Asia-Pacific Region Priority Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Asia and the Pacific.
Asia-Pacific Region Priority Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to: (1) report to the congressional defense committees on the U.S. Pacific Command's munitions strategy for the next ten years, (2) appoint a Director of Defense Unmanned Systems, and (3) enter into an agreement with an independent entity to assess anti-access and area-denial capabilities that pose a threat to the United States and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region and strategies to mitigate such threats.
Requires the Director of DOD's Office of Net Assessment to assess the maritime balance of forces in the Asia-Pacific region for the next ten years, focusing on the Chinese People's Liberation Army and State Oceanic Administration.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) identify opportunities for increasing missile defense cooperation among the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea and to evaluate options for short-range missile, rocket, and artillery defense capabilities; (2) submit a report assessing DOD's ability to deter and defeat any act of space aggression by an adversary; and (3) conduct a study, acting through the Office of Net Assessment, of potential alternative defense and deterrent strategies in response to existing and projected counter-space capabilities of China and Russia. Authorizes appropriations for FY2015 for research, development, test, and evaluation, Air Force, for enhancing space situational awareness capabilities of the Air Force.
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should: (1) ensure that members of the Armed Forces continue to have reliable access to military training ranges, including ranges within the U.S. Pacific Command area; and (2) maximize the Armed Forces use of the Pohakuloa Training Area in Hawaii and increase its use for bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional allies and partners.
Authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to acquire interests in real property near the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii, for the purpose of limiting encroachments on, and facilitating, military training, testing, and operations at that installation.
The summary continues for 3 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on April 28, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 10, 2014: Referred to the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
J. Forbes (R-VA) introduced it on April 28, 2014, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 28, 2014, 4565 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4522 days ago, on June 10, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers