IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 843 
Reaffirming the United States-Philippines alliance and condemning the gray 
zone campaign of the People’s Republic of China in the South China 
Sea against the Philippines, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 3, 2023 
Mr. ISSA (for himself, Mr. BERA, Mr. WALTZ, and Mr. VARGAS) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Reaffirming the United States-Philippines alliance and con-
demning the gray zone campaign of the People’s Repub-
lic of China in the South China Sea against the Phil-
ippines, and for other purposes. 
Whereas the United States and the Philippines have a long-
standing alliance, characterized by a robust and multi-
faceted relationship between the 2 societies, including 
shared values, familial and generational ties, mutual de-
fense commitments, and shared economic interests that 
have enriched the lives of the people of both the United 
States and the Philippines; 
Whereas, in 1946, the Philippines became an independent re-
public and established diplomatic relations with the 
United States; 
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•HRES 843 IH 
Whereas, in 1951, the United States and the Philippines 
signed a Mutual Defense Treaty, pledging mutual sup-
port in case of an armed attack; 
Whereas, during World War II, the United States and the 
Philippines fought side-by-side in the defense of a free 
and open Indo-Pacific; 
Whereas, during World War II, Philippine resistance units 
made tremendous sacrifices and were critical to victory in 
the Pacific and the liberation of the Philippines; 
Whereas the Philippines and the Republic of China partici-
pated in the Allied war effort, which resulted in victory 
including the successful liberation of China; 
Whereas the People’s Republic of China (PRC) now seeks to 
unlawfully extend its territorial and sovereignty claims, 
including against the Philippines; 
Whereas, under its ‘‘nine-dash line’’ construct, the PRC 
makes erroneous claims to territorial rights in the exclu-
sive economic zones of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, 
and Vietnam; 
Whereas, in 2013, the Philippines pursued arbitration under 
the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 
(UNCLOS) against the PRC; 
Whereas, in 2016, the tribunal constituted under UNCLOS 
to hear the matter ruled in favor of the Philippines, find-
ing that the nine-dash line has no standing under inter-
national law when it stated: ‘‘On the merits, the Tribunal 
concluded that the Convention comprehensively allocates 
rights to maritime areas and that protections for pre-ex-
isting rights to resources were considered, but not adopt-
ed in the Convention. Accordingly, the Tribunal con-
cluded that, to the extent China had historic rights to re-
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•HRES 843 IH 
sources in the waters of the South China Sea, such rights 
were extinguished to the extent they were incompatible 
with the exclusive economic zones provided for in the 
Convention.’’; 
Whereas, despite being a signatory to UNCLOS, the PRC re-
fused to participate in the arbitration and rejected its re-
sults; 
Whereas Article 4 of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the 
United States and the Philippines done in duplicate at 
Washington on August 30, 1951, states that ‘‘Each 
Party recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific 
Area on either of the Parties would be dangerous to its 
own peace and safety and declares that it would act to 
meet the common dangers in accordance with its con-
stitutional processes.’’; 
Whereas, on July 13, 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike 
Pompeo issued a statement clarifying United States pol-
icy by stating, in part: ‘‘Beijing’s claims to offshore re-
sources across most of the South China Sea are com-
pletely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control 
them . . . Beijing has offered no coherent legal basis for 
its ‘Nine-Dashed Line’ claim in the South China Sea 
since formally announcing it in 2009.’’; 
Whereas, on March 1, 2019, then-Secretary of State Mike 
Pompeo stated that ‘‘As the South China Sea is part of 
the Pacific, any armed attack on Philippine forces, air-
craft or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger 
mutual defense obligations under Article 4 of our mutual 
defense treaty.’’; 
Whereas, on April 11, 2023, at a joint press conference with 
the United States Secretary of Defense, the Philippine 
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