; Whereas the United States supports the East Asia Summit (EAS) as the premier leaders-led forum for dialogue and cooperation on political, security, and economic issues in the region and commends the direction set in the Kuala Lampur Declaration at the EAS 10th anniversary, including the new exchange mechanism for EAS members’ ambassadors; Whereas the United States, ASEAN, and other Dialogue Partners, through the 2015 East Asia Summit, adopted a statement on transnational cyber issues that emphasizes the importance of regional cooperation to improve the security and stability of cyber networks, setting an important precedent for strengthening practical cooperation, risk reduction, and confidence building in cyberspace; Whereas the 2016 East Asia Summit in Vientiane adopted a statement on non-proliferation that reaffirmed the United States, ASEAN’s, and other Dialogue Partners’ leaders’ support for efforts at the national, regional, and international level to promote nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and reiterated the importance of nuclear security to combating nuclear terrorism; Whereas North Korea’s provocative missile launches and nuclear tests highlights the threat posed by its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and contradicts calls by ASEAN leaders at the 2016 East Asia Summit in Vientiane for North Korea to abide by multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions and international obligations; Whereas changes in climatic conditions in the ASEAN region over the past four decades have resulted in major loss and damage throughout the ASEAN region with a disproportionate impact on developing countries, with the experiences of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, as well as the impacts that climate-caused ocean acidification has had on fish stocks, coral resources, and coastal agriculture, providing stark evidence of the destructive impacts on the region