I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2992 
To provide Taiwan with critically needed United States-built multirole fighter 
aircraft to strengthen its self-defense capability against the increasing 
military threat from China. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 
Ms. GRANGER (for herself, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. FORBES, Ms. 
BERKLEY, Mr. CAMP, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. BUR-
TON of Indiana, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. CAR-
TER, and Mr. BERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To provide Taiwan with critically needed United States-built 
multirole fighter aircraft to strengthen its self-defense 
capability against the increasing military threat from 
China. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taiwan Airpower Mod-
ernization Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) The Department of Defense, in its 2011 re-
port to Congress on ‘‘Military and Security Develop-
ments Involving the People’s Republic of China’’, 
found that ‘‘China continued modernizing its mili-
tary in 2010, with a focus on Taiwan contingencies, 
even as cross-Strait relations improved. The PLA 
seeks the capability to deter Taiwan independence 
and influence Taiwan to settle the dispute on Bei-
jing’s terms. In pursuit of this objective, Beijing is 
developing capabilities intended to deter, delay, or 
deny possible U.S. support for the island in the 
event of conflict. The balance of cross-Strait military 
forces and capabilities continues to shift in the 
mainland’s favor.’’ In this report, the Department of 
Defense also concludes that, over the next decade, 
China’s air force will remain primarily focused on 
‘‘building the capabilities required to pose a credible 
military threat to Taiwan and U.S. forces in East 
Asia, deter Taiwan independence, or influence Tai-
wan to settle the dispute on Beijing’s terms’’. 
(2) The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) con-
ducted a preliminary assessment of the status and 
capabilities of Taiwan’s air force in an unclassified 
report, dated January 21, 2010. The DIA found 
that, ‘‘[a]lthough Taiwan has nearly 400 combat air-
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craft in service, far fewer of these are operationally 
capable.’’ The report concluded, ‘‘Many of Taiwan’s 
fighter aircraft are close to or beyond service life, 
and many require extensive maintenance support. 
The retirement of Mirage and F–5 aircraft will re-
duce the total size of the Taiwan Air Force.’’ 
(3) Since 2006, authorities from Taiwan have 
made repeated requests to purchase 66 F–16C/D 
multirole fighter aircraft from the United States, in 
an effort to modernize the air force of Taiwan and 
maintain its self-defense capability. 
(4) According to a report by the Perryman 
Group, a private economic research and analysis 
firm, the requested sale of F–16C/Ds to Taiwan 
‘‘would generate some $8,700,000,000 in output 
(gross product) and more than 87,664 person-years 
of employment in the US,’’ including 23,407 direct 
jobs, while ‘‘economic benefits would likely be real-
ized in 44 states and the District of Columbia’’. 
(5) The sale of F–16C/Ds to Taiwan would 
both sustain existing high-skilled jobs in key United 
States manufacturing sectors and create new ones. 
(6) On August 1, 2011, a bipartisan group of 
181 members of the House of Representatives sent 
a letter to the President, expressing support for the 
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sale of F–16C/Ds to Taiwan. On May 26, 2011, a 
bipartisan group of 45 members of the Senate sent 
a similar letter to the President, expressing support 
for the sale. Two other members of the Senate wrote 
separately to the President or the Secretary of State 
in 2011 and expressed support for this sale. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) a critical element to maintaining peace and 
stability in Asia in the face of China’s two-decade- 
long program of military modernization and expan-
sion of military capabilities is ensuring a militarily 
strong and confident Taiwan; 
(2) a Taiwan that is confident in its ability to 
deter Chinese aggression will increase its ability to 
proceed in developing peaceful relations with China 
in areas of mutual interest; 
(3) the cross-Strait military balance between 
China and our longstanding strategic partner, Tai-
wan, has clearly shifted in China’s favor; 
(4) China’s military expansion poses a clear and 
present danger to Taiwan, and this threat has very 
serious implications for the ability of the United 
States to fulfill its security obligations to allies in 
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