED.—Activities authorized 21
to be carried out under subsection (a) may include— 22
(1) programming, including grants, cooperative 23
agreements, and other forms of assistance, as appro-24
priate, to assist in building local capacity to ensure 25
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that Pacific Islanders have access to the essential 1
health services they need to thrive and to address— 2
(A) maternal and child health; 3
(B) family planning and reproductive 4
health; 5
(C) gender-based violence; 6
(D) food security and nutrition; 7
(E) noncommunicable diseases; 8
(F) communicable diseases, including ne-9
glected tropical diseases, tuberculosis, HIV/ 10
AIDS, sexually-transmitted infections, and 11
zoonotic and emerging infectious disease 12
threats; 13
(G) equitable access to quality, essential, 14
and affordable health services and quality-as-15
sured, safe, effective medical products and their 16
appropriate use; and 17
(H) water, sanitation, and hygiene; 18
(2) technical assistance to strengthen local 19
health system capacity and resilience in the areas of 20
good leadership and governance, sustainable financ-21
ing, interoperable information systems and high 22
quality data for decision making, efficient medical 23
products and supply chain systems, and manage-24
ment of human resources for health, with special at-25
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tention to increasing health worker performance, re-1
tention, productivity, number, skill mix, and com-2
petency, including through exploring opportunities 3
such as private sector engagement and digital health 4
integration and access; 5
(3) coordination with existing local and regional 6
health sector goals, efforts, institutions, and frame-7
works; and 8
(4) investment in and improvement of critical 9
infrastructure, including hospitals, health clinics and 10
pharmacies in the Pacific Islands. 11
(c) R
EPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 12
of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub-13
mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 14
on the implementation of this section. 15
SEC. 202. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF THE 16
PRESS. 17
The Secretary of State is authorized to provide assist-18
ance to promote the dissemination of free and accurate 19
information in the Pacific Islands, including for the fol-20
lowing purposes: 21
(1) Media capacity building and education, in-22
cluding to— 23
(A) provide on-site media training tailored 24
to local needs; 25
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(B) collaborate with local government and 1
nongovernmental entities to promote media lit-2
eracy and integrate media literacy into primary 3
education curricula in local languages and dia-4
lects to ensure accessibility; and 5
(C) routinize funding for professional pro-6
grams, such as the Pacific Islands Journalism 7
Reporting Tour, that bring media professionals 8
from the Pacific Islands to the United States. 9
(2) Strengthening and diversifying broadcast 10
content tailored to local audiences, including content 11
broadcast in the local vernacular. 12
(3) Investing in connectivity infrastructure with 13
an emphasis on broadcast radio and transmission. 14
SEC. 203. INDO-PACIFIC MEDIA ADVANCEMENT PROGRAM. 15
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall con-16
tinue to implement and develop the Indo-Pacific Media 17
Advancement Program to promote a robust, free media 18
in the Pacific Islands and strengthen the capacity of 19
media outlets and journalists in the Indo-Pacific region 20
to develop their business strategies, enhance their ability 21
to conduct independent journalism, and counter 22
disinformation. 23
(b) G
OALS.—The goals of the Indo-Pacific Media Ad-24
vancement Program shall be to accomplish the following: 25
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(1) Increase the understanding of prevalent 1
misinformation and disinformation narratives. 2
(2) Develop the capacity of professional, inde-3
pendent media organizations and journalists to de-4
velop and implement media sustainability plans, im-5
prove business operations, and increase the quality 6
and quantity of published information and news. 7
(3) Expand media outlets’ access to resources, 8
content-sharing agreements, and equipment, so that 9
such outlets can provide quality content. 10
(4) Develop the technical and investigative 11
skills of journalists to conduct pre-bunking, fact- 12
checking, and debunking to address misinformation 13
and disinformation. 14
(c) R
EPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 15
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in 16
coordination with the heads of other Federal departments 17
or agencies, as appropriate, shall submit to the appro-18
priate congressional committees a report on the Indo-Pa-19
cific Media Advancement Program and the engagement of 20
the United States with the free media in the Pacific Is-21
lands, including the following: 22
(1) An overview of the media and journalism 23
landscape in the Pacific Islands. 24
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(2) A review of the efforts and planned efforts 1
of the United States Government to strengthen free 2
and independent media in the Pacific Islands, in-3
cluding a description of the objectives, means of im-4
plementation, and measures of success of the Indo- 5
Pacific Media Advancement Program. 6
(3) An assessment of challenges to a free and 7
open media in the Pacific Islands and to the imple-8
mentation of the Indo-Pacific Media Advancement 9
Program, including strategies to mitigate such chal-10
lenges. 11
(4) An assessment of any additional authorities 12
or resources necessary for more robust United 13
States engagement to promote a free media in the 14
Pacific Islands and greater implementation of the 15
Indo-Pacific Media Advancement Program. 16
(d) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 17
are authorized to be appropriated $4,000,000 for each of 18
the fiscal years 2026 through 2033 to carry out this sec-19
tion. 20
SEC. 204. PROGRAM TO PROMOTE EDUCATIONAL AND PRO-21
FESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR YOUNG 22
ADULT LEADERS AND PROFESSIONALS. 23
(a) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-24
gress that routinized people-to-people exchange programs 25
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to bring Pacific Islands religious leaders, journalists, civil 1
society members, politicians, and others to the United 2
