Bill Details
HR.1385 - 119th Congress
Status
Latest action
2025-02-14 - Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Introduced Date
2025-02-14
Policy Area
International Affairs
Committees
View committees (1)
Cosponsors
8
0
0
AI Summary This summary was generated by AI from the bill text. AI can get information wrong.
This bill would require the Secretary of State, working with the Secretary of Defense, to prepare a plan for growing membership in a Middle East security and cooperation agreement called CSIPA. The goal is to help the United States and its partners build stronger military coordination, improve regional security, and expand cooperation on trade, science, and technology. The bill also asks the administration to explain the benefits of the agreement, identify obstacles to expanding it, and show how more countries could be encouraged to join.
- Within 180 days after the bill becomes law, the Secretary of State must send Congress a report with a strategy for increasing CSIPA membership.
- The report must examine how the agreement could improve military readiness, support joint responses to threats, strengthen alliances, and help with economic and technological cooperation.
- It must also look at how CSIPA has helped respond to attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, and how it could be used alongside the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain to respond quickly to threats from Iran or other adversaries.
- After the report is submitted, the Secretary of State must, within 180 more days, deliver a separate strategy on how to persuade allied countries in and outside the Middle East to join CSIPA, followed by a briefing within 60 days on how that strategy will be carried out.
Official Summaries
No summaries available
Current Full Text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1385 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1385
To require the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary
of Defense, to develop a strategy to increase membership in the
Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 14, 2025
Mrs. Miller of West Virginia (for herself and Mr. Panetta) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary
of Defense, to develop a strategy to increase membership in the
Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Strengthening Cooperation and
Security in the Middle East Act''.
SEC. 2. REPORT AND STRATEGY ON INCREASING MEMBERSHIP IN THE
COMPREHENSIVE SECURITY INTEGRATION AND PROSPERITY
AGREEMENT.
(a) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in
consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall develop and
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report
that includes a strategy to increase membership in the
Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement
(CSIPA), done at Washington, DC on September 9-13, 2023.
(2) Elements.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall
also include--
(A) an analysis of--
(i) the comprehensive strategic benefits of
CSIPA, including improving joint military
readiness in the Middle East, enhancing shared
economic interests, collaborating on advanced
technological and scientific pursuits, and
building stronger regional alliances to improve
stability and counter mutual threats;
(ii) the role of CSIPA in supporting rapid
and effective responses following the Houthi
attacks on merchant vessels the Red Sea that
occurred since October 7, 2023;
(iii) how the CSIPA framework can leverage
the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet
headquartered in Bahrain for projecting
strength in the region and supporting immediate
responses to imminent threats posed by the
Islamic Republic of Iran or other adversaries
of the United States;
(iv) the long-term benefits of widened
membership in CSIPA;
(v) how the framework of CSIPA can be
altered to foster broader regional security
integration, bolster mutual deterrence against
external threats, and expand cooperation in the
fields of commerce, science, and technology;
(vi) requirements for resources and
capabilities that can be provided to expand
CSIPA membership; and
(vii) domestic and regional factors or
barriers among allied countries of the United
States and Bahrain that may be limiting the
expansion of CSIPA; and
(B) recommendations for areas of further
collaboration between the United States and other CSIPA
members.
(b) Strategy.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the
submission of the report required by subsection (a), the
Secretary of State shall develop and submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a strategy on how to best engage
allied countries in the Middle East and outside of the Middle
East to join CSIPA and affirmative steps the Administration can
take to increase membership in that agreement.
(2) Briefing required.--Not later than 60 days after the
date on which the Secretary develops the strategy required by
this subsection, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a briefing on a plan for implementing
the strategy.
(c) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) and the strategy
required by subsection (b) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but
may contain a classified annex.
(d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section,
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on
Armed Services of the House of Representatives; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on
Armed Services of the Senate.
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