WASHINGTON — With the full plan for the trilateral security pact known as AUKUS unveiled earlier this year, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have wasted no time in crafting legislation directed at shaping both the deal itself as well as the broader security relationship between the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.
Those provisions range across both sides of Congress and different committees of jurisdiction, on topics stretching from cooperation on hypersonic weapons to disentangling the legal obstacles that prevent the United States from transferring Virginia-class submarines to Australia.
All these provisions remain in different stages of the legislative process and must receive affirmative votes by lawmakers as well as a presidential signature before they become law, but taken collectively the sampling of legislation reflects the bipartisan support the deal has rallied among an increasingly more partisan Capitol Hill.
As of publication, the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense has not published a draft version of its annual spending legislation and House appropriators do not have any AUKUS-specific language in their bill.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee: The Legal Hoops For Transferring Submarines
A key part of the AUKUS agreement includes the United States transferring three-to-five Virginia-class fast attack submarines to Australia as an interim capability while the three countries work to design and build SSN-AUKUS.
However, lawmakers and administration officials have repeatedly warned there are a number of obstacles in current laws that would prevent the United States from doing as much.
Provisions to begin disentangling those barriers have passed initial hurdles in the congressional foreign affairs committee as well as the armed services committees.
“This amendment in the State Authorization Act of 2023 provides Australia with a conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability and streamlines the export of U.S. military technology, while ensuring that technology is safeguarded from adversarial espionage,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a July 13 statement.
However, as Breaking Defense reported, there is a burgeoning debate among lawmakers about how much the domestic submarine industrial base should be grown before granting the necessary transfer authorities to the White House.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee successfully amended the language to its version of the State Department Authorization Act, which is still working its way to the Senate floor for a full vote.
The SFRC’s counterpart, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is working through similar legislation regarding the sale of Virginia-class submarines to Australia as well as several other measures aimed at amending the Arms Export Control Act in support of AUKUS. The committee is scheduled to mark up that language on July 26.
House Armed Services Committee: Hypersonic Weapons Testing
With the AUKUS agreement in mind, House lawmakers in their defense policy bill are seeking information from the Pentagon about the United States’ ability to collaborate with Australia on developing hypersonic weapons.
“The committee notes with interest joint work by the United States and Australia predating AUKUS on development of hypersonic capabilities, but is concerned that available test infrastructure in the United States is not able to keep up with the test cadence required to accelerate development of hypersonic capabilities,” according to a committee report accompanying its legislation.
Technology sharing beyond the nuclear-powered submarines is a key element of what is known as AUKUS Pillar II, which has drawn attention from countries outside the submarine-focused trio of nations.
Lawmakers are interested in options for overcoming programmatic delays through utilizing Australian ranges, potential for joint development programs as well as challenges posed by ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) “export controls, or other legal measures that currently impede collaboration between the United States and Australia on hypersonic development, or that could interfere with options to expand it.”
Notably, ITAR is also one of the current laws that some in Congress are worried may inhibit the administration’s ability to transfer advanced submarine technology to Australia.
The HASC’s version of the NDAA passed committee early this month and is waiting on negotiations to begin with the Senate.
Senate Armed Services Committee: The Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan…But For Australia?
Alongside building the submarines themselves, Australia will also have to build up its own industrial base and shipyards to support those submarines. Lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee highlighted that issue and are seeking information from the defense secretary and the Navy on how the US might assist the Aussies with that task.
“The committee notes the importance of ensuring appropriate attention is given to the Australian
submarine industrial base, particularly Australian shipyards, to ensure that it is prepared to meet the demands of maintaining these advanced systems,” the committee wrote in its report.
The US Navy since 2018 has been implementing a 20-year-long plan to revamp its four public shipyards, dubbed the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan. That effort is slated to cost more than $20 billion and has already had some stumbling blocks. But lawmakers are interested in what lessons learned the US could provide to Australia based on the work done so far.
The language was included in Senate Armed Services Committee’s base bill that was filed on the Senate floor earlier this month. The whole Senate is debating the NDAA this week.
Senate Armed Services Committee: Setting Up Shop At Home
The Pentagon is a massive office and AUKUS is a massive undertaking. It might seem rooted in bureaucracy, but Senate lawmakers, whose jobs partly center around oversight, want to see the Pentagon designate a senior civilian official for overseeing “activities relating to the security partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.”
“The provision would also require the secretary of defense to submit an implementation plan outlining DOD efforts related to AUKUS to the appropriate committees of Congress,” the provision adds.
Having that senior official in place would not only give lawmakers an individual to put in the hot seat if things go south, but it also offers the public — and the press — an individual to watch for updates on plans as they develop.
Similar to the previous amendment, the language is included in the version of the NDAA being debated on the Senate floor this week.