Merkley Touts Committee Passage of His Bipartisan Bill to Support Taiwan’s Drone Production, American National Security

Washington, D.C. - Today, Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley-a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee-applauded committee passage of his bipartisan Blue Skies for Taiwan Act. Merkley's bill expands cooperation between the United States and Taiwan on the development of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in the face of the People's Republic of China (PRC)'s increasing pressure on Taiwan and the PRC's dominance in the UAS supply chain.

"The United States cannot stand on the sidelines while Beijing escalates its pressure campaign against Taiwan," said Merkley. "Our bipartisan bill strengthens Taiwan's security and counters China's coercive tactics by boosting Taiwanese development of unmanned aerial systems in support of its own defense and U.S. national security. As the bill takes one step closer to becoming law, Congress must do all it can to protect Taiwan and American strategic interests and stability in the Indo-Pacific region."

Merkley introduced the Blue Skies for Taiwan Act with U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Andy Kim (D-NJ), and John Curtis (R-UT). Their bipartisan bill would:

• Establish a Blue UAS Working Group, led by the Departments of State and Defense, to assess Taiwan's drone production capacity and identify opportunities and impediments to incorporating Taiwan-manufactured UAS and components in the Defense Contract Management Agency's Blue UAS program and associated lists in order to expand United States access to secure, PRC-independent UAS components and systems.
  • The Blue UAS program is a DOD initiative that vets and certifies secure drone systems and components that do not rely on PRC technology or supply chains.
• Direct the establishment of a cooperative framework with regional allies to support secure, PRC-independent drone supply chains and expand opportunities for Taiwan's drone industry.
• Instruct the Departments of State and Defense to develop a fast-track certification process for Taiwan drone and drone component manufacturers.

Last year, Merkley's bipartisan United States-Taiwan Partnership in the Americas Act was passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The bill would support Taiwan and its diplomatic partners in Latin America and the Caribbean. He also introduced the Taiwan Relations Reinforcement Act to reaffirm U.S. policy to support Taiwan's democracy and engagement with the world.

Merkley previously served as the Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and has written several pieces of bipartisan legislation to hold the Chinese government accountable for its genocide against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples and oppose all acts of transnational repression.

To learn more about the Blue Skies for Taiwan Act, including the full text of the legislation, click here.

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