on strengthening the defense of Taiwan. Sec. 305. Sense of Congress on reaffirming the importance of the United States-Australia defense alliance. 2. Findings and sense of Congress (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The United States has a national interest in maintaining the security and stability of the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (2) The substantial forward presence of United States Armed Forces is instrumental to maintaining security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region and to deterring acts of aggression in the region. (3) In April 2017, Admiral Harry Harris, Jr., Commander of the United States Pacific Command, testified that of the five global challenges that currently drive U.S. defense planning and budgeting—ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), North Korea, China, Russia, and Iran—four are in the Indo-Asia-Pacific . He further testified: (A) North Korea continues to disregard United Nations sanctions by developing, and threatening to use intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons that will threaten the U.S. Homeland. . (B) China is rapidly building a modern, capable military that appears to far exceed its stated defensive purpose or potential regional needs. China’s military is modernization is focused on defeating the United States in Asia by countering U.S. asymmetric advantages. . (C) Russia is modernizing its military and once again exercising its conventional forces and nuclear strike capabilities in the Pacific, which also threaten the Homeland. . (D) Transnational terrorists, inspired by and in some cases led by ISIS, have set their sights on the Indo-Asia-Pacific by supporting and encouraging attacks in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Philippines, and Malaysia while recruiting and fund-raising there and elsewhere. . (4) Frank Kendall, former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, testified in January 2015, that U.S. superiority in some key warfare domains is at risk including United States surface fleet and forward bases in the Pacific and