Congress must pass measure extending vital Central Pacific agreements

As Congress races to meet an early March federal funding deadline, Bipartisan Compact of Free Association Amendment Act It should be part of the fiscal year 2024 spending package. This important bill would provide funding for the agreement between the two countries. United States and Freely Associated States (FAS) — Palau, Marshall Islands, Micronesia — for another 20 years.

If we do not fund this agreement, which provides economic aid in exchange for military access and the right of refusal, these countries will soon have to rely on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for economic support and political patronage. It warns that you may not be able to get your money back. That would be a catastrophic disaster for our ability to thwart Chinese Communist Party domination in the Indo-Pacific and defend our homeland.

why? These agreements facilitate U.S. military access and basing rights to these islands and the ability to deter other foreign militaries, including Chinese forces, from operating there. FAS occupies a key strategic location in the Central Pacific and will play a key role in future U.S. military operations in the region, including through upcoming early warning radar in Palau and distributed airfields that facilitate air force combat agility. It is planned. employment concept. At Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, Important ballistic missile defense testing site.

FAS’s strategic location in the Central Pacific makes it essential not only for the defense of Hawaii and Guam, but also for any contingency response involving Taiwan. As FAS leaders pointed out in an article, recent letters He told the Senate that these agreements would “effectively expand the United States for defense purposes to cover more of the Pacific Ocean than the 48 continental United States, from west of Hawaii to the Philippines and Indonesia.”

The strategic military value of these islands is indisputable. During World War II, the Empire of Japan took control of them, and at the cost of great blood and treasure to the United States, the United States passed through many of the enemy-controlled islands to what is now called the Second Island Chain. They were forced to fight fiercely across the Pacific Ocean. Towards Japan’s home island.

The same geography that made these islands so attractive to Imperial Japan is equally attractive today to the Chinese Communist Party, which actively seeks to exploit these countries economically. It is said that As FAS leaders warned in a letter to Washington, the lack of a new Agreement on Free Association Funding (COFA) leaves a critical opening for the CCP.

Over the past decade, the Chinese Communist Party concerted effort Expand FAS influence and double diplomatic engagement, trade and investment, and humanitarian assistance. Already, the temptation of the Chinese Communist Party is report Offer $100 million in infrastructure funding to Micronesia. Meanwhile, in Palau, pro-American President Slangel Whipps Jr. warned As COFA funding continues to be denied approval, the Chinese Communist Party and “leaders here, some of whom are (some of whom have done “business” with) “at the expense of Taiwan.” Furthermore, according to President Whipps, “China has already proposed that “all hotel rooms be filled” in the tourism-based private sector, and that “more hotels will be opened as more are built.” ‘ and will pay $20 million a year for two acres of land. ‘Call center.’

This negative impact is not limited to the economic sphere.A Chinese research vessel is operating nearby. submarine cable In Palau and Micronesia, the Chinese Communist Party succeeded in persuading pro-Beijing lawmakers. pass a resolution He criticized the proposed U.S. military radar system.

If the Chinese Communist Party is successful in its attempts to dislodge us in the Central Pacific, the Chinese military will move far beyond the second island chain and dramatically move closer to U.S. territory, threatening our national defense and Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and other Pacific partners.

Fortunately, there are simple ways to prevent this future. That is to pass the Compact of Free Association Amendment Act. Palau, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia want to be our allies. The two countries have already agreed to extend these agreements for 20 years. Congress just needs to get it done. Amid debates over government funding, support for allies, and securing borders, COFA funding stands out as a non-negotiable national obligation.

Congress has a responsibility to the American servicemen who died fighting for the Central Pacific, and to those who may fight in its seas and skies in the future, to break the impasse and protect our national interests in the Pacific.

Mike Gallagher represents Wisconsin’s 8th District and chairs the Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Communist Party of China.