II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3547 

To require the United States Government to assist in the establishment 

of national security councils in specified countries. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 14, 2023 

Ms. ERNST (for herself, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. KAINE, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. VAN

HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require the United States Government to assist in the 

establishment of national security councils in specified 

countries. 

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 ‘‘Connecting Oceania’s 

5 Nations with Vanguard Exercises and National Empower6 ment Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘CONVENE Act of 2023’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

5 the Select Committee on Intelligence, the 

6 Armed Services Committee, and the Committee 

7 on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

8 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

9 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 

10 the Armed Services Committee, and the Com11 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Rep12 resentatives. 

13 (2) NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL.—The term 

14 ‘‘national security council’’ means, with respect to a 

15 specified country, an intergovernmental body under 

16 the jurisdiction of the freely elected government of 

17 the specified country that acts as the primary co18 ordinating entity for security cooperation, disaster 

19 response, and the activities described in section 3(e). 

20 (3) SPECIFIED COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘specified 

21 country’’ means— 

22 (A) the Federated States of Micronesia; 

23 (B) the Republic of the Marshall Islands; 

24 and 

25 (C) the Republic of Palau. 


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1 SEC. 3. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCILS OF SPECIFIED 

2 COUNTRIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con4 sultation with other relevant Federal departments and 

5 agencies, as appropriate, may consult and engage with 

6 each specified country to advise and provide assistance to 

7 a national security council (including by developing a na8 tional security council, if appropriate), or to identify a 

9 similar coordinating body for national security matters, 

10 comprised of citizens of the specified country— 

11 (1) that enables the specified country— 

12 (A) to better coordinate with the United 

13 States Government, including the Armed 

14 Forces, as appropriate; 

15 (B) to increase cohesion on activities, in16 cluding emergency humanitarian response, law 

17 enforcement, and maritime security activities; 

18 and 

19 (C) to provide trained professionals to 

20 serve as members of the committees of the 

21 specified country established under the applica22 ble Compact of Free Association; and 

23 (2) for the purpose of enhancing resilience ca24 pabilities and protecting the people, infrastructure, 

25 and territory of the specified country from malign 

26 actions. 


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1 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Secretary of State, respect2 ing the unique needs of each specified country, may seek 

3 to ensure that the national security council, or other iden4 tified coordinating body, of the specified country is com5 posed of sufficient staff and members to enable the activi6 ties described in subsection (e). 

7 (c) STANDARDS FOR EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES.— 

8 The Secretary of State may work with the national secu9 rity council, or other identified coordinating body, of each 

10 specified country to ensure that— 

11 (1) the equipment and services used by the na12 tional security council or other identified coordi13 nating body are compliant with security standards so 

14 as to minimize the risk of cyberattacks or espionage; 

15 (2) the national security council or other identi16 fied coordinating body takes all reasonable efforts 

17 not to procure or use systems, equipment, or soft18 ware that originates from any entity identified under 

19 section 1260H of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry 

20 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

21 (Public Law 116–283; 10 U.S.C. 113 note); and 

22 (3) to the extent practicable, the equipment and 

23 services used by the national security council or 

24 other identified coordinating body are interoperable 

25 with the equipment and services used by the national 


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1 security councils, or other identified coordinating 

2 bodies, of the other specified countries. 

3 (d) REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an6 nually thereafter for 2 years, the Secretary of State 

7 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con8 gress a report that includes— 

9 (A) an assessment as to whether a national 

10 security council or a similar formal coordinating 

11 body is helping or would help achieve the objec12 tives described in subsection (a) at acceptable 

13 financial and opportunity cost; 

14 (B) a description of all actions taken by 

15 the United States Government to assist in the 

16 identification or maintenance of a national se17 curity council, or other identified coordinating 

18 body, in each specified country; 

19 (C) with respect to each specified country, 

20 an assessment as to whether— 

21 (i) the specified country has appro22 priately staffed its national security council 

23 or other identified coordinating body; and 

24 (ii) the extent to which the national 

25 security council, or other identified coordiVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:31 Jan 02, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3547.IS S3547

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1 nating body, of the specified country is ca2 pable of carrying out the activities de3 scribed in subsection (e); 

4 (D) an assessment of— 

5 (i) any challenge to cooperation and 

6 coordination with the national security 

7 council, or other identified coordinating 

8 body, of any specified country; 

9 (ii) current efforts by the Secretary of 

10 State to coordinate with the specified coun11 tries on the activities described in sub12 section (e); and 

13 (iii) existing governmental entities 

14 within each specified country that are ca15 pable of supporting such activities; 

16 (E) a description of any challenge with re17 spect to— 

18 (i) the implementation of the national 

19 security council, or other identified coordi20 nating body, of any specified country; and 

21 (ii) the implementation of subsections 

22 (a) through (c); 

23 (F) an assessment of any attempt or cam24 paign by a malign actor to influence the polit25 ical, security, or economic policy of a specified 


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1 country, a member of a national security coun2 cil or other identified coordinating body, or an 

3 immediate family member of such a member; 

4 and 

5 (G) any other matter the Secretary of 

6 State considers relevant. 

7 (2) FORM.—Each report required by paragraph 

8 (1) may be submitted in unclassified form and may 

9 include a classified annex. 

10 (e) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—The activities de11 scribed in this subsection are the following homeland secu12 rity activities: 

13 (1) Coordination of— 

14 (A) the prosecution and investigation of 

15 transnational criminal enterprises; 

16 (B) responses to national emergencies, 

17 such as natural disasters; 

18 (C) counterintelligence and counter- coer19 cion responses to foreign threats; and 

20 (D) efforts to combat illegal, unreported, 

21 or unregulated fishing. 

22 (2) Coordination with United States Govern23 ment officials on humanitarian response, military ex24 ercises, law enforcement, and other issues of security 

25 concern. 


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1 (3) Identification and development of an exist2 ing governmental entity to support homeland defense 

3 and civil support activities. 

Æ 


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