; Whereas, on August 5, 2023, the United States Department of State reaffirmed that an armed attack on Philippine public vessels, aircraft, and armed forces—including those of its Coast Guard in the South China Sea—would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the 1951 U.S. Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty ; and Whereas, on October 22, 2023, the Chinese Coast Guard rammed a Philippines Coast Guard cutter escorting supplies to the Second Thomas Shoal within the Philippines exclusive economic zone: Now, therefore, be it