WASHINGTON, D.C.– The House today passed the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, the legislative vehicle that authorizes all programs and spending for the Department of Defense. This year’s bill included a number of provisions stemming directly from the Select Committee’s bipartisan Ten for Taiwan report, a set of recommendations to enhance Taiwan’s deterrence. These provisions, along with other amendments championed by Chairman Gallagher to counter CCP aggression would:
- Support greater military coordination between the United States and Taiwan, including conducting exercises, developing joint concepts of operation and tactics, techniques, and procedures, and other security measures to help Taiwan meet its self-defense needs;
- Address the current Foreign Military Sales (FMS) backlog to Taiwan by directing the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to submit a report evaluating the provision of defense articles, services, and training requested by Taiwan;
- Expedite the delivery of asymmetric defense capabilities to Taiwan by fencing travel for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) until DoD submits a plan to provide Harpoon missiles set for demilitarization or in deep stowage to Taiwan or other security partners with a Presidential Drawdown Authority;
- Deepen military coordination with Taiwan by requiring DoD to conduct a study on establishing a combined military planning group with Taiwan;
- Secure access to critical minerals by tasking DoD to assess vulnerabilities in its supply chain, identify and recommend changes to acquisition laws, regulations, and policies, and prioritize recommendations to achieve critical mineral supply chain independence from foreign adversaries;
- Protect American biotechnology leadership from growing dependent on China by prohibiting the U.S. government and those that contract with the U.S. government from acquiring genetic sequencing equipment from Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) and its subsidiaries;
- Require the annual China Military Power report to provide an assessment of the PRC’s development in critical and emerging technologies and identify key PRC entities involved in each technology sector;
- Direct the Secretary of Defense to designate priority theaters of operation for the purposes of aligning Foreign Military Sales with theaters and Combatant Commands prioritized by the National Defense Strategy;
- Enhance deterrence in the Indo-Pacific by directing an assessment of options to develop or modify existing capabilities to amass low-cost anti-ship weapons;
- Secure defense supply chains by prohibiting DoD from contracting or procuring goods or services, directly or indirectly, from Chinese military companies identified on its 1260H list;
- Guard against sensitive technology transfer by restricting DoD-funded fundamental research from contributing to research collaborations with PLA-affiliated entities;
- Require an independent assessment of DoD’s implementation of the Pacific Deterrence Initiative;
- Require a report on the implementation of Sec. 1087 of the FY 2023 NDAA and requirements for a persistent Joint Task Force or Joint Force Headquarters responsible for the operational employment of forces in the Western Pacific;
- Require the Secretary of Defense to engage the Ministry of Defense of Taiwan to strengthen military cybersecurity cooperation;
- Mandate congressional oversight to ensure the speedy implementation of a plan to fulfill the defensive requirements of Taiwan;
- Require a conventional ground-based missile deployment strategy in the Indo-Pacific;
- Prohibit DoD from utilizing consulting services from firms that engage in “double dipping” by also consulting with the People’s Liberation Army or affiliated entities;
- Require an independent “building block” based assessment of the PRC defense budget to accurately assess overall PRC defense spending;
- Require a plan to integrate the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) with legacy aircraft fleets like the B-52 to enhance the ability of existing platforms to sink PLA ships;
- Mandate congressional oversight to promote the Deployable Air Base System’s ability to support the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment concept in the Indo-Pacific, facilitating the rapid deployment and dispersal of Air Force assets in the event of a conflict;
- Enhance Taiwan’s resiliency and security by promoting defense cooperation with US partners facing similar security challenges;
- Support the role of unmanned aerial, surface, and subsurface vehicles in strengthening deterrence in the Indo-Pacific;
- Sunset DoD waivers for the continued operation of Confucius Institutes by the end of Fiscal Year 2026; and
- Counter the threat posed by the LOGINK logistics management platform at home and abroad.