III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 736 

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

cyber threats. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 19, 2018 

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 736 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 2018 Worldwide Threat Assessment by the Director of the National Intelligence: ‘‘China 

will continue to use cyber espionage and bolster cyber attack capabilities to support national security priorities. 

. . . China since 2015 has been advancing its cyber attack capabilities by integrating its military cyber attack 

and espionage resources in the Strategic Support Force, 

which it established in 2015’’; 

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

handled by the Department of Justice alleging economic 


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espionage by or to benefit a foreign country involved the 

People’s Republic of China; 

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 

the 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— 


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

mandatory sanctions against persons engaging in significant 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’’; and 

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: 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; 

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

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

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

10 the creation of an Information Sharing Analysis 


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1 Center to provide around-the-clock cyber threat 

2 monitoring and mitigation for governments that are 

3 parties to the treaty; and 

4 (3) calls for members of CLIPS— 

5 (A) to consult on emerging cyber threats; 

6 (B) to pledge not to engage in cyber theft; 

7 (C) to introduce and enforce minimum 

8 criminal punishment for cyber theft; 

9 (D) to extradite alleged cyber thieves; 

10 (E) to enforce laws protecting software li11 cense holders; 

12 (F) to ensure that government agencies 

13 use licensed software; 

14 (G) to minimize data localization require15 ments (consistent with the Agreement between 

16 the United States of America, the United Mexi17 can States, and Canada, signed at Buenos 

18 Aires November 30, 2018 (commonly known as 

19 the ‘‘United States-Mexico-Canada Agree20 ment’’)); 

21 (H) to accept international certifications as 

22 the basis for commercial information and com23 munications technology reviews; 

24 (I) to provide for public input when devis25 ing legislation on cybersecurity; and 


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1 (J) to cooperate on the attribution of 

2 cyberattacks and retribution to deter future at3 tacks. 

Æ 


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