Duckworth, Ricketts Lead Bipartisan Senate Delegation to Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore

The senators said the Singapore trip will underscore bipartisan U.S. support for Indo-Pacific allies and include meetings with regional defense and foreign affairs leaders.

Celia Olivas - Office of U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth

May 31, 2026 8:15 AM

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SINGAPORE – Today, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of both the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC)—and U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) are leading a bipartisan Congressional Delegation to Singapore to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Shangri-La Dialogue for the second year to reaffirm the United States’ strong bipartisan commitment to our partners and allies in the Indo-Pacific. Their arrival in Singapore comes immediately after Senator Duckworth completed a successful visit to the Philippines where she shared new legislative plans that build on her efforts to strengthen cooperation with our Filipino partners and others in the region. While in Singapore, the Delegation plans to meet with a number of defense and foreign affairs officials representing several of our partners in the Indo-Pacific region to discuss efforts to work together to respond to global challenges.

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“Ensuring peace and prosperity within the Indo-Pacific requires a steady vision from the United States, especially as the region faces increasing aggression from the People’s Republic of China,” said Duckworth. “Year after year, I’m proud to travel to the Indo-Pacific and make it clear that the U.S. is invested in working together, tackling shared challenges and building a safer, stronger future for all of us. America is a Pacific nation, and our national security depends on securing the Pacific.”

While in Singapore, the Duckworth-Ricketts Delegation intends to meet with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Defense Chan Chun Sing, as well as leaders from Australia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

Duckworth is a proven leader when it comes to strengthening our relations with Indo-Pacific nations and improving security in the region—which she has done while successfully securing significant international investments in Illinois.

Details on the Senator’s legislative efforts surrounding the Indo-Pacific region can be found below:

In the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that wassigned into law, Duckworth successfully secured a modified version of her Access to Care for Overseas Military Act to improve medical readiness in the Indo-Pacific. This provision established a program to accredit foreign medical facilities to help ensure our nation’s servicemembers as well as their families have access to quality patient care throughout the Indo-Pacific region—where they often must travel long distances to receive care—both during peacetime and in the event of a conflict abroad.

In 2024, Duckworth and U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) led an official delegation to underscore and reaffirm our nation’s strong bipartisan support for the Taiwanese people just days after the peaceful transition of power to and inauguration of President Lai Ching-te following Taiwan’s successful democratic elections.

In 2023, Duckworth led an official visit to Japan and Indonesia as part of her continuing efforts to strengthen ties and reinforce support between allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region and the United States. In the summer, Duckworth led another official visit to the Indo-Pacific region again, visiting Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines to meet with government and business leaders and discuss opportunities that would increase cooperation in areas of mutual interest, such as economic investments, regional stability and national security.

In 2022, Duckworth traveled to South Korea and Taiwan where she met with business, government and trade leaders, which helped lead to a joint venture between Illinois’s ADM and South Korea’s LG Chem, as well as a commitment from Taiwan to purchase an estimated $2.6 billion of our Illinois’s corn and soybeans.

In 2021, Duckworth, Sullivan and Coons also travelled to Taiwan to announce that the United States’ would donate 750,000 COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan as part of President Biden’s plan to provide vaccines to our global partners in need. Duckworth also successfully included a modified version of her Strengthen Taiwan’s Security Actin the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to help Taiwan strengthen its military defenses.