Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative Act of 2016

Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative Act of 2016

This bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States should support the efforts of the Southeast Asian nations to strengthen their maritime security capacity, and (2) the maritime security of U.S. allies and partners bordering the South China Sea would be enhanced by the transfer of an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate to an appropriate regional country.

In selecting Asia-Pacific region countries to receive maritime capacity building assistance, the Department of State may prioritize those countries that will contribute to achieving the following regional objectives:

• retaining access to waterways that are critical to the security and free flow of commerce and U.S. security objectives,
• improving maritime domain awareness,
• countering piracy,
• disrupting maritime trafficking that benefits organizations that are threats to U.S. security, and
• enhancing country or regional organization capabilities to respond to emerging maritime security threats.

The bill urges the State Department to seek a bilateral memorandum of understanding with each of the governments of the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia to outline the delivery of planned maritime security capabilities through FY2020.

The bill authorizes: (1) international military education/training and foreign military financing for the Asia-Pacific region, and (2) the Southeast Asia Maritime Law Enforcement Initiative.

The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended to provide priority delivery of excess defense articles to Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia for articles that are used for maritime security-related missions.

The President shall ensure that the U.S. government treats proposed arms sales for Taiwan with the same procedures that are accorded to all other countries.