Washington, July 14 (CNA) The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed a bill that lays out the country’s sweeping national defense policy and budget for 2024, including provisions calling for military cooperation with Taiwan.
The US$876.8 billion budgeted for the 2024 fiscal year under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was narrowly approved by the House with a 219-210 vote.
Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who led a congressional delegation to Taiwan in late June and met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), applauded the passage of the 2024 NDAA.
“The threat we face from China is the most pressing national security threat we’ve faced in decades — the FY24 NDAA is laser-focused on countering China. The FY24 NDAA protects our homeland from threats by investing in a stronger missile defense and modernizing our nuclear deterrent,” Rogers said in a statement.
According to the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, this year’s NDAA includes a number of provisions coming directly from the Select Committee’s bipartisan Ten for Taiwan report, a set of recommendations to enhance Taiwan’s deterrence.
The Act supports greater military coordination between the U.S. and Taiwan, including conducting exercises, developing joint concepts of operation and tactics, techniques, and procedures, and other security measures to help Taiwan meet its self-defense needs, the committee said.
The Act also addresses the current Foreign Military Sales backlog in arms deliveries to Taiwan by directing the secretary of defense, in consultation with the secretary of state, to submit a report evaluating the provision of defense articles, services and training requested by the Taiwanese government, the committee added.
In addition, the Act aims to expedite the delivery of asymmetric defense capabilities to Taiwan by fencing travel for the Office of the Secretary of Defense until the Department of Defense submits a plan to provide Harpoon missiles set for demilitarization or in deep stowage to Taiwan or other security partners with a Presidential Drawdown Authority, the committee said.
The Act also requires the Secretary of Defense to engage Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense to strengthen military cybersecurity cooperation, according to the committee.
The committee said the Act also prohibits the Department of Defense from creating, procuring or displaying any map that depicts Taiwan as part of the territory of China, a provision proposed by Republican Representative Tom Tiffany.
“All of us know that Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China. Any claims to the contrary are simply false,” Tiffany said in a statement. “This amendment will require that the maps we use reflect a simple reality: China is China, and Taiwan is Taiwan.”
Rogers noted that the NDAA has been a critical part of U.S. national security for over 60 years, providing American warfighters with the resources and authorities they need to provide for the defense of the country.
“This legislation is vital as our nation is faced with unprecedented threats from our adversaries,” he said.
The Act also boosts innovation and revitalizes the industrial base to ensure they can deliver the systems the U.S. needs to prevail in any conflict, Rogers said.
The Senate is scheduled to review its version of 2024 NDAA next week.
Typically, after the full House and Senate have passed their own versions of the NDAA, they negotiate a reconciliation of the bill to send to the president to sign into law before the end of the year.