March 18, 2026
Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Bennet, Ms. Collins, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Welch, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Booker) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
To require the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, to submit a report on emerging threats posed to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Baltic Security Assessment Act of 2026
.
Sec. 2. Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)
supporting and strengthening the security of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (referred to in this section as the Baltic countries
) is in the national security interests of the United States;
(2)
continuing to strengthen and update the security cooperation roadmap for the United States and the Baltic countries is critical to achieving strategic security priorities as the Baltic countries face ongoing belligerence and threats from the Russian Federation, including amid the Russian Federation’s illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022;
(3)
the Baltic countries have been valued members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and continue to contribute to NATO’s collective security and partnership; and
(4)
improved economic ties between the United States and the Baltic countries, including to counter economic pressure by the People’s Republic of China, offer an opportunity to strengthen the United States-Baltic strategic partnership.
Sec. 3. Report on emerging threats to the Baltic countries
(a) In general
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on—
(1)
emerging military, cyber, hybrid, and political threats to the Baltic countries;
(2)
the roles of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, the People's Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and other malign actors in advancing such threats;
(3)
the current posture and presence of United States and NATO forces in the Baltic region for the purpose of deterring such threats;
(4)
recommendations for strengthening the deterrence posture, cybersecurity infrastructure, and democratic resilience of the Baltic countries; and
(5)
opportunities to enhance bilateral and multilateral defense cooperation between the United States and the Baltic countries, including through the Baltic Security Initiative established under section 1247 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (Public Law 119–60).
(b) Form
The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may contain a classified annex.
(c) Appropriate committees of Congress defined
In this section, the term appropriate committees of Congress means—
(1)
the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(2)
the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.