Southeast Asia Strategy Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of Congresswoman Wagner's Southeast Asia Strategy Act.

This bill will promote U.S. cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and establish a comprehensive interagency strategy for engagement in Southeast Asia.

ASEAN is the center of Asia's strategic and economic future and critical to the administration's Indo-Pacific strategy. Southeast Asia has been a critical global crossroads for hundreds of years, and it is growing even more important in the 21st century. Trillions in trade pass through regional sea-lanes, including vital energy supplies for U.S. allies and adversaries.

China's territorial aggression in the South China Sea and its predatory Belt and Road Initiative are central to the region's geopolitics. Southeast Asia's rising economies are becoming important drivers of regional growth as its developed economies begin to slow.

The Southeast Asia Strategy Act is a welcome step to ensure that this critical region receives the interagency focus that it deserves and that it requires.
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Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to thank Congresswoman Wagner, the vice ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, for introducing the Southeast Asia Strategy Act.

The administration's national security strategy has recommitted the United States to great power competition, and the People's Republic of China is our primary strategic competitor.

The Indo-Pacific region is at the center of this competition, and Southeast Asia is at the center of the Indo-Pacific.

Mr. Speaker, for these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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