III 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 481 

Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the United States-Philippines Mutual 

Defense Treaty and the vitality of the overall bilateral relationship. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 5, 2012 

Mr. LUGAR (for himself, Mr. KERRY, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. WEBB, Ms. AYOTTE, 

Mr. COCHRAN, and Mr. INOUYE) submitted the following resolution; 

which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the United States-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty and the vitality of the 

overall bilateral relationship. 

Whereas Filipinos and Americans fought together in World 

War II, and an estimated 1,000,000 Filipinos gave their 

lives to defend freedom; 

Whereas the United States and the Republic of the Philippines signed the United States-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty in 1951; 

Whereas the Philippines and the United States are longstanding allies, as demonstrated by the Mutual Defense 

Treaty, cooperation in conflicts since World War II, and 

the United States designation of the Philippines as a 

Major Non-NATO Ally; 


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•SRES 481 ATS 

Whereas the Clark Veterans Cemetery in the Philippines is 

the final resting place for the remains of thousands of 

United States and Filipino veterans from the United 

States Army, United States Marines Corps, United 

States Navy, United States Air Force, United States 

Coast Guard, Philippine Scouts, and their dependents 

from seven wars since 1900; 

Whereas the United States Government administered and 

cared for the Clark Veterans Cemetery from 1900 to 

1991; 

Whereas the United States Government seeks to maintain an 

alliance with the Government of the Philippines that promotes peace and stability in Southeast and East Asia, 

rule of law and human rights, economic growth, counterterrorism efforts, and maritime security; 

Whereas United States naval ships visit Philippines’ ports, 

and the United States and Philippines’ military forces 

participate in combined military exercises under the Visiting Forces Agreement established in 1998; 

Whereas the people and Governments of the United States 

and the Philippines share a common interest in maintaining freedom of navigation, unimpeded lawful commerce, 

and transit of people across the seas and subscribe to a 

rules-based approach in resolving competing claims in 

maritime areas through peaceful, collaborative, multilateral, and diplomatic processes within the framework of 

international law; 

Whereas the Philippines has served ably for the past three 

years as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations 

(ASEAN) country coordinator for the United States; 


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•SRES 481 ATS 

Whereas the United States Government and the Government 

of the Philippines work closely together in the struggle 

against terrorism to make local communities safer and 

help establish an environment conducive to good governance and development; 

Whereas the navy of the Government of the Philippines has 

received a United States Coast Guard cutter and assistance in establishing a coastal radar system to enhance its 

monitoring of its waters, with a second cutter due to be 

transferred soon; 

Whereas the United States Government works closely with 

the Government of the Philippines on humanitarian and 

disaster relief activities, and in the past has provided 

prompt assistance to make United States troops, equipment, assets, and disaster relief assistance available; 

Whereas the Mutual Defense Board and the Security Engagement Board serve as important platforms for the 

continuing stability of the long-standing alliance between 

the Philippines and the United States in a rapidly changing global and regional environment; 

Whereas the Bilateral Security Dialogue is an important policy venue for setting the policy direction and providing 

guidance for all aspects of the alliance relationship; 

Whereas Philippines military forces have supported over the 

years many United Nations peacekeeping operations 

worldwide; 

Whereas the United States ranks as one of the Philippines’ 

top trading partners, with 11 percent of the Philippines’ 

imports coming from the United States and 15 percent 

of exports from the Philippines delivered to the United 

States in 2010; 


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•SRES 481 ATS 

Whereas total United States foreign direct investment in the 

Philippines was approximately $7,000,000,000 at the end 

of 2009; 

Whereas the Philippines is one of four countries that has 

been invited to participate in the new Partnership for 

Growth Initiative, which promotes broad-based economic 

growth in emerging markets; 

Whereas many Americans and Filipinos have participated in 

people-to-people programs such as the Peace Corps, the 

International Visitor Leadership Programs, the Aquino 

Fellowship, Eisenhower Fellowships, and the Fulbright 

Scholar Program; 

Whereas an estimated 4,000,000 people living in the United 

States are of Filipino ancestry, over 300,000 United 

States citizens live in the Philippines, and an estimated 

600,000 United States citizens travel to the Philippines 

each year; 

Whereas the U.S.-Philippines Society was recently established 

to broaden and expand interaction between and understanding of the United States and the Philippines in the 

areas of security, trade, investments, tourism, the environment, history, education, and culture; 

Whereas the alliance between the United States and the Philippines is founded on core values that aim to promote 

and preserve democracy, freedom, peace, and justice, and 

is fortified by the two nations’ partnerships in defending 

these values; 

Whereas the Government of the Philippines seeks to improve 

governance, strengthen the rule of law, and further develop accountable, democratic institutions that can better 


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safeguard human rights, secure justice, and promote equitable economic development; 

Whereas His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III, President of 

the Republic of the Philippines, is scheduled to visit the 

United States in June 2012; and 

Whereas Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of 

Defense Leon Panetta met with their Philippine counterparts in Washington, D.C. on April 30, 2012, and reaffirmed that the United States and the Philippines are 

longstanding allies, that the United States Government is 

fully committed to honoring mutual obligations with the 

Philippines, and that the alliance continues to serve as a 

pillar of the Philippines-United States relationship and a 

source of stability in the region: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That— 

2 (1) the Senate— 

3 (A) celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the 

4 United States-Philippines Mutual Defense 

5 Treaty and the vitality of the overall bilateral 

6 relationship; 

7 (B) confirms the alliance’s centrality and 

8 enduring value as one of the key pillars of 

9 peace, stability, and prosperity in the Asia-Pa10 cific region and as a key tool in addressing the 

11 emerging security environment in the region; 

12 and 

13 (C) encourages both countries to continue 

14 high-level consultations; and 


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1 (2) it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (A) the United States Government should 

3 use the U.S.-Philippines Bilateral Security Dia4 logue and the Mutual Defense Board and Secu5 rity Engagement Board to promote greater alli6 ance cooperation and enhance bilateral security 

7 ties, including support for Philippine defense 

8 modernization, for the rotational presence of 

9 United States Armed Forces in the Philippines 

10 and for increased humanitarian and disaster re11 lief preparedness activities; 

12 (B) the United States Government should 

13 redouble efforts to expand and deepen the eco14 nomic relationship with the Government of the 

15 Philippines toward achieving broad-based eco16 nomic development in that country, including by 

17 working on new bilateral initiatives that support 

18 the efforts of the Government of the Philippines 

19 to reform its economy and enhance its competi20 tiveness, and through trade-capacity building; 

21 (C) the Government of the Philippines 

22 should continue its efforts to strengthen its 

23 democratic institutions to fight corruption, cur24 tail politically motivated violence and 


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1 extrajudicial killings, expand economic oppor2 tunity, and tackle internal security challenges; 

3 (D) after close consultation with the Gov4 ernment of the Philippines, the United States 

5 Government should designate an appropriate 

6 United States entity to be responsible for mak7 ing necessary arrangements to ensure ongoing 

8 maintenance of Clark Veterans Cemetery in the 

9 Philippines; and 

10 (E) the United States Government should 

11 continue efforts to assist the Government of the 

12 Philippines in the areas of maritime security, 

13 maritime domain awareness, humanitarian as14 sistance and disaster relief, and related commu15 nications infrastructure to enable enhanced in16 formation-sharing and overall military 

17 professionalization. 

Æ 


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