Duckworth Secures Key Provisions to Strengthen Our National Security and Coordination with Partners in the Indo-Pacific Region

Duckworth Secures Key Provisions to Strengthen Our National Security and Coordination with Partners in the Indo-Pacific Region

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) advanced numerous provisions led by U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) to strengthen our security and readiness in the Indo-Pacific region. Duckworth's provisions would improve coordination and planning with our partners in the Indo-Pacific on crisis management, maritime security and military medicine, while also bolstering our defense industrial base.

"We are a Pacific nation, and our national security and economic security depends on securing the Indo-Pacific," said Duckworth. "The Indo-Pacific is home to hundreds of thousands of Americans, and our economy depends on free and open trade in the region. We must work diligently with our partners to protect against PRC aggression that could upend regional stability, for our sake and theirs. With these bipartisan provisions to strengthen our coordination and readiness in the region, we can send a clear message that we're invested in working hand in hand with our partners in the Indo-Pacific for the long haul."

Key Duckworth provisions that advanced through SASC to enhance our military's ability to deter war in the Indo-Pacific would:

• Proactively prepare to deescalate consequential crises short of war in the South China Sea by directing the Department of Defense (DoD) to create plans, in coordination with other U.S. government agencies and international partners, for each major likely crisis scenario. This would help overhaul our nation's crisis management and prepare sequenced response options to ensure the safety of Americans and U.S. troops, preserve economic interests in the region, protect allies and avoid possible escalation into war. This is a modified version of Senators Duckworth and Curtis-led Strategy for Crisis Management Act.

• Drive cooperation with Indo-Pacific allies and partners on asymmetric operations by extending the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative, which authorizes DoD to provide assistance and training to partners on maritime security, to include experimentation, testing, evaluation and demonstration tests of asymmetric capabilities like drones.

• Advance medical logistics for a war in the Indo-Pacific by directing DoD to establish a Task Force, in coordination with the State Department, responsible for securing and negotiating the international agreements required to ensure the U.S. military can partner with foreign medical facilities during peacetime and wartime operations for medical care, evacuation and storage relevant to taking care of our injured troops. This is a follow-up to Senator Duckworth's Indo-Pacific Medical Readiness Program established in the FY25 NDAA.

• Improve medical preparedness in the Indo-Pacific by directing DoD to work with Indo-Pacific partner governments to construct a secure cross-country medical data-sharing system to minimize disruptions in medical care for U.S. and partner servicemembers across regional care sites in event of crisis or conflict. This is a follow-up to Senator Duckworth's Indo-Pacific Medical Readiness Program established in the FY25 NDAA and adapts lessons learned from her official Congressional Delegation (CODEL) to Poland in January 2026, where she observed cooperation among European nations to ensure wounded Ukrainian troops had quick access to medical care throughout the continent, enabled by streamlined support infrastructure such as cross-national medical data-sharing systems.

• Enhance military medical cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners by expanding authorities for DoD healthcare providers to work in foreign medical facilities or operational platforms, as long as they are shielded from civil or criminal liability in local host nations. This is a follow-up to Senator Duckworth's Indo-Pacific Medical Readiness Program established in the FY25 NDAA.

• Protect our interests in the Indo-Pacific from cyber threats and help our partners become cyber force multipliers for our military by directing DoD to construct a holistic strategy and implementation plan to advance cyber cooperation between DoD and Indo-Pacific allies and partners, including enhancing partner capacity in cyber offensive operations and cybersecurity resilience.

• Bolster cybersecurity resilience in the Indo-Pacific by extending Senator Duckworth's successful pilot program of cyber cooperation with Southeast Asian nations, originating in the FY21 NDAA, to December 31, 2030.

Duckworth is a proven leader when it comes to strengthening our relations with Indo-Pacific nations and improving security in the region-which she has done while successfully securing significant international investments in Illinois. Last month, Duckworth led a bipartisan CODEL to the Philippines and Singapore to discuss her efforts to redouble U.S. collaboration with our Indo-Pacific partners and ensure security in the region.

Three months ago, Duckworth slammed Donald Trump's reckless Iran war for being a gift to the PRC and for undermining our military readiness and security in the Indo-Pacific. Duckworth's Indo-Pacific Medical Readiness program-a program she championed in the FY2025 NDAA and continues to implement through provisions in this year's NDAA-will help ensure our nation's servicemembers as well as their families have access to quality patient care throughout the Indo-Pacific region, where they often must travel long distances to receive care.

Last year, Duckworth led official visits to South Korea and Japan to meet with government and economic leaders and discuss how the U.S. can better collaborate with our Indo-Pacific partners to enhance American shipbuilding capabilities and mutually strengthen each other's economies. Last year, Duckworth also led a bipartisan CODEL to the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore to reaffirm the United States' strong bipartisan commitment to our partners and allies in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as a visit to Taiwan to reaffirm support for the U.S.-Taiwan partnership and Illinois's preparedness for additional international investments similar to those she's already successfully secured in her previous international travels.

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