States, as well as supporting similar exchange participants 3
from the United States to the Pacific Islands, strengthens 4
existing relationships and advances United States inter-5
ests and shared values in the region. 6
(b) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall de-7
velop and implement a program to promote educational 8
and professional development for young adult leaders and 9
professionals in the Pacific Islands with a demonstrated 10
passion to contribute to the continued development of the 11
Pacific Islands. 12
(c) C
ONDUCT OFPROGRAM.—The program developed 13
under this section may be carried out through— 14
(1) grants provided on a competitive basis to 15
qualified organizations with demonstrated expertise 16
relating to the Pacific Islands; 17
(2) grants in amounts not to exceed $50,000 18
provided on a competitive basis to qualified young 19
leaders from the Pacific Islands for the purpose of 20
carrying out projects dedicated to the improvement 21
of their communities in the Pacific Islands; 22
(3) regional workshops and professional, voca-23
tional, and academic fellowships; and 24
(4) people-to-people exchanges. 25
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(d) BRIEFING.— 1
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 2
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-3
retary of State, acting through the Assistant Sec-4
retary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, 5
should brief the appropriate congressional commit-6
tees on exchange programs for the Pacific Islands 7
region. 8
(2) E
LEMENTS.—The briefing required by 9
paragraph (1) shall include— 10
(A) an assessment of any factors con-11
straining the number and frequency of Inter-12
national Visitor Leadership Program partici-13
pants from countries of the Pacific Islands; 14
(B) an identification of resources that are 15
necessary to address the factors described in 16
subparagraph (A); and 17
(C) a strategy for connecting alumni and 18
participants of the Department of State’s pro-19
fessional development exchange programs in 20
East Asia, such as the Young Southeast Asian 21
Leaders Initiative and the Young Pacific Lead-22
ers programs, to enhance interregion and 23
intraregion people-to-people ties. 24
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SEC. 205. EDUCATION ASSISTANCE. 1
(a) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-2
gress that— 3
(1) promoting basic education in the Pacific Is-4
lands, particularly in traditionally underserved com-5
munities, advances United States foreign policy 6
goals and requires a whole of government approach, 7
and the United States Government currently dedi-8
cates insufficient resources and attention to assisting 9
with education needs in the region; 10
(2) the Peace Corps alone is insufficient to 11
achieve United States objectives of promoting sus-12
tainable, quality basic education; and 13
(3) countries of the Pacific Islands meet the re-14
quirements outlined in subsection (c)(4) of section 15
105 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 16
U.S.C. 2151c). 17
(b) E
DUCATIONASSISTANCE.—The President is au-18
thorized to provide assistance under section 105 of the 19
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151c) to pro-20
mote sustainable, quality basic education in the Pacific Is-21
lands, including for the following purposes: 22
(1) Supporting national nutrition and health 23
programs. 24
(2) Working with partner governments to re-25
form policies, improve curricula, strengthen data 26
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systems, train teachers, and provide quality learning 1
materials. 2
(3) Building new schools and renovating older 3
facilities to ensure safe places for learning. 4
(4) Providing individuals, particularly at-risk 5
youth, with relevant education, training, and skills 6
for meaningful employment. 7
(5) Removing barriers to entering formal edu-8
cation for out-of-school individuals, assisting in 9
keeping them in school, and providing an oppor-10
tunity to catch up on schooling for those left behind. 11
(6) Promoting teaching and research exchanges 12
between the Pacific Islands and United States insti-13
tutions of higher education, including community 14
colleges. 15
SEC. 206. PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE TIES. 16
The Secretary of State and Administrator of the 17
United States Agency for International Development shall 18
continue to administer and expand programs fostering 19
people-to-people ties between the United States and Pa-20
cific Islands, including— 21
(1) the Youth Ambassadors Program in the Bu-22
reau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; 23
(2) the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs; 24
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(3) the Minority Serving Institutions Partner-1
ships Initiatives to the Pacific; 2
(4) the U.S.-Pacific Institute for Rising Lead-3
ers Fellowship; and 4
(5) the Global STEM Development Scholarship 5
Program. 6
SEC. 207. PACIFIC ISLANDS TRADES PROGRAM. 7
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the 8
United States Agency for International Development shall 9
establish a program, to be known as the ‘‘Pacific Islands 10
Training and Resources for Advancement in Development, 11
Education, and Skills Program’’ or the ‘‘Pacific Islands 12
TRADES Program’’, to, through scholarships, training 13
from such agency, and grants to partner organizations, 14
assist with workforce development in the Pacific Islands 15
to— 16
(1) increase the capacity of the local workforce 17
through medium- and long-term training and tech-18
nical assistance in sectors of critical importance to 19
the Pacific Islands, such as construction, tourism, 20
boat maintenance, and fisheries; 21
(2) balance maximizing workforce retention in 22
the Pacific Islands with any necessary training out-23
side of the Pacific Islands, with a focus on avoiding 24
exacerbating outward labor flows; 25
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(3) keep Pacific priorities in mind by coordi-1
nating with like-minded allies and partners and 2
working with local organizations and governments; 3
and 4
(4) provide resources for technical and manage-5
ment skills development to adequately prepare the 6
workforce of the Pacific Islands for any potential in-7
coming investment. 8
(b) R
EPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 9
of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub-10
mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 11
on the Pacific Islands TRADES Program, including the 12
following: 13
(1) A comprehensive overview of such program. 14
(2) An identification of the office overseeing 15
such program. 16
(3) A list of any partner organizations involved 17
in such program. 18
(4) A description of the training and workforce 19
development planned as part of such program. 20
(5) An assessment of the impact of such pro-21
gram. 22
(6) Any additional resources needed to imple-23
ment such program. 24
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(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1
are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each 2
of the fiscal years 2026 through 2033 to carry out this 3
section. 4
SEC. 208. INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS. 5
(a) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-6
gress that— 7
(1) the United States International Develop-8
ment Finance Corporation has a dual mandate to 9
advance United States foreign policy and make de-10
velopment-focused investment around the world with 11
a focus on communities most in need; 12
(2) the United States International Develop-13
ment Finance Corporation must enter into an in-14
vestment incentive agreement with a jurisdiction’s 15
government in order to pursue development projects 16
in that jurisdiction; 17
(3) the market-based private sector development 18
and inclusive economic growth of Solomon Islands 19
and the Republic of Vanuatu are in the United 20
States foreign policy interest; 21
(4) the United States International Develop-22
ment Finance Corporation has not entered into in-23
vestment incentive agreements with the government 24
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of Solomon Islands or with the government of the 1
Republic of Vanuatu; and 2
(5) the inability of the United States Inter-3
national Development Finance Corporation to sup-4
port investments in Solomon Islands and the Repub-5
lic of Vanuatu undermines United States policy to 6
provide countries a robust alternative to state-direct 7
investments by authoritarian governments and 8
United States strategic competitors. 9
(b) I
NVESTMENTAGREEMENTS.—The Chief Execu-10
tive Officer of the United States International Develop-11
ment Finance Corporation, in coordination with the Sec-12
retary of State, shall continue and prioritize efforts to 13
enter into investment incentive agreements with the gov-14
ernments of those Pacific Islands in which the United 15
States International Development Finance Corporation is 16
otherwise authorized to operate under the BUILD Act of 17
2018 (22 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.). 18
(c) T
ECHNICALASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 19
State, in coordination with the Administrator of the 20
United States Agency for International Development, the 21
Secretary of the Treasury, and the Chief Executive Officer 22
of the United States International Development Finance 23
Corporation, as appropriate, is authorized to provide tech-24
nical assistance to assist the Pacific Islands in negotiating 25
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and executing investment incentive agreements with the 1
United States International Development Finance Cor-2
poration. 3
SEC. 209. COMMITTEE ON ENGAGEMENT WITH CIVIL SOCI-4
ETY ORGANIZATIONS IN THE PACIFIC IS-5
LANDS. 6
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State, in co-7
ordination with the Administrator of the United States 8
Agency for International Development and the Secretary 9
of Defense, shall establish a committee, to be known as 10
the ‘‘Committee on Engagement with Civil Society Organi-11
zations in the Pacific Islands’’ (referred to in this sub-12
section as the ‘‘Committee’’) for the purposes of— 13
(1) coordinating interagency engagement with 14
civil society organizations in the Pacific Islands; 15
(2) coordinating collaboration with United 16
States partners and allies on engagement with civil 17
society organizations in the Pacific Islands; and 18
(3) aligning such engagement with the needs of 19
the Pacific Islands and the national security prior-20
ities of the United States. 21
(b) S
TRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after the 22
date of the enactment of this Act, the Committee shall 23
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 24
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strategy on engagement with civil society organizations in 1
the Pacific Islands, including— 2
(1) a review of current efforts across the United 3
States Government to engage with such organiza-4
tions, including the role of such efforts in the deliv-5
ery of foreign aid to communities; 6
(2) a plan for engagement across the United 7
States Government with such organizations; 8
(3) an assessment of the importance of engage-9
ment by the United States with such organizations 10
and how such engagement aligns with the advance-11
ment of Indo-Pacific and Pacific Islands priorities 12
within the National Security Strategy, Indo-Pacific 13
Strategy, and Pacific Partnership Strategy; 14
(4) an analysis of interagency cooperation re-15
garding United States engagement with such organi-16
zations and specific recommendations for expansion 17
and improvement of such cooperation; 18
(5) an analysis of the resources needed to bol-19
ster and streamline United States engagement with 20
such organizations, including any additional statu-21
tory authorities or appropriations of funds; 22
(6) an analysis of any engagement conducted by 23
a country other than the United States with such or-24
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ganizations, including engagement that may under-1
mine civil society in the Pacific Islands; and 2
(7) an assessment of opportunities for greater 3
coordination between the United States and like- 4
minded partners and allies. 5
SEC. 210. AMERICAN SPACES IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS. 6
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-7
ment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall develop and 8
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re-9
port on the state of and plans for American Spaces in 10
the Pacific Islands, including— 11
(1) an overview of American Spaces in the Pa-12
cific Islands (including American Corners and Amer-13
ican Centers), including an assessment of the cur-14
rent and historical programming and resources of 15
American Spaces; 16
