Implementation of the Advanced Capabilities Pillar of the Trilateral Security Partnership Between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Floor Speech

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Mr. COURTNEY. 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.''

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Mr. COURTNEY. 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.

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Mr. COURTNEY. 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.

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