III 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 515 

Welcoming Prime Minister Lee Hsien-Loong to the United States and reaffirming Singapore’s strategic partnership with the United States, encompassing broad and robust economic, military-to-military, law enforcement, and counterterrorism cooperation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 29, 2016 

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

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Welcoming Prime Minister Lee Hsien-Loong to the United 

States and reaffirming Singapore’s strategic partnership 

with the United States, encompassing broad and robust 

economic, military-to-military, law enforcement, and 

counterterrorism cooperation. 

Whereas in August 2016, as we commemorate 50 years of 

diplomatic relations between the United States and the 

Republic of Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien-Loong 

of Singapore will make an official visit to the United 

States, including a State dinner on August 2nd; 

Whereas the Republic of Singapore became independent on 

August 9, 1965, and the United States recognized Singapore’s statehood in the same year; 


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•SRES 515 IS 

Whereas Singapore and the United States established formal 

diplomatic relations in 1966; 

Whereas under the leadership of its first Prime Minister Lee 

Kuan Yew, Singapore became an early and continued 

supporter of the United States engagement in Asia to 

safeguard the peace, stability, and prosperity of the region; 

Whereas in 2004 the United States and Singapore implemented the U.S.–Singapore Free Trade Agreement, the 

first bilateral trade agreement between the United States 

and an Asian country; 

Whereas Singapore and the United States are major trading 

partners, with $64,000,000,000 in bilateral goods and 

services trade in 2014, and a United States trade surplus 

in both goods and services; 

Whereas Singapore provided the United States access to its 

military facilities through a 1990 Memorandum of Understanding, supporting the continued security presence 

of the United States in Southeast Asia; 

Whereas the United States and Singapore concluded a Strategic Framework Agreement in 2005, which recognizes 

Singapore as a ‘‘Major Security Cooperation Partner of 

the United States’’; 

Whereas the United States and Singapore signed an enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement in 2015, expanding dialogue and cooperation in areas such as humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, cyber defense, biosecurity, and public communications; 

Whereas Singapore facilitates the rotational deployment of 

United States Navy Littoral Combat Ships at its Changi 

Naval Base; 


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Whereas the United States currently hosts 4 Republic of 

Singapore Air Force training detachments, comprising 

the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s F–15SG and F– 

16 fighter jets, and Apache and Chinook helicopters, at 

bases in Arizona, Idaho, and Texas; 

Whereas the U.S.–Singapore Third Country Training Program, established in 2012 and renewed in 2015, provides 

regional technical and capacity-building assistance in a 

wide variety of areas to assist recipient countries in 

reaching their development goals; 

Whereas Singapore was a founding member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967 and 

remains a key partner of the United States in ASEANled mechanisms such as the East Asia Summit, ASEAN 

Regional Forum and the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ 

Meeting Plus; 

Whereas Singapore will be home to a U.S.–ASEAN Connect 

Center, an initiative announced at the U.S.–ASEAN 

summit in February 2016 to facilitate U.S.–ASEAN engagement and cooperation on energy, innovation, and entrepreneurship; 

Whereas Singapore has played a critical role in enhancing 

shared maritime domain awareness in Southeast Asia 

through the establishment of the Republic of Singapore 

Navy’s Information Fusion Center, to facilitate information-sharing and collaboration with partners, including 

the United States, against maritime security threats, and 

through the deployment of United States aircraft at Paya 

Lebar Air Base; 

Whereas Singapore has been a cybersecurity leader in Southeast Asia, through the unified Cyber Security Agency, as 


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the convener of the annual ASEAN CERT Incident Drill, 

and as host of the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation; 

Whereas Singapore was the first Southeast Asian country to 

join the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL in November 

2014, and has contributed an air refueling tanker, imagery analysis teams, and planning and liaison officers; 

and 

Whereas Singapore has supported counterterrorism efforts, 

through the sharing of domestic practices, participating 

in the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism in February 2015, and hosting the East Asia 

Summit Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration in April 2015: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) welcomes Prime Minister Lee Hsien-Loong 

3 of Singapore for his official visit to the United 

4 States and State Dinner on August 2nd, as the 

5 United States and Singapore commemorate the 50th 

6 anniversary of the Singapore–United States bilateral 

7 diplomatic relationship that has served as an anchor 

8 for the United States in Asia; 

9 (2) affirms the importance of the United 

10 States–Singapore strategic partnership in securing 

11 regional peace and stability, including through rota12 tional basing and logistical support arrangements 

13 that enhance the United States presence in South14 east Asia; 


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1 (3) applauds the Republic of Singapore’s lead2 ership in counterterrorism, including the deployment 

3 of military assets as part of the anti-ISIL coalition 

4 and innovative counterterrorism efforts within the 

5 Asia-Pacific region; 

6 (4) anticipates the deepening of the security re7 lationship following the signing of an enhanced De8 fense Cooperation Agreement in Washington on De9 cember 7, 2015, and welcomes further cooperation 

10 in areas such as cybersecurity, humanitarian assist11 ance and disaster relief, and defense technology; 

12 (5) recognizes the vitality of the bilateral trade 

13 and investment relationship between the United 

14 States and Singapore; 

15 (6) supports continued close cooperation be16 tween the United States and Singapore, through bi17 lateral initiatives such as the U.S.–Singapore Third 

18 Country Training Program, and multilateral initia19 tives such as U.S.–ASEAN Connect announced at 

20 the recent U.S.–ASEAN Summit in Sunnylands, to 

21 build capacity for commercial engagement, energy 

22 development, innovation, trade facilitation, and to 

23 achieve development goals in the Asia-Pacific region; 

24 and 


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1 (7) urges the President to continue United 

2 States support of multilateral institutions and fora 

3 such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, East 

4 Asia Summit, ASEAN Regional Forum, and the 

5 ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus, working 

6 in close cooperation with partners, such as the Re7 public of Singapore, who share a commitment to an 

8 inclusive, rules-based regional architecture. 

Æ 


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