(2) a plan for future American Spaces in Pa-17
cific Island countries, including any new develop-18
ment or expansion of existing American Spaces, and 19
a description of any additional resources needed for 20
such expansion; and 21
(3) an assessment of the impact of American 22
Spaces on American foreign policy and national se-23
curity interests, including in comparison to the simi-24
lar initiatives of other actors. 25
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TITLE III—PEACE AND 1
SECURITY 2
SEC. 301. BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF LOCAL CIVILIAN 3
AND NATIONAL SECURITY INSTITUTIONS. 4
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in coordi-5
nation with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary 6
of Homeland Security, as appropriate, is authorized to 7
provide assistance to build the capacity of local civilian 8
and national security institutions of the Pacific Islands for 9
purposes of— 10
(1) enhancing maritime security and maritime 11
domain awareness to address challenges such as ille-12
gal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; 13
(2) assisting local law enforcement in detecting, 14
preventing, and combating trafficking in persons and 15
drug trafficking and other forms of transnational 16
crime; 17
(3) providing essential services to civilian popu-18
lations and responding to humanitarian challenges 19
caused by natural disasters; 20
(4) participating in efforts by regional institu-21
tions and frameworks to coordinate and facilitate co-22
operation on shared security challenges; 23
(5) expanding information sharing and working 24
toward operational coordination and interoperability 25
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among Pacific Island maritime security forces, in-1
cluding through regional fusion centers; and 2
(6) providing assistance in legal actions, includ-3
ing hiring legal counsel or providing legal support, 4
as appropriate, to support the Pacific Islands in de-5
fending their rights and interests related to mari-6
time security, combating transnational crime, re-7
sponding to natural disasters, and participating in 8
regional security efforts. 9
(b) R
ELATEDPROGRAMS AND AUTHORITIES.—The 10
assistance and capacity building authorized by this sub-11
section should build on the following: 12
(1) The International Military Education and 13
Training program. 14
(2) The Foreign Military Financing program. 15
(3) The Overseas Humanitarian Disaster and 16
Civic Aid program. 17
(4) The authority to build the capacity of for-18
eign security forces under section 333 of title 10, 19
United States Code. 20
(5) The authority to provide excess defense ar-21
ticles under section 516 of the Foreign Assistance 22
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j). 23
(6) The National Guard State Partnership Pro-24
gram. 25
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(7) The International Narcotics Control and 1
Law Enforcement Program. 2
(c) N
ATIONALPOLICEFORCES AND COAST 3
G
UARDS.—The national police forces and coast guards of 4
countries of the Pacific Islands are eligible to receive as-5
sistance under the programs and authorities described in 6
subsection (b) (other than the programs and authorities 7
described in paragraphs (1), (4), (6), and (7) of subsection 8
(b)). 9
SEC. 302. REPORTING. 10
(a) U
PDATES OFCERTAINREPORTS.—The Secretary 11
of State, in coordination with the heads of other Federal 12
agencies as appropriate, shall identify and update the re-13
ports described in subsection (b) to include in such reports 14
a discussion of forms of transnational crime affecting the 15
Pacific Islands. 16
(b) R
EPORTSDESCRIBED.—The reports described in 17
this subsection are the following: 18
(1) The International Narcotics Control Strat-19
egy report. 20
(2) The Improving International Fisheries Man-21
agement report. 22
(3) The Trafficking in Persons report. 23
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SEC. 303. INTERNATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACADEMY. 1
(a) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-2
gress that— 3
(1) the Department of State’s International 4
Law Enforcement Academies are valuable tools in 5
our relationships with other countries and enhancing 6
the capacity of foreign criminal justice partners to 7
combat transnational crime; 8
(2) assistance in combating transnational crime 9
is frequently cited as an area of need from Pacific 10
Islands leaders; and 11
(3) the International Law Enforcement Acad-12
emy in Bangkok, Thailand recently widened its audi-13
ence to include the Pacific Islands. 14
(b) R
EPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 15
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in 16
coordination with the heads of other relevant Federal 17
agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional 18
committees a report— 19
(1) detailing training and other activities that 20
the International Law Enforcement Academy in 21
Bangkok, Thailand has conducted with Pacific Is-22
lands participants; 23
(2) describing any planned expansions to the 24
Bangkok International Law Enforcement Academy’s 25
programming, including the Pacific Islands, and any 26
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challenges to those planned expansions, including 1
any gaps and needs in funding, staffing levels, and 2
physical space; and 3
(3) assessing the feasibility of continuing to ad-4
minister and expand programming for the Pacific Is-5
lands through the International Law Enforcement 6
Academy in Bangkok, or if the establishment of an 7
additional International Law Enforcement Academy 8
dedicated to serving the Pacific Islands is necessary, 9
and what resources and authorities would be needed 10
to do so. 11
TITLE IV—RESOURCE AND 12
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 13
SEC. 401. TRADE DEVELOPMENT WITH THE PACIFIC IS-14
LANDS. 15
(a) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-16
gress that the United States should expand bilateral and 17
multilateral trade with the Pacific Islands to promote so-18
cioeconomic development and mutual prosperity. 19
(b) T
RADEDEVELOPMENT.—The United States 20
Trade Representative is authorized to expand and diver-21
sify trade and promote regional development with the Pa-22
cific Islands, including through negotiating trade and in-23
vestment framework agreements. 24
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SEC. 402. TRADE CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVE FOR THE 1
