III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 140 

Urging the establishment of a Cyber League of Indo-Pacific States to address 

cyber threats. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 3, 2019 

Mr. GARDNER (for himself and Mr. COONS) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the establishment of a Cyber League of Indo-Pacific 

States to address cyber threats. 

Whereas the world has benefitted greatly from technological 

innovations under the leadership of the United States in 

the post-World War era, including the creation of the 

World Wide Web which has provided an entirely new 

platform for wealth creation and human flourishing 

through cyber-commerce and connectivity; 

Whereas cybercrime affects companies large and small, as 

well as infrastructure that is vital to the economy as a 

whole; 

Whereas a 2018 study from the Center for Strategic and 

International Studies, in partnership with McAfee, estimates that the global economic losses from cybercrime 

are approximately $600,000,000,000 annually and rising; 


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•SRES 140 IS 

Whereas, according to the Pew Charitable Trust, 64 percent 

of people in the United States had fallen victim to 

cybercriminals as of 2017; 

Whereas, on July 9, 2012, General Keith Alexander, then-Director of the National Security Agency, termed theft of 

United States intellectual property ‘‘the greatest transfer 

of wealth in history’’; 

Whereas, on September 25, 2015, the United States and the 

People’s Republic of China announced a commitment 

that ‘‘neither country’s government will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, 

including trade secrets or other confidential business information, with the intent of providing competitive advantages to companies or commercial sectors’’; 

Whereas the People’s Republic of China nonetheless continues to contribute to the rise of cybercrime, exploiting 

weaknesses in the international system to undermine fair 

competition in technology and cyberspace, including 

through theft of intellectual property and state-sponsored 

malicious actions to undermine and weaken competition; 

Whereas, according to the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment by the Director of National Intelligence: ‘‘China, 

Russia, Iran, and North Korea increasingly use cyber operations to threaten both minds and machines in an expanding number of ways—to steal information, to influence our citizens, or to disrupt critical infrastructure.’’; 

Whereas, from 2011 to 2018, more than 90 percent of cases 

handled by the Department of Justice alleging economic 

espionage by or to benefit a foreign country involved the 

People’s Republic of China; 


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Whereas more than 2⁄3 of the cases handled by the Department of Justice involving theft of trade secrets have a 

nexus to the People’s Republic of China; 

Whereas experts have asserted that the Made in China 2025 

strategy of the Government of the People’s Republic of 

China will incentivize Chinese entities to engage in unfair 

competitive behavior, including additional theft of technologies and intellectual property; 

Whereas the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has also 

contributed to the rise of cybercrime and according to the 

2018 Worldwide Threat Assessment by the Director of 

National Intelligence: ‘‘We expect the heavily sanctioned 

North Korea to use cyber operations to raise funds and 

to gather intelligence or launch attacks on South Korea 

and the United States. . . . North Korean actors developed and launched the WannaCry ransomware in May 

2017, judging from technical links to previously identified 

North Korean cyber tools, tradecraft, and operational infrastructure. We also assess that these actors conducted 

the cyber theft of $81 million from the Bank of Bangladesh in 2016.’’; 

Whereas section 2(a)(8) of the North Korea Sanctions and 

Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 (22 U.S.C. 9201(a)(8)) 

states, ‘‘The Government of North Korea has provided 

technical support and conducted destructive and coercive 

cyberattacks, including against Sony Pictures Entertainment and other United States persons.’’; 

Whereas the United States has taken action on its own 

against international cybercrime, including through— 

(1) the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 (Public Law 114–122), which imposed 

mandatory sanctions against persons engaging in signifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:43 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR140.IS SR140

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cant activities undermining cybersecurity on behalf of the 

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; and 

(2) criminal charges filed by the Department of Justice on October 25, 2018, in which the Department alleged that the Chinese intelligence services conducted 

cyber intrusions against at least a dozen companies in 

order to obtain information on a commercial jet engine; 

Whereas the March 2016 Department of State International 

Cyberspace Policy Strategy noted that ‘‘the Department 

of State anticipates a continued increase and expansion 

of our cyber-focused diplomatic efforts for the foreseeable 

future’’; 

Whereas concerted action by countries that share concerns 

about state-sponsored cyber theft is necessary to prevent 

the growth of cybercrime and other destabilizing national 

security and economic outcomes; and 

Whereas section 215 of the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act 

of 2018 (Public Law 115–409) calls for ‘‘robust cybersecurity cooperation between the United States and nations 

in the Indo-Pacific region’’ and ‘‘authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2019 

through 2023 to enhance cooperation between the United 

States and the Indo-Pacific nations for the purpose of 

combatting cybersecurity threats’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) urges the President to propose and cham3 pion the negotiation of a treaty with like-minded 

4 partners in the Indo-Pacific to ensure a free and 

5 open Internet free from economically crippling 

6 cyberattacks; 


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•SRES 140 IS 

1 (2) calls for the treaty, which can be referred 

2 to as the Cyber League of Indo-Pacific States (in 

3 this resolution referred to as ‘‘CLIPS’’), to include 

4 the creation of an Information Sharing Analysis 

5 Center to provide around-the-clock cyber threat 

6 monitoring and mitigation for governments that are 

7 parties to the treaty; and 

8 (3) calls for members of CLIPS— 

9 (A) to consult on emerging cyber threats; 

10 (B) to pledge not to conduct or support 

11 theft of intellectual property, including trade se12 crets or other confidential business information; 

13 (C) to introduce and enforce minimum 

14 criminal punishment for cyber theft; 

15 (D) to extradite alleged cyber thieves, con16 sistent with existing agreements and respecting 

17 national sovereignty; 

18 (E) to enforce laws protecting intellectual 

19 property, including patents; 

20 (F) to ensure that government agencies 

21 comply with software license terms; 

22 (G) to minimize data localization require23 ments (consistent with the Agreement between 

24 the United States of America, the United Mexi25 can States, and Canada, signed at Buenos 


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1 Aires November 30, 2018 (commonly known as 

2 the ‘‘United States-Mexico-Canada Agree3 ment’’)); 

4 (H) to seek cooperation with respect to the 

5 standards described in the Arrangement on the 

6 Recognition of Common Criteria Certificates in 

7 the field of Information Technology Security, 

8 dated May 14, 2014; 

9 (I) to provide for public input when devis10 ing legislation on cybersecurity; and 

11 (J) to cooperate on the attribution of 

12 cyberattacks and impose appropriate con13 sequences. 

Æ 


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