I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5375 

To require a strategy for bolstering engagement and cooperation between 

the United States, Australia, India, and Japan and to seek to establish 

a Quad Intra-Parliamentary Working Group to facilitate closer cooperation on shared interests and values. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023 

Mr. MEEKS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To require a strategy for bolstering engagement and cooperation between the United States, Australia, India, and 

Japan and to seek to establish a Quad Intra-Parliamentary Working Group to facilitate closer cooperation on 

shared interests and values. 

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 ‘‘Strengthening the 

5 Quad Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) as a Pacific power, the United States should 

2 continue to strengthen joint cooperation between the 

3 United States, Australia, India, and Japan (com4 monly referred to as the ‘‘Quadrilateral Dialogue’’ or 

5 ‘‘Quad’’ and referred to as such in this Act) to en6 hance and implement a shared vision to meet re7 gional challenges and to promote a free, open, inclu8 sive, resilient, and healthy Indo-Pacific, that is char9 acterized by respect for democratic norms, rule of 

10 law, and market-driven economic growth, and is free 

11 from undue influence and coercion; 

12 (2) the United States should expand dialogue 

13 and cooperation through the Quad with a range of 

14 partners to support peace and prosperity, the rule of 

15 law, freedom of navigation and overflight, the peace16 ful resolution of disputes, and democratic resilience 

17 in the Indo-Pacific; 

18 (3) the pledge from the first-ever Quad leaders 

19 meeting on March 12, 2021, to respond to the eco20 nomic and health impacts of COVID–19, and to ad21 dress shared challenges, including in cyberspace, 

22 critical technologies, counterterrorism, quality infra23 structure investment, and humanitarian assistance 

24 and disaster relief, as well as maritime domains, laid 


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1 the foundation for critical cooperation among Quad 

2 countries; 

3 (4) the Quad countries, working through insti4 tutions, including the United States International 

5 Development Finance Corporation, the Japan Inter6 national Cooperation Agency, and the Japan Bank 

7 for International Cooperation, and through partner8 ships with multilateral development banks such as 

9 the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, 

10 should finance development and infrastructure 

11 projects in the Indo-Pacific region that are competi12 tive, transparent, and sustainable; 

13 (5) President Biden’s decision to elevate the 

14 Quad to the leaders level was critical to bolstering 

15 cooperation, and all four countries should work to 

16 ensure that the Quad Leaders’ Summit continues to 

17 take place regularly; 

18 (6) the ambitious framework for ongoing co19 operation laid out by the four leaders at the fifth 

20 convening of the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Hiro21 shima on May 20, 2023, should continue; and 

22 (7) the formation of a Quad Intra-Parliamen23 tary Working Group will— 


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1 (A) sustain and deepen engagement be2 tween senior officials of the Quad countries on 

3 a full spectrum of issues; and 

4 (B) be modeled on the successful and long5 standing bilateral intra-parliamentary groups 

6 between the United States and Mexico, Canada, 

7 and the United Kingdom, as well as other for8 mal and informal parliamentary exchanges. 

9 SEC. 3. STRATEGY. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 

12 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

13 a strategy for bolstering engagement and cooperation with 

14 the Quad. 

15 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The strategy re16 quired by subsection (a) shall include the following: 

17 (1) A description of how the United States in18 tends to demonstrate democratic leadership in the 

19 Indo-Pacific through quadrilateral engagement with 

20 India, Japan, and Australia on shared interests and 

21 common challenges. 

22 (2) A summary of— 

23 (A) current and past Quad initiatives 

24 across the whole of the United States Govern25 ment, including to promote broad based and inVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:47 Sep 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5375.IH H5375

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1 clusive economic growth and investment, and to 

2 advance technology cooperation, energy innova3 tion, climate mitigation and adaptation, phys4 ical and digital infrastructure development, edu5 cation, disaster management, and global health 

6 security; 

7 (B) proposals agreed to by all Quad coun8 tries since January 2021 to deepen existing se9 curity cooperation, intelligence sharing, eco10 nomic partnerships, and multilateral coordina11 tion; and 

12 (C) initiatives and agreements undertaken 

13 jointly with Quad countries, in addition to other 

14 like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific, on 

15 areas of shared interest since January 2021. 

16 (3) A description of efforts, since January 

17 2021, to jointly— 

18 (A) expand ongoing COVID–19 coopera19 tion to prepare for the next pandemic by focus20 ing on medium-term vaccine and medical supply 

21 production and building a broader dialogue on 

22 global public health; 

23 (B) develop international technology stand24 ards and share or co-develop new innovative 

25 technologies of the future; 


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1 (C) combat economic coercion and develop 

2 a framework for ensuring supply chain security 

3 and resilience; 

4 (D) deepen regional economic engagement 

5 and integration, and strengthen regional rules 

6 and standards around investment; 

7 (E) strengthen climate actions on mitiga8 tion, adaptation, resilience, technology, capac9 ity-building, and climate finance; 

10 (F) facilitate the development of quality in11 frastructure in the Indo-Pacific through joint fi12 nancing, investment, technical assistance, and 

13 standards setting; 

14 (G) enhance joint maritime security and 

15 maritime domain awareness initiatives to pro16 tect the maritime commons and support inter17 national law and freedom of navigation in the 

18 Indo-Pacific; 

19 (H) enhance regional capacity and resil20 ience to cyber incidents and threats; 

21 (I) work to strengthen capability to pre22 vent, detect and respond to threats posed by 

23 terrorism and violent extremism; 

24 (J) co-develop space-related technologies to 

25 address shared challenges, share expertise and 


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1 experience in space situational awareness, and 

2 enhance consultation to facilitate the peaceful, 

3 safe and sustainable use of outer space; and 

4 (K) any additional major streams of co5 operation. 