PACIFIC ISLANDS. 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Administrator of the United 3
States Agency for International Development, in coordina-4
tion with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the 5
Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Chief Exec-6
utive Officer of the United States International Develop-7
ment Finance Corporation, and the Director of the United 8
States Trade and Development Agency are authorized to 9
implement programming to build trade capacity in the Pa-10
cific Islands. 11
(b) A
CTIVITIES.—The activities authorized under this 12
section include— 13
(1) development of human and institutional ca-14
pacity and infrastructure across multiple sectors of 15
economies, including digital connectivity and cyber-16
security; 17
(2) assistance with development and implemen-18
tation of regional and international trade agree-19
ments, including the World Trade Organization’s 20
Agreement on Trade Facilitation and facilitation of 21
intraregional trade flows; 22
(3) support for women-owned enterprises and 23
gender equality; and 24
(4) promotion of government policies that en-25
courage free and fair competition, sound governance, 26
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environmental protection, and business environments 1
conducive to sustainable and inclusive economic 2
growth. 3
SEC. 403. UNITED STATES COMMERCIAL SERVICE. 4
The Secretary of Commerce shall expand the pres-5
ence of the United States Commercial Service in the Pa-6
cific Islands and allocate additional Foreign Commercial 7
Service Officers to the Pacific Islands, including by ele-8
vating existing partner posts and establishing new Com-9
mercial Service posts and partner posts, to— 10
(1) explore opportunities for United States pri-11
vate sector investment; 12
(2) examine regulations in host countries in the 13
Pacific Islands that may hinder foreign direct invest-14
ment, including those related to human rights, labor 15
rights, and environmental protection, and provide 16
technical assistance when requested by such host 17
countries; and 18
(3) report on the commercial and investment 19
activities of non-allied foreign actors in the Pacific 20
Islands. 21
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TITLE V—ENVIRONMENTAL AND 1
DISASTER RESILIENCE 2
SEC. 501. ASSISTANCE TO ENHANCE PREPAREDNESS FOR 3
AND RESILIENCE TO NATURAL DISASTERS 4
AND OTHER EMERGENCIES. 5
The Secretary of State is authorized to assist the Pa-6
cific Islands to enhance preparedness for and resilience to 7
natural disasters and other emergencies. Such assistance 8
includes— 9
(1) education and training programs on natural 10
disaster prevention and preparedness for emergency 11
management professionals in the Pacific Islands, in-12
cluding by leveraging the expertise of nonprofit orga-13
nizations and institutions of higher education in the 14
United States; 15
(2) technical assistance, including through 16
grants and cooperative agreements for qualified 17
United States and local nongovernmental organiza-18
tions, to enhance early warning systems, emergency 19
management and preparedness procedures, and post- 20
disaster relief and recovery; 21
(3) coordination of existing disaster mitigation 22
and response plans in the region, including by 23
United States allies and partners in the region; 24
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(4) infrastructure development and upgrades to 1
improve disaster preparedness and response, such as 2
the construction of evacuation centers, flood control 3
measures, and communication networks; 4
(5) support for local community-based disaster 5
risk reduction programs, including the development 6
of evacuation plans, training in first aid and emer-7
gency response, and provision of emergency supplies; 8
(6) technical assistance and training to enhance 9
the capacity of local emergency response agencies, 10
including search and rescue teams, fire departments, 11
and medical personnel; 12
(7) provision of critical humanitarian assist-13
ance, such as food, water, shelter, and medical care, 14
in the aftermath of disasters; and 15
(8) support for programs aimed at reducing the 16
long-term impacts of disasters, such as disaster risk 17
insurance, small business recovery programs, and 18
environmental restoration initiatives. 19
SEC. 502. CLIMATE RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE. 20
The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad-21
ministrator of the United States Agency for International 22
Development, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Chief 23
Executive Officer of the United States International De-24
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velopment Finance Corporation, as appropriate, is author-1
ized to— 2
(1) invest in and improve critical infrastructure, 3
including transport connectivity, hospitals, health 4
clinics, pharmacies, information and communications 5
technology, food security, coastal zone management, 6
marine and water resource management, and energy 7
security and access to electricity in the Pacific Is-8
lands, with an emphasis on climate resiliency and 9
sustainable development; 10
(2) provide technical assistance to assist local 11
government and civil society leaders assess risks to 12
local infrastructure, consider and implement risk 13
mitigation efforts and policies to strengthen resil-14
ience, and evaluate proposed projects and solutions 15
for their efficacy and sustainability; 16
(3) support investment and improvement in eco-17
system conservation and protection for the long-term 18
sustainable use of ecosystem services, especially 19
those that support environmental resilience, food se-20
curity and livelihoods; 21
(4) invest in and improve critical telecommuni-22
cations infrastructure and cybersecurity; 23
(5) foster public-private partnerships and co-24
operation among stakeholders to mobilize private 25
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sector investment and innovation for sustainable in-1
frastructure development and climate resiliency in 2
the Pacific Islands; 3
(6) provide technical assistance and capacity 4
building to local governments and communities to in-5
tegrate climate resilience into their infrastructure 6
planning and development strategies; 7
(7) develop and implement programs that pro-8
mote the use of renewable energy and energy effi-9
ciency technologies in the Pacific Islands, including 10
through investment in clean energy infrastructure 11
