S.Amdt. 715

SA 715. Mr. KAINE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. ___. REPORTS RELATING TO AUKUS PLANNING AND
IMPLEMENTATION.

(a) Reports.--
(1) Secretary of defense.--Not later than 90 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense
shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a
report on the following:
(A) Recommendations for how the United States submarine
industrial base should best invest its financial and
workforce resources in support of AUKUS, including--
(i) how new members of an expanded submarine industrial
base workforce would be best employed in current public and
private shipyards; and
(ii) whether the expanded capacity required by the
implementation of AUKUS warrants the development of an
additional shipyard within the United States.
(B) An assessment of the Department of Defense's current
role in Foreign Military Sales and suggestions for
improvement and streamlining of that role and process.
(C) An assessment and itemization of any procedural
impediments to the effective and rapid implementation of the
transfers agreed upon under AUKUS.
(D) An assessment of the opportunities presented by Pillar
Two of AUKUS, including proposals for workforce exchanges,
workforce development, use of current education and workforce
development programs, and collaboration with and between
Department of Defense research institutions and research
institutions of Australia and the United Kingdom.
(E) An assessment of the impacts to the ship repair
industry of the United States if United States submarines are
repaired in Australia or the United Kingdom.
(F) A description of other topics relevant to the effective
implementation of AUKUS, at the discretion of the Secretary.
(2) Secretary of the navy.--The Secretary of Defense shall
direct the Secretary of the Navy to submit, not later than 90
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, a report to
the appropriate committees of Congress on the following:
(A) The certification requirements for the military and
future civilian nuclear workforce of Australia to ensure
stewardship of nuclear-powered submarines.
(B) The impact of the implementation of AUKUS on the
ability of the Navy to meet its own submarine shipbuilding
requirements.
(3) Form.--Each report required by this subsection shall be
submitted in classified form, but may contain a classified
annex if necessary.
(b) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Armed Services and Foreign Relations
of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.
(2) AUKUS.--The term ``AUKUS'' means the security
partnership announced in September 2021 between Australia,
the United Kingdom, and the United States to promote a free
and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable.
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