; (B) Arctic sea lanes could become the 21st century Suez and Panama Canals. ; (C) We’re concerned about Russia’s claim over the international waters of the Northern Sea Route, including its newly announced plans to connect it with China’s Maritime Silk Road. ; (D) In the Northern Sea Route, Moscow already illegally demands other nations request permission to pass, requires Russian maritime pilots to be aboard foreign ships, and threatens to use military force to sink any that fail to comply with their demands. ; (E) there is a pattern of aggressive Russian behavior here in the Arctic and we know Russian territorial ambitions can turn violent ; and (F) we do not want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims , nor do we want the fragile Arctic environment exposed to the same ecological devastation caused by China’s fishing fleet in the seas off its coast, or unregulated industrial activity in its own country . (25) On December 6, 2018, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer stated, We need to have a strategic Arctic port up in Alaska. We need to be doing FONOPs in the northwest – in the northern passage. … peace through presence with a submarine is a little tough . (26) Meanwhile, the two closest strategic seaports, as designated by the Department of Defense, to the Arctic Circle are the Port of Anchorage and the Port of Tacoma, located approximately 1,500 nautical miles and 2,400 nautical miles away, respectively, and approximately 1,900 nautical miles and 2,800 nautical miles respectively from Barrow, Alaska. (27) The distance from Bangor, Maine, to Key West, Florida, is approximately 1,450 nautical miles. (b) Sense of congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the Arctic is a region of strategic importance to the national security interests of the United States and the Department of Defense must better align its presence, force posture, and capabilities to meet the growing array of challenges in the region