S.Amdt. 3523

SA 3523. Mr. KAINE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2296, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2026 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 end of subtitle E of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 1265. SUPPORT FOR AUKUS PARTNERSHIP.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) In September, 2021, the leaders of Australia, the
United Kingdom, and the United States announced a trilateral
security partnership (commonly known as ``AUKUS'') to
strengthen the ability of each country to support common
security and defense interests and build upon longstanding
and ongoing bilateral ties.
(2) For more than a century, the countries of AUKUS have
stood shoulder-to-shoulder, along with other allies and
partners, to help sustain peace, stability, and prosperity
around the world, including in the Indo-Pacific region, and
believed in a world that protects freedom and respects human
rights, the rule of law, the independence of sovereign
states, and the rules-based international order.
(3) The United States has brought into force a mutual
defense agreement with Australia, which was modeled on the
1958 bilateral mutual defense agreement with the United
Kingdom, for the sole purpose of facilitating the transfer of
naval nuclear propulsion technology to Australia.
(4) Congress, on a strong bipartisan basis, endorsed the
AUKUS partnership by authorizing the transfer of Virginia-
class submarines from the United States under section 1352 of
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024
(22 U.S.C. 10431).
(5) As part of the AUKUS partnership, Australia has already
contributed $550,000,000 out of a commitment of
$3,000,000,000 for the expansion of the submarine industrial
base of the United States.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the AUKUS partnership will promote deeper information
and technology sharing, foster deeper integration of security
and defense-related science and technology, the industrial
base, and the supply chains of each country, and
significantly deepen cooperation on a range of security and
defense capabilities;
(2) the AUKUS partnership is integral to the national
security of the United States, will increase the capabilities
of the United States and allies in the undersea domain of the
Indo-Pacific region, and will lead to the development of
cutting-edge military capabilities while the transfer of
conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines to
Australia--
(A) will position the United States and its allies to
better deter aggression by the People's Republic of China in
the Indo-Pacific region; and
(B) will be safely implemented in accordance with the
highest non-proliferation standards in alignment with--
(i) safeguards established by the International Atomic
Energy Agency; and
(ii) the Additional Protocol to the Agreement between
Australia and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the
application of safeguards in connection with the Treaty on
the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, done at Vienna
September 23, 1997;
(3) working with the United Kingdom and Australia to
develop and provide joint advanced military capabilities to
promote security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region
will have tangible impacts on the effectiveness of the United
States military worldwide; and
(4) it is vital to the national security of the United
States to expand the capabilities of the submarine industrial
base of the United States, and AUKUS is a significant
component of the expansion.
(c) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United
States--
(1) to continue to fully support the AUKUS partnership and
the commitment to transfer Virginia-class nuclear-powered
submarines to Australia at the earliest practicable
opportunity;
(2) to fully support the provision of sufficient and
appropriate funds to enhance the domestic submarine
industrial base and increase the production of Virginia-class
nuclear-powered submarines to meet the goals and objectives
of the AUKUS partnership;
(3) for the Department of Defense and the Department of
State to continue to engage and consult with the Committee on
Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate before making any decision to change
the AUKUS partnership;
(4) for the President to reaffirm the AUKUS partnership in
all aspects; and

[[Page S5305]]

(5) for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State
to engage in immediate and continuing consultations with the
Government of Australia and the Government of the United
Kingdom regarding review of any part of the AUKUS partnership
by the United States.
______