IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 837 

Reaffirming the ties between the United States and the Philippines. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 1, 2023 

Mr. MOYLAN (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of Virginia) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Reaffirming the ties between the United States and the 

Philippines. 

Whereas the United States established diplomatic relations 

with the Philippines on July 4, 1946, and the two countries have since enjoyed expanded and positive relations; 

Whereas there are over 4,000,000 United States citizens of 

Philippine ancestry in the United States; 

Whereas the United States and the Philippines have a strong 

and mutually beneficial trade relationship, with more 

than $18,900,000,000 in goods and services traded during 2020; 

Whereas the People’s Republic of China continues to use its 

Coast Guard and its Merchant Marine to violate the Philippines sovereignty, including in the Scarborough Shoal, 


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•HRES 837 IH 

Whereas Chinese Communist Party propaganda now assert 

claims based on a so-called ‘‘ten-dash line’’, after a 

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea arbitral tribunal ruled that China’s nine-dashed line had ‘‘no 

legal basis’’; 

Whereas in 1994, the People’s Republic of China unlawfully 

seized Mischief Reef and have since constructed 20 artificial islands that extends the operational capabilities of 

the People’s Liberation Army with the aim of expanding 

its presence and reinforcing their illegitimate claims to 

the South China Sea; 

Whereas the People’s Republic of China is asserting its 

sweeping claims over the South China Sea by disrupting 

the regular resupply of the BRP Sierra Madre, a Philippine Navy transport ship, based in the Second Thomas 

Shoal, by shooting water cannons at Philippine Coast 

Guard vessels and using military-grade lasers to blind its 

crew; 

Whereas, on April 3, 2023, the Biden administration announced plans today to expand the Enhanced Defense 

Cooperation Arrangement to include four new sites to 

strengthen interoperability and allow the United States 

and the Philippines to better address shared challenges in 

the Indo-Pacific region; 

Whereas, on August 5, 2023, the United States Department 

of State reaffirmed that ‘‘an armed attack on Philippine 

public vessels, aircraft, and armed forces—including 

those of its Coast Guard in the South China Sea—would 

invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments under Article 

IV of the 1951 U.S. Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty’’; 

and 


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•HRES 837 IH 

Whereas, on October 22, 2023, the Chinese Coast Guard 

rammed a Philippines Coast Guard cutter escorting supplies to the Second Thomas Shoal within the Philippines 

exclusive economic zone: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) reaffirms the United States unwavering 

3 commitment to invoke its Mutual Defense Treaty 

4 with the Philippines if an armed attack against the 

5 Philippines assets, including those of the Philippine 

6 Coast Guard, is committed in the South China Sea; 

7 (2) calls on the United States and Philippines 

8 to begin joint patrols in the South China Sea; 

9 (3) firmly objects to the People’s Republic of 

10 China’s false sovereignty claims to the South China 

11 Sea; and 

12 (4) welcomes swift implementation of the En13 hanced Defense Cooperation Agreement to ensure 

14 we adhere to our commitments to the Philippine 

15 people, and to foster a free and open Indo-Pacific 

16 for all. 

Æ 


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