6 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE7 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres8 sional committees’’ means— 

9 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

10 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

11 House of Representatives; and 

12 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

13 the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate. 

14 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF QUAD INTRA-PARLIAMENTARY 

15 WORKING GROUP. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

18 State shall seek to enter into negotiations with the Gov19 ernments of Japan, Australia, and India (collectively, with 

20 the United States, known as the ‘‘Quad’’) with the goal 

21 of reaching a written agreement to establish a Quad Intra22 Parliamentary Working Group to facilitate closer coopera23 tion on shared interests and values. 

24 (b) UNITED STATES GROUP.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—At such time as the govern2 ments of the Quad countries enter into a written 

3 agreement described in subsection (a) to establish a 

4 Quad Intra-Parliamentary Working Group, there 

5 shall be established a United States Group, which 

6 shall represent the United States at the Quad Intra7 Parliamentary Working Group. 

8 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The United States 

10 Group shall be comprised of not more than 24 

11 Members of Congress. 

12 (B) APPOINTMENT.—Of the Members of 

13 Congress appointed to the United States Group 

14 under subparagraph (A)— 

15 (i) half shall be appointed by the 

16 Speaker of the House of Representatives, 

17 based on recommendations from the minor18 ity leader, from among Members of the 

19 House, not fewer than four of whom shall 

20 be members of the Committee on Foreign 

21 Affairs; and 

22 (ii) half shall be appointed by the 

23 President Pro Tempore of the Senate, 

24 based on recommendations of the majority 

25 leader and minority leader of the Senate, 


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1 from among Members of the Senate, not 

2 fewer than four of whom shall be members 

3 of the Committee on Foreign Relations 

4 (unless the majority leader and minority 

5 leader determine otherwise). 

6 (3) MEETINGS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The United States 

8 Group shall seek to meet not less frequently 

9 than annually with representatives and appro10 priate staff of the legislatures of Japan, Aus11 tralia, and India, and any other country invited 

12 by mutual agreement of the Quad countries. 

13 (B) LIMITATION.—A meeting described in 

14 subparagraph (A) may be held— 

15 (i) in the United States; 

16 (ii) in another Quad country during 

17 periods when Congress is not in session; or 

18 (iii) virtually. 

19 (4) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.— 

20 (A) HOUSE DELEGATION.—The Speaker of 

21 the House of Representatives shall designate 

22 the chairperson or vice chairperson of the dele23 gation of the United States Group from the 

24 House from among members of the Committee 

25 on Foreign Affairs. 


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1 (B) SENATE DELEGATION.—The President 

2 Pro Tempore of the Senate shall designate the 

3 chairperson or vice chairperson of the delega4 tion of the United States Group from the Sen5 ate from among members of the Committee on 

6 Foreign Relations. 

7 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to 

9 be appropriated $1,000,000 for each fiscal 

10 years 2024 through 2028 for the United States 

11 Group. 

12 (B) DISTRIBUTION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year 

14 for which an appropriation is made for the 

15 United States Group, half of the amount 

16 appropriated shall be available to the dele17 gation from the House of Representatives 

18 and half of the amount appropriated shall 

19 be available to the delegation from the 

20 Senate. 

21 (ii) METHOD OF DISTRIBUTION.—The 

22 amounts available to the delegations of the 

23 House of Representatives and the Senate 

24 under clause (i) shall be disbursed on 

25 vouchers to be approved by the chairperson 


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1 of the delegation from the House of Rep2 resentatives and the chairperson of the del3 egation from the Senate, respectively. 

4 (6) PRIVATE SOURCES.—The United States 

5 Group may accept gifts or donations of services or 

6 property, subject to the review and approval, as ap7 propriate, of the Committee on Ethics of the House 

8 of Representatives and the Committee on Ethics of 

9 the Senate. 

10 (7) CERTIFICATION OF EXPENDITURES.—The 

11 certificate of the chairperson of the delegation from 

12 the House of Representatives or the delegation of 

13 the Senate of the United States Group shall be final 

14 and conclusive upon the accounting officers in the 

15 auditing of the accounts of the United States Group. 

16 (8) ANNUAL REPORT.—The United States 

17 Group shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Af18 fairs of the House of Representatives and the Com19 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report 

20 for each fiscal year for which an appropriation is 

21 made for the United States Group, including a de22 scription of its expenditures under such appropria23 tion. 

Æ 


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