To direct the Secretary of State to submit to Congress a report on implementation of the advanced capabilities pillar of the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1093) to direct the Secretary of State to submit to Congress a report on implementation of the advanced capabilities pillar of the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, as China continues its aggressive posture in the Indo- Pacific, strengthening partnerships to deter Chairman Xi are more important now than ever. I thank my good friend, Ranking Member Meeks, for standing with me in support of this bipartisan measure.

The Australia-United Kingdom-United States partnership known as AUKUS is a long-term security pact to protect peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

The recent announcement on AUKUS implementation only addressed one piece of this partnership--cooperation on conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines, but there is much more to this partnership.

The second pillar of AUKUS is cooperation on advanced capabilities. The purpose is to collaborate on high-tech research and the application of systems, such as hypersonics, undersea capabilities, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, and much more.

This legislation focuses on ensuring the State Department is authorizing technology transfers quickly to fully support implementation of this vital pillar.

We are facing a generational challenge from the Chinese Communist Party. We must bring all tools to bear in our effort to counter Chairman Xi's attempts to disrupt the global balance of power. With AUKUS, our three nations can achieve the shared strategic goal of defending the Indo-Pacific region while maintaining our technological and military superiority.

This bill presses the State Department to take action and account for our arms transfers with the U.K. and Australia so that we can address any hurdles and act seamlessly now and not wait for a time of crisis or even war.

For these reasons, I am proud of this bipartisan bill, which will begin to address numerous long-standing challenges in our arms exports to our closest allies and potentially serve as a roadmap for working with other close allies and partners.

I, again, thank Ranking Member Meeks, his team, and our members for working with my staff to ensure that this bill in support of a new long-term security pact with our allies becomes a reality.

Mr. Speaker, this bill deserves our unanimous support, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, with AUKUS, we seek peace through strength. The previous administration laid the groundwork to collaborate with our closest allies and partners in countering China's threat to peace. Our Nation stood alongside Australia and U.K. for the launch of the AUKUS trilateral partnership in September of 2021. Now, we are prepared to best implement this important program.

Through AUKUS, we are declaring that we will not stand idly by for Chairman Xi and other autocratic leaders to dictate when and under what circumstances the strength of our resilience is to be tested.

This bipartisan measure is a commitment to our partners. The American people stand with the U.K. and Australia in preserving freedom. Together we will uphold the international rules-based order and protect and preserve the right of sovereign nations to defend themselves.

In the Indo-Pacific, we have seen how one dictator, Chairman Xi, is defying the free world and threatening the open navigation and the free flow of trade. This week, Xi met with Putin in Moscow and afterwards possibly Iran.

Chairman Xi chooses to closely partner with Russia, who launched an unprovoked war of aggression with Ukraine, where they are committing barbaric war crimes, as I just returned from Kyiv and Bucha, where I saw the mass graves.

Mr. Putin also has a long track record of war crimes in Mali, Syria, and Central African Republic.

Xi also chooses to associate with Iran, whose Revolutionary Guard Corps is a designated foreign terrorist organization. These alliances are a clear indication that Xi does not seek peace but chooses to work with those who wish to destroy it.

Mr. Speaker, today I am proud to speak in a unified voice, as we do so often on the Foreign Affairs Committee, with my dear friend Mr. Meeks, in support of this great AUKUS partnership. Again, this measure deserves our unanimous support.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to enthusiastically support H.R. 1093, a bill that will identify key parts of our Nation's system of export controls that should be amended and expedited to achieve the goals of the new Australia-U.K.-U.S. trilateral security agreement which, as the bill states, will ``contribute to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.''

Mr. Speaker, I salute and thank Chairman McCaul, Ranking Member Meeks, and the members and staff of the House Foreign Affairs Committee for moving swiftly in the wake of last week's extraordinary joint appearance of President Biden, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, publicly revealing our three nations' commitment to a specific, executable pathway to bolster much-needed deterrence in support of an international rules-based order, which today is increasingly under stress.

Mr. Speaker, I had the honor to join these leaders on March 13 at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego for this historic announcement. As was noted repeatedly, it marked the first time since 1958 that the U.S. and the U.K. pledged to share critical technologies with another country.

In addition to sharing nuclear propulsion technology to recapitalize Australia's submarine fleet, the three governments also committed to sharing other security capabilities, including quantum computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and hypersonics.

Pooling these advanced capabilities will enhance our three nations' capability to protect maritime freedom of navigation and aviation, which have been the pillars of peaceful coexistence in the commons of the seas and the skies since the end of World War II.

