WASHINGTON -- U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are coming out with an array of bills and resolutions aimed at expanding the Biden administration's involvement in Asia, including strengthening ties with Pacific nations and expanding support for Taiwan.

Democratic Rep. Ami Bera, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia and Nonproliferation, and Rep. Steve Chabot, the panel's top Republican member, co-sponsored and introduced the Indo-Pacific Engagement Act this week.

"When it comes to advancing U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific, it's time that we match resources with rhetoric," Bera said Tuesday in a news release. "For decades we have routinely underinvested in both diplomatic and aid assistance, setting the stage for China to expand its influence and attempt to define the rules in the region," the representative said.

"It is deeply frustrating that year after year administrations of both parties produce a budget that places the Indo-Pacific near the bottom of our national priorities," Chabot added.

This bill requires the administration to draw up a five-year plan to increase engagement with and aid to Pacific Island nations. It calls on the government to assign additional diplomatic personnel in the Indo-Pacific and compile a list of locations where new embassies and consulates are needed.

The Indo-Pacific Engagement Act stresses the importance of sustained engagement in the region to advancing American interests in the 21st century and explicitly cites "countering the malign influence of" China in the region as one of its goals.

The new legislation comes against the backdrop of intensifying competition with China in the Pacific, with such developments as Beijing's security agreement with the Solomon Islands this April ringing alarm bells.

It also comes amid continued pressure on President Joe Biden's administration to respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with NATO leaders set to discuss bolstering defenses in Eastern Europe at a late-June summit. Lawmakers look to ensure that the administration remains firmly focused on Asia, in keeping with a security policy that names China as Washington's sole strategic rival.

Democrat Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham this month introduced the Taiwan Policy Act. The legislation would authorize $4.5 billion in Taiwan-related assistance over four years through the Foreign Military Financing framework, to be used for purchases of U.S. weaponry and training with American forces, for example.

The Biden administration requested $6 billion for the FMF program for the fiscal year ending September 2023, of which about 90% would be for the Middle East and North Africa. Expanding the budget to spend more in Asia, including Taiwan, would underscore a further security pivot to the region.

A bipartisan group of senators submitted a resolution in May urging closer ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ahead of a summit with ASEAN leaders at the White House.

The document expresses deep concern about "recent assertive and unsafe behavior by the People's Republic of China in the South China Sea" and encourages cooperation with Southeast Asian partners to counter threats to freedom of navigation.

Legislation to bolster America's ability to compete with China, featuring $52 billion in funding for semiconductor production, will pose a real test of bipartisan cooperation on Beijing. Congress began reconciling House and Senate versions of the legislation in May. Democratic leaders aim to pass it by this summer, and Biden has called for lawmakers to move quickly on the measure.

Only a handful of bills put before U.S. lawmakers are ever passed. Bipartisan support is often necessary but frequently difficult to secure, and backing from committee leaders -- who decide what measures get to each chamber's floor -- is essential.

Less than 10% of the proposed legislation during the 116th Congress, which spanned the two years ended January 2021, was ultimately enacted in some form, according to GovTrack.us.