II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1539 

To provide Taiwan with critically needed United States-built multirole fighter 

aircraft to strengthen its self-defense capability against the increasing 

military threat from China. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To provide Taiwan with critically needed United States-built 

multirole fighter aircraft to strengthen its self-defense 

capability against the increasing military threat from 

China. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taiwan Airpower Mod5 ernization Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings. 


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1 (1) The Department of Defense, in its 2011 re2 port to Congress on ‘‘Military and Security Develop3 ments Involving the People’s Republic of China,’’ 

4 found that ‘‘China continued modernizing its mili5 tary in 2010, with a focus on Taiwan contingencies, 

6 even as cross-Strait relations improved. The PLA 

7 seeks the capability to deter Taiwan independence 

8 and influence Taiwan to settle the dispute on Bei9 jing’s terms. In pursuit of this objective, Beijing is 

10 developing capabilities intended to deter, delay, or 

11 deny possible U.S. support for the island in the 

12 event of conflict. The balance of cross-Strait military 

13 forces and capabilities continues to shift in the 

14 mainland’s favor.’’ In this report, the Department of 

15 Defense also concludes that, over the next decade, 

16 China’s air force will remain primarily focused on 

17 ‘‘building the capabilities required to pose a credible 

18 military threat to Taiwan and U.S. forces in East 

19 Asia, deter Taiwan independence, or influence Tai20 wan to settle the dispute on Beijing’s terms’’. 

21 (2) The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) con22 ducted a preliminary assessment of the status and 

23 capabilities of Taiwan’s air force in an unclassified 

24 report, dated January 21, 2010. The DIA found 

25 that, ‘‘[a]lthough Taiwan has nearly 400 combat airVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:43 Sep 12, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1539.IS S1539

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1 craft in service, far fewer of these are operationally 

2 capable.’’ The report concluded, ‘‘Many of Taiwan’s 

3 fighter aircraft are close to or beyond service life, 

4 and many require extensive maintenance support. 

5 The retirement of Mirage and F–5 aircraft will re6 duce the total size of the Taiwan Air Force.’’ 

7 (3) Since 2006, authorities from Taiwan have 

8 made repeated requests to purchase 66 F–16C/D 

9 multirole fighter aircraft from the United States, in 

10 an effort to modernize the air force of Taiwan and 

11 maintain its self-defense capability. 

12 (4) According to a report by the Perryman 

13 Group, a private economic research and analysis 

14 firm, the requested sale of F–16C/Ds to Taiwan 

15 ‘‘would generate some $8,700,000,000 in output 

16 (gross product) and more than 87,664 person-years 

17 of employment in the US,’’ including 23,407 direct 

18 jobs, while ‘‘economic benefits would likely be real19 ized in 44 states and the District of Columbia’’. 

20 (5) The sale of F–16C/Ds to Taiwan would 

21 both sustain existing high-skilled jobs in key United 

22 States manufacturing sectors and create new ones. 

23 (6) On August 1, 2011, a bipartisan group of 

24 181 members of the House of Representatives sent 

25 a letter to the President, expressing support for the 


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1 sale of F–16C/Ds to Taiwan. On May 26, 2011, a 

2 bipartisan group of 45 members of the Senate sent 

3 a similar letter to the President, expressing support 

4 for the sale. Two other members of the Senate wrote 

5 separately to the President or the Secretary of State 

6 in 2011 and expressed support for this sale. 

7 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that— 

9 (1) a critical element to maintaining peace and 

10 stability in Asia in the face of China’s two-decade11 long program of military modernization and expan12 sion of military capabilities is ensuring a militarily 

13 strong and confident Taiwan; 

14 (2) a Taiwan that is confident in its ability to 

15 deter Chinese aggression will increase its ability to 

16 proceed in developing peaceful relations with China 

17 in areas of mutual interest; 

18 (3) the cross-Strait military balance between 

19 China and our longstanding strategic partner, Tai20 wan, has clearly shifted in China’s favor; 

21 (4) China’s military expansion poses a clear and 

22 present danger to Taiwan, and this threat has very 

23 serious implications for the ability of the United 

24 States to fulfill its security obligations to allies in 


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1 the region and protect our vital United States na2 tional interests in East Asia; 

3 (5) Taiwan’s air force continues to deteriorate, 

4 and it needs additional advanced multirole fighter 

5 aircraft in order to modernize its fleet and maintain 

6 a sufficient self-defense capability; 

7 (6) the United States has a statutory obligation 

8 under the Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3301 et 

9 seq.) to provide Taiwan the defense articles nec10 essary to enable Taiwan to maintain sufficient self11 defense capabilities, in furtherance of maintaining 

12 peace and stability in the western Pacific region; 

13 (7) in order to comply with the Taiwan Rela14 tions Act, the United States must provide Taiwan 

15 with additional advanced multirole fighter aircraft, 

16 as well as significant upgrades to Taiwan’s existing 

17 fleet of multirole fighter aircraft; and 

18 (8) the proposed sale of F–16C/D multirole 

19 fighter aircraft to Taiwan would have significant 

20 economic benefits to the United States economy. 

21 SEC. 4. SALE OF F–16 AIRCRAFT TO TAIWAN. 

22 The President shall carry out the sale of no fewer 

23 than 66 F–16C/D multirole fighter aircraft to Taiwan. 

Æ 


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