and technical assistance to local utilities and energy 12
regulators; 13
(8) work with regional organizations and gov-14
ernments to promote the sustainable management of 15
marine resources, including through the development 16
of marine protected areas and ecosystem-based man-17
agement approaches; 18
(9) foster partnerships between Pacific Island 19
governments and research institutions to build sci-20
entific capacity and support research on impacts to 21
climate and environment and adaptation strategies 22
in the region; and 23
(10) promote the use of innovative financing 24
mechanisms, such as green bonds and climate risk 25
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insurance, to help Pacific Island countries access af-1
fordable financing for climate-resilient infrastructure 2
development. 3
TITLE VI—OCEAN AND 4
ENVIRONMENT 5
SEC. 601. OCEANS MANAGEMENT. 6
The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad-7
ministrator of the United States Agency for International 8
Development and the Secretary of Commerce, is author-9
ized to— 10
(1) support programming that promotes fish-11
eries sustainability and marine biodiversity conserva-12
tion in the Pacific Islands; 13
(2) support the development, adoption, and im-14
plementation of regional sustainable fisheries poli-15
cies, standards, and regulatory frameworks; 16
(3) partner with regional private sector inter-17
ests in the adoption and implementation of seafood 18
industry fair-labor standards and sustainable fishing 19
practices; 20
(4) provide technical assistance to assist local 21
government and civil society leaders to improve envi-22
ronmental and ocean management; and 23
(5) provide technical assistance and capacity 24
building to improve data collection and management, 25
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including through the use of innovative technologies, 1
to support sustainable fisheries management and 2
biodiversity conservation in the region; 3
(6) support the development and implementa-4
tion of integrated ocean management and marine 5
spatial planning frameworks that incorporate local 6
knowledge and community input, promote eco-7
system-based management approaches, and address 8
transboundary marine conservation challenges; 9
(7) support research and monitoring programs 10
to better understand changes and challenges to 11
oceans and fisheries in the Pacific Islands and to in-12
form evidence-based management approaches; 13
(8) support regional efforts to combat illegal, 14
unreported, and unregulated fishing and promote 15
sustainable fisheries practices, including through the 16
development of traceability systems and improved 17
monitoring and enforcement capacity; 18
(9) encourage private sector investment in sus-19
tainable fisheries and marine conservation efforts in 20
the Pacific Islands, including through partnerships 21
with local communities and businesses; and 22
(10) promote public awareness and engagement 23
on issues related to sustainable fisheries and ocean 24
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management in the Pacific Islands, including 1
through education and outreach programs. 2
SEC. 602. SEA LEVEL RISE. 3
The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad-4
ministrator of the United States Agency for International 5
Development and the Secretary of Commerce, is author-6
ized to provide support and technical assistance to Pacific 7
Islands to address the impacts of sea level rise with the 8
aim of— 9
(1) protecting and mitigating the impacts of sea 10
level rise on coastal communities and their econo-11
mies; 12
(2) protecting and increasing the resilience of 13
critical coastal infrastructure; 14
(3) preserving Pacific Islands maritime bound-15
aries and their entitlements; 16
(4) preserving Pacific Islands’ statehoods; 17
(5) providing support to Pacific Islands to de-18
velop and implement effective and just migration 19
policies that address the impacts of sea level rise on 20
communities and provide options for those who wish 21
to migrate; 22
(6) collaborating with international organiza-23
tions and Pacific Island to provide humanitarian as-24
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sistance to those affected by sea level rise, including 1
through access to food, water, and shelter; and 2
(7) supporting efforts to build resilience and 3
sustainable livelihoods in affected communities, in-4
cluding through the development of alternative eco-5
nomic opportunities and sustainable agriculture 6
practices. 7
SEC. 603. ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED, AND UNREGULATED 8
FISHING. 9
Section 3553 of the National Defense Authorization 10
Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (16 U.S.C. 8033) is amended— 11
(1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 12
end; 13
(2) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para-14
graph (10); and 15
(3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol-16
lowing: 17
‘‘(9) an assessment of gaps or limitations in the 18
ability of the United States to effectively assist pri-19
ority regions and priority flag states relating to IUU 20
fishing due to resource constraints and the addi-21
tional resources necessary to overcome those con-22
straints; and’’. 23
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TITLE VII—TECHNOLOGY AND 1
CONNECTIVITY 2
SEC. 701. DIGITAL ACCESS AND INCLUSION. 3
The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad-4
ministrator of the United States Agency for International 5
Development and the heads of the United States Inter-6
national Development Finance Corporation, the Millen-7
nium Challenge Corporation, and the United States Trade 8
and Development Authority, is authorized to provide sup-9
port to the Pacific Islands to— 10
(1) expand access to high quality broadband 11
and telecommunications infrastructure in the Pacific 12
Islands; 13
(2) partner with regional private and public sec-14
tor interests to promote and expand secure and ac-15
cessible broadband connectivity; and 16
(3) strengthen the private sector and civil soci-17
ety’s digital capacity and digital skillset. 18
SEC. 702. CYBERSECURITY. 19
The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad-20
ministrator of the United States Agency for International 21
Development and the heads of the United States Inter-22
national Development Finance Corporation, the Millen-23
nium Challenge Corporation, the Cybersecurity and Infra-24
structure Security Agency, and the United States Trade 25
