Reaffirming the Ties Between the United States and the Philippines

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I join my friend from Guam (Mr. Moylan) and my friend from North Carolina (Ms. Manning) and many colleagues in strong support of H. Res. 837, reaffirming our country's enduring ties with the great Republic of the Philippines.

The strength of the U.S.-Philippines relationship endures on a foundation of shared heritage, history, and values, from Filipinos being the first documented Asian ethnic group in North America to the still-growing population of Filipino Americans today, numbering over 4.6 million, now the third largest group of Asian descent in our country, to our mutual vibrant democracies, and so much more.

In my own Hawaii, I am the very proud Representative for the congressional district with the highest number of Filipino Americans of any district in our country, some 204,000 today. For over a century, we in Hawaii have had experience in understanding how Hawaii and our Nation have greatly benefited from the significant contributions and accomplishments of our Filipino community.

The U.S.-Philippines relationship has perhaps never been as strong as it is today, and it is these people-to-people ties that are the foundation behind the security partnership outlined in the 1951 U.S.- Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty. It recognizes an attack in the Pacific on either of us would endanger the peace of both of us and that we must act in concert to meet common dangers.

This security relationship is critical today, given continued aggression by the People's Republic of China in the South China Sea and elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific. This congressional reaffirmation comes on the heels of Secretary of Defense Austin's recent visit to Palawan where he reaffirmed the ironclad U.S. commitment to the Philippines and reiterated that the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty extends to Armed Forces, public vessels, and aircraft of both countries, including those of the Coast Guard anywhere in the South China Sea.

That is just one of many reasons why the reaffirmation of our relationship with the Philippines by this United States Congress, as well as this resolution, is more important now than ever.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting our critical U.S.- Philippines relationship. ``Thank you very much and God bless,'' ``Maraming salamat po and Dios ti agngina.''

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