To achieve the goals of the AUKUS plan, it will require all three countries to use laser-like focus to remove any barriers that might occur from our system of export controls that are not aligned with this new enhanced alliance.

Admiral Harry Harris, former commander of Indo-Pacific Command and former Ambassador to South Korea, said it best at a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing on the contested environment in the Indo- Pacific: ``I can't emphasize enough how important it is to get through this export control issue with Australia. We could have every good intention in the world, but it will falter if we become bound up by our own regulation and our own regulatory policy.''

Mr. Speaker, this bill heeds that call by directing the State Department to inventory any and all administrative and statutory barriers to AUKUS implementation and report that back to Congress within 60 days. This is exactly what Congress needs to do.

Mr. Speaker, I will end by foot stomping the extraordinary bipartisan support that AUKUS enjoys in all three governments and was on full display last week in San Diego. Both the majority and opposition parties in the U.K. and Australia are rock solid in support of this agreement, and tonight's bill is a strong signal of bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress.

Indeed, in the last Congress, we overwhelmingly passed the first-ever congressional action related to AUKUS by authorizing Australian submariners to begin joint training at the moored training ship facility in Charleston, South Carolina, and those sailors are here today. Building on that effort, it is of utmost importance that we continue our efforts in Congress and identify opportunities to smoothly implement AUKUS.

Mr. Speaker, as the Australian Prime Minister very well described a week ago last Monday:

A new chapter in the relationship between Australia, the

United States, and the United Kingdom is about to begin; a

friendship built on our shared values, our commitment to

democracy, and our common vision for a peaceful and

prosperous future.

Mr. Speaker, that is a vision worth pursuing, and that is why I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and his staff for working collectively on this bipartisan bill at this very important time. Clearly, making sure that we are working collectively together with one voice on this serious issue is of utmost importance to all of us in the United States of America.

The Biden administration, in coordination with Australia and the U.K., recently formalized the trilateral security partnership known as AUKUS, which aims to strengthen shared defense priorities in the Indo- Pacific. This new security framework represents an important step forward to the United States and the Indo-Pacific, and for strengthening our shared capabilities in the strategic competition defining our world today and for years to come.

Within this broader AUKUS agreement, Pillar 2 advances military capabilities with the intent of developing and enhancing joint capabilities between Australia, the U.K., and the United States to improve security and interoperability in the region. One aspect of this pillar is improving and synchronizing processes related to arms exports and sharing of sensitive defense technologies between participants. This includes encouraging and advising our partners on how to strengthen the regulatory frameworks to enable closer cooperation while maintaining appropriate safeguards.

H.R. 1093 requires the State Department to report to Congress on its efforts toward implementation of the advanced capabilities pillar of AUKUS, including International Traffic in Arms Regulations and improvements necessary in partner country regulations to enable secure and successful implementation.

As the United States looks to build on this important shared security partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom within the AUKUS framework, I am proud, again, to co-lead this bipartisan initiative with Chairman McCaul to ensure we move forward in a meaningful way.

As we engage in strategic competition, sharing our defense technologies and capabilities in a safe, secure, and regulated manner with our partners is absolutely critical. Therefore, I encourage my colleagues, all of my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney), my friend from HASC.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Connecticut.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1093 is an important bipartisan measure which requires the State Department to report to Congress on its efforts toward implementation of the advanced capabilities pillar of AUKUS and improvements necessary in partner country regulations to enable secure and successful implementation.

As we look to build on and implement our shared security partnerships with Australia and the United Kingdom encapsulated within the AUKUS framework, I am proud to co-lead this bipartisan framework with Chairman McCaul.

In this strategic competition, the most important of our era, sharing our defense technologies and capabilities in a safe, secure, and regulated manner will only make us all stronger and more united.

Mr. Speaker, I hope that all of my colleagues will join me in support of this very important bipartisan bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on March 22, 2023, I missed votes on the House Floor. Had I been present, I would have voted: YEA on Roll Call No. 144, To direct the Secretary of State to submit to Congress a report on implementation of the advanced capabilities pillar of the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, H.R. 1093, and YEA on Roll Call No. 145, to Amend the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 to require periodic reviews and updated reports relating to the Department of State's Taiwan Guidelines, H.R. 1159.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present for rollcall No. 144, the vote today on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 1093, I would have voted ``yea.''

Additionally, had I been present for rollcall No. 145, the vote on H.R. 1159, a bill to amend the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 to require periodic reviews and updated reports relating to the Department of State's Taiwan Guidelines, I would have voted ``yea.''