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and Development Authority, is authorized to provide sup-1
port and technical assistance to the Pacific Islands to— 2
(1) increase adoption of policies and regulatory 3
positions that encourage open, interoperable, reli-4
able, and secure digital infrastructure; 5
(2) increase adoption of cybersecurity best prac-6
tices in the Pacific Islands, including through edu-7
cation and training programs for government and 8
private sector entities; 9
(3) assist with the development and implemen-10
tation of cybersecurity strategies and policies, in-11
cluding incident response plans and risk manage-12
ment frameworks; 13
(4) promote international cooperation and infor-14
mation sharing on cybersecurity threats and inci-15
dents; and 16
(5) assist in the establishment and strength-17
ening of national and regional Computer Emergency 18
Response Teams (CERTs) to enhance cyber incident 19
detection and response capabilities. 20
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TITLE VIII—REPORT ON THE 1
STRATEGY FOR PACIFIC IS-2
LANDS PARTNERSHIP AND 3
AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO-4
PRIATIONS 5
SEC. 801. REPORT ON THE STRATEGY FOR PACIFIC IS-6
LANDS PARTNERSHIP. 7
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 8
date on which the initial report on the progress in imple-9
menting the Strategy for Pacific Islands Partnership re-10
quired by section 103 is submitted to the appropriate con-11
gressional committees, and not later than January 1 of 12
each odd-numbered year thereafter, the President, in con-13
sultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of 14
Homeland Security, the Secretary of Commerce, the Ad-15
ministrator of United States Agency for International De-16
velopment, the Secretary of Defense, the United States 17
Trade Representative, and any other relevant official, shall 18
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re-19
port on the progress in implementing the Strategy for Pa-20
cific Islands Partnership. 21
(b) M
ATTERSTOBEINCLUDED.—The report re-22
quired by subsection (a) shall include the following: 23
(1) An assessment of the security challenges to 24
the Pacific Islands, including— 25
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(A) an assessment of the status of security 1
challenges to the Pacific Islands, including as 2
outlined by regional documents such as the Boe 3
Declaration on regional security; 4
(B) an analysis of demonstrated needs of 5
the Pacific Islands for assistance, including ex-6
cess defense equipment and related materials 7
with humanitarian and development uses to ful-8
fill such needs; 9
(C) a review of existing security assistance 10
programs in the Pacific Islands, including pro-11
grams and efforts provided by United States al-12
lies and partners; 13
(D) a plan for programs for training and 14
sustainment with respect to such excess defense 15
equipment and related materials, including 16
those with humanitarian and development uses; 17
(E) a list of militaries, national police 18
forces, coast guards, and other national security 19
forces of the Pacific Islands receiving assistance 20
under the strategy; 21
(F) a plan to provide humanitarian assist-22
ance and disaster relief, if necessary, through 23
the Overseas Humanitarian Disaster and Civic 24
Aid program; 25
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(G) a review of existing cross-border mari-1
time law enforcement operations (commonly 2
known as ‘‘shiprider agreements’’) with the Pa-3
cific Islands, an assessment of additional 4
resourcing needs to enhance operational capac-5
ity, and a plan to improve on these programs 6
and operations; 7
(H) a review of existing National Guard 8
State Partnership Programs with the Pacific Is-9
lands, an assessment of additional opportunities 10
to leverage National Guard State Partnership 11
Programs to address law enforcement, disaster 12
relief and emergency management, and related 13
priorities, and a plan to expand, as appropriate, 14
existing and new National Guard State Part-15
nership Programs in the region; 16
(I) a review of current efforts and progress 17
in removing unexploded ordnance in the Pacific 18
Islands and an assessment of additional 19
resourcing needed to ensure continued progress, 20
including to support coordination with regional 21
efforts and those of United States allies and 22
partners; 23
(J) a review of existing regional fusion cen-24
ters and other cooperative intelligence sharing 25
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efforts in the Pacific Islands to address mari-1
time security, transnational crime, natural dis-2
asters, and other security challenges and an as-3
sessment of opportunities for the United States 4
to participate in such efforts, including by allo-5
cating staff and supplying resourcing; 6
(K) measures to evaluate success for the 7
strategy; and 8
(L) a detailed assessment of appropriations 9
required to achieve the objectives for the strat-10
egy in future years. 11
(2) An assessment of the diplomatic presence in 12
the Pacific Islands, including— 13
(A) a description of the Department of 14
State, United States Agency for International 15
Development, United States International De-16
velopment Finance Corporation, Millennium 17
Challenge Corporation, United States Trade 18
and Development Authority and United States 19
Commercial Service presence, staffing, pro-20
gramming, and resourcing of operations in the 21
Pacific Islands, including programming and 22
resourcing not specifically allocated to the Pa-23
cific Islands; and 24
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(B) a description of gaps in such presence, 1
including unfilled full-time equivalent positions. 2
(3) A description of coordination with regional 3
allies, including— 4
(A) a review of ongoing efforts, initiatives, 5
and programs undertaken by regional allies and 6
partners, including multilateral organizations, 7
to advance the priorities identified in this Act; 8
(B) a review of ongoing efforts, initiatives, 9
and programs undertaken by nonallied foreign 10
actors that are viewed as being potentially 11
harmful or in any way detrimental to one or 12
more countries of the Pacific Islands; and 13
(C) an assessment of United States pro-14
grams in the Pacific Islands and their align-15
ment and complementarity with the efforts of 16
regional allies and partners. 17
(4) A description of trade capacity building, in-18
cluding— 19
(A) economic opportunities for which 20
