HR 5543

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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 23, 2025

Mr. Bell (for himself, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Carbajal, Ms. Ansari, Mr. Auchincloss, Mr. Bishop, Ms. Budzinski, Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Carson, Mr. Case, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr. Costa, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Elfreth, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Goldman of New York, Ms. Goodlander, Mr. Gottheimer, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Keating, Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia, Mr. Landsman, Ms. McBride, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Moore of Utah, Mr. Panetta, Mrs. Radewagen, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Turner of Ohio, Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Hurd of Colorado, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, and Mr. Cohen) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

A BILL

To require the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, to submit a report on emerging threats posed to the Republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, 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 “Baltic Security Assessment Act of 2025”.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that—

(1) supporting and strengthening the security of the Republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania is in the national security interests of the United States;

(2) continuing to strengthen and update the security cooperation roadmap for the United States and the Baltic countries is critical to achieving strategic security priorities as the Republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania face ongoing belligerence and threats from the Russian Federation, including amid the Russian Federation’s illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022;

(3) Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have been valued members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and continue to contribute to the organizations’ collective security and partnership; and

(4) improved economic ties between the United States, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, including to counter economic pressure by the People’s Republic of China, offer an opportunity to strengthen the United States-Baltic strategic partnership.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON EMERGING THREATS TO THE BALTIC COUNTRIES.

(a) Report.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on—

(1) emerging military, cyber, hybrid, and political threats posed to the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, and the Republic of Lithuania (in this section referred to collectively as the “Baltic countries”);

(2) the roles of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, the People’s Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and other malign actors in advancing such threats;

(3) the current posture and presence of United States and NATO forces in the region in deterring such threats;

(4) opportunities to enhance bilateral and multilateral defense cooperation between the United States and the Baltic countries; and

(5) recommendations for strengthening the deterrence posture, cybersecurity infrastructure, and democratic resilience of the Baltic countries.

(b) Form.—The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassifed form and may contain a classified annex.

(c) 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. <all>