Duckworth Traveling to Laos & Vietnam to Reinforce U.S. Commitment to ASEAN Partners, Strengthening Economic Ties & Bolstering Regional Security
On official visit to Southeast Asian nations, Senator also seeks to enhance economic cooperation and bolster America’s competitive edge with China
[VIENTIANE, LAOS] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—who served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years and is a member of both the U.S. Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees—arrived in Laos for an official Senate visit aimed at reinforcing America’s commitment to our partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), strengthening U.S.-ASEAN economic ties and building on the foundations of the U.S.-Laos relationship. Duckworth’s visit marks the first visit from a United States Senator to the nation since 2010. In addition to several meetings with government leaders in each country, the Senator will also join Chantale Wong, U.S. Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), to discuss the ADB’s work to help reduce poverty and stimulate economic development in a sustainable way as well as to see firsthand one of the facilities the ADB is investing in to improve the local economy.
“I’ve always believed that if America wants to remain a global leader, we have to show up and support our partners—and that means we must continue to lead across Southeast Asia,” said Senator Duckworth. “While the United States has long been a major Pacific power, if we don’t uphold our commitments to these key partners, we’d leave a vacuum that the PRC both can—and likely will—take advantage of. We must not embolden China to push around smaller nations, not only because it would make it harder for America to compete, but also because doing so would give our adversaries and competitors an easier path to overtaking us all while weakening our standing on the global stage. I’m proud to once again return to Southeast Asia—this time to Laos and soon to Vietnam—to keep building on our strong relationships and send a critical message to them—and our competitors—that the United States remains steadfast in our support for our ASEAN partners, and that we’ll be here for the long term.”
Following this visit to Laos, the Senator will travel to Vietnam, where she will continue her long-running efforts to strengthen economic ties between our people—including by highlighting how Illinois, as a hub of agriculture and leader in biofuel production, is uniquely positioned for greater investment from and increased corn ethanol exports to our international partners. Duckworth will also meet with government and business leaders to strengthen and highlight the importance of international partnerships to help improve supply chain issues here at home, bringing down prices and reducing delays for American consumers.
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. In May, Duckworth introduced the Access to Care for Overseas Military Act to improve medical readiness within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and ensure our nation’s servicemembers and their families have access to quality patient care throughout the Indo-Pacific region—where they often must travel long distances to receive care—whether during peacetime or in the event of a conflict abroad. Shortly after introducing the legislation, Duckworth led a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan and then to Singapore to participate in this year’s International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Shangri-La Dialogue, where she and a bipartisan group of Senators reaffirmed our nation’s strong bipartisan commitment to our partners and allies in the Indo-Pacific. Duckworth also successfully included a modified version of her Strengthen Taiwan’s Security Act in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to help Taiwan strengthen its military defenses.
Last year, Duckworth led an official visit to Japan and Indonesia as part of her continuing efforts to strengthen ties and reinforce support between allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region and the United States. And last summer, Duckworth led another official visit to the Indo-Pacific region again, visiting Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines to meet with government and business leaders and discuss opportunities that would increase cooperation in areas of mutual interest, such as economic investments, regional stability and national security.
In 2022, Duckworth traveled to South Korea and Taiwan where she met with business, government and trade leaders, which helped lead to a joint venture between Illinois’s ADM and South Korea’s LG Chem, as well as a commitment from Taiwan to purchase an estimated $2.6 billion of our Illinois’s corn and soybeans. In 2021, Senators Duckworth, Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Chris Coons (D-DE) also travelled to Taiwan to announce that the United States’ would donate 750,000 COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan as part of President Biden’s plan to provide vaccines to our global partners in need.. In 2019, Duckworth led a bipartisan delegation to Japan and Singapore. In 2018, Duckworth visited South Korea and Japan.
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