United States businesses, or those of other like- 21
minded partners, would be competitive; 22
(B) legal, economic, governance, 23
infrastructural, or other hurdles limiting United 24
States investment in the Pacific Islands; and 25
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(C) steps the United States has taken to— 1
(i) develop human and institutional 2
capacity and infrastructure across multiple 3
sectors of economies, including digital 4
connectivity and cybersecurity; 5
(ii) assist with development and im-6
plementation of regional and international 7
trade agreements, including the World 8
Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade 9
Facilitation and facilitation of 10
intraregional trade flows; 11
(iii) support women-owned enterprises 12
and gender equality; and 13
(iv) promote government policies that 14
encourage free and fair competition, sound 15
governance, environmental protection, and 16
business environments conducive to sus-17
tainable and inclusive economic growth. 18
(5) A description of trade development, includ-19
ing— 20
(A) an assessment of the readiness of 21
countries in the Pacific Islands to enter into en-22
hanced trade relationships with the United 23
States, including with respect to reducing or 24
eliminating tariff and nontariff barriers inhib-25
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iting progress towards deepening trade relation-1
ships; 2
(B) a review of existing regional multilat-3
eral and bilateral trade agreements and pref-4
erence programs involving the Pacific Islands 5
and their impacts on regional trade and devel-6
opment; and 7
(C) an identification of opportunities to 8
work with existing regional frameworks to in-9
crease trade and economic integration with the 10
Pacific Islands. 11
(6) A description of emergency preparedness for 12
the Pacific Islands, including— 13
(A) an assessment of disaster risks in the 14
Pacific Islands and existing local and regional 15
capacity to respond to such risks; and 16
(B) a review of existing efforts by United 17
States allies and partners to provide assistance 18
and training for natural disaster preparedness 19
and emergency management. 20
(7) A description of activities of the Peace 21
Corps in the Pacific Islands, including— 22
(A) a comparative analysis of the Peace 23
Corps presence in the Pacific Islands region to 24
other regions of the world, including a cost-ben-25
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efit analysis of placement in the region versus 1
elsewhere globally; 2
(B) an analysis of current impediments to 3
Peace Corps expansion in the Pacific Islands 4
region; 5
(C) outcomes of consultations among 6
United States agencies, and with regional allies 7
and partners, on areas in which cooperation can 8
reduce factors limiting Peace Corps expansion, 9
particularly those related to medical transpor-10
tation and personal safety; and 11
(D) a plan and timeline for implementing 12
outcomes identified to facilitate expansion of 13
Peace Corps presence in the region, where ap-14
propriate. 15
(8) A description of public health and health 16
care challenges in the Pacific Islands, including 17
health systems strengthening, immunization, non-18
communicable diseases, and gender-based violence. 19
(9) A description of resilient development in the 20
Pacific Islands, including— 21
(A) a review of foreign infrastructure de-22
velopments in the Pacific Islands by non-United 23
States allies and partners; 24
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(B) assessments of the environmental im-1
pact and sustainability of such developments; 2
(C) an analysis of the financial sustain-3
ability of such developments and their impacts 4
on the debt of host countries in the Pacific Is-5
lands; and 6
(D) an analysis of the region’s banking in-7
frastructure and Pacific Island access to finan-8
cial services. 9
(10) A description of press freedom in the Pa-10
cific Islands, including— 11
(A) an assessment of the national laws of 12
the Pacific Islands with respect to foreign in-13
vestment in media and related sectors; 14
(B) relevant licensing regulations of the 15
Pacific Islands and governmental restrictions on 16
free expression that limit the availability of di-17
verse media voices in the Pacific Islands; and 18
(C) analyses of covert efforts by foreign 19
media actors in the Pacific Islands— 20
(i) to influence, shape, or circumvent 21
regulations in the media or telecommuni-22
cation sectors; and 23
(ii) to co-opt local media and nar-24
ratives. 25
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(11) A description of civil society engagement 1
and development, including— 2
(A) an assessment of the strength and via-3
bility of civil society sectors of the Pacific Is-4
lands, including legal, organizational capacity, 5
financial, advocacy, services, infrastructure, and 6
public image sectors; and 7
(B) an identification of objectives and 8
measures of success for the program. 9
(12) A description of United States Govern-10
ment efforts to assist the Pacific Islands in the im-11
provement of critical physical and cyber infrastruc-12
ture, including— 13
(A) investments in the development or im-14
provement critical infrastructure supported by 15
the United States; 16
(B) technical assistance for the develop-17
ment or improvement of critical infrastructure 18
supported by the United States; and 19
(C) a description of support given to the 20
Pacific Islands on the expansion of tele-21
communications infrastructure. 22
(13) A description of United States Govern-23
ment efforts to assist the Pacific Islands in access-24
ing support from international organizations. 25
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(14) A description of how United States Gov-1
ernment efforts align with regional development 2
goals, as outlined in documents such as the 2050 3
Strategy for a Blue Pacific Continent. 4
(c) R
ECOMMENDATION .—Beginning on the date that 5
is 10 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 6
the President may submit to the appropriate congressional 7
committees a recommendation on the consolidation or 8
elimination of any duplicative reports as required by this 9
section. 10
SEC. 802. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 11
There are authorized to be appropriated 12
$270,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2033 13
to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this 14
Act. 15
Æ 
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