Whereas, with more than 686,000,000 people, the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) collectively boast the third largest population in the world and a gross domestic product of $3,300,000,000,000, and serves to promote economic growth and regional stability among its members, as well as a rules-based international order; Whereas ASEAN is situated in a critical geographic position, straddling the sea lanes between the Indian Ocean to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east; Whereas, at the 10th annual U.S.-ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., and the ASEAN leaders elevated United States-ASEAN relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership; Whereas, under this framework, there has been an unprecedented expansion in United States-ASEAN relations, including the launch of five new high-level dialogues on health, transportation, gender equality and women’s empowerment, environment and climate, and energy, as well as elevated engagement on foreign affairs, economics, and defense; Whereas, in October 2022, the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate joined a senior officials’ dialogue on the environment and climate with ASEAN, during which the two sides decided to establish a cooperation work plan and to hold a special U.S.-ASEAN Ministerial Dialogue on the Environment and Climate in 2023; Whereas President Biden has reaffirmed the strong support of the United States for ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, building on the historic success of the first-ever U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit in Washington, DC in May 2022; Whereas the United States is committed to supporting the implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific’s Maritime Pillar, and the United States Government has announced $60,000,000 in new regional maritime initiatives