II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1471 To bolster the AUKUS partnership, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 4, 2023 Mr. RISCH (for himself and Mr. HAGERTY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To bolster the AUKUS partnership, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Truncating Onerous Regulations for Partners and En- 5 hancing Deterrence Operations (TORPEDO) Act of 6 2023’’. 7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 8 this Act is as follows: 9 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. Sec. 3. Findings. Sec. 4. Statement of policy. Sec. 5. Department of State personnel and resources. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1471.IS S1471 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1471 IS Sec. 6. Reporting requirements. Sec. 7. Exemption for license requirements for export of defense items to the United Kingdom and Australia. Sec. 8. United States Munitions List. Sec. 9. Open general license for the export, reexport, transfer, and retransfer of certain defense articles to Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom under ITAR. Sec. 10. License exception for export, reexport, and in-country transfer of items on Commerce Control List to or between Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom under Export Administration Regula- tions. Sec. 11. Treatment of national technology and industrial base as domestic source under Defense Production Act of 1950. Sec. 12. Expedited release of advanced technologies to Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom through the Foreign Military Sales pro- gram. Sec. 13. Anticipatory disclosure policy for Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Sec. 14. Report on AUKUS strategy. Sec. 15. Australia, United Kingdom, and United States submarine security training. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 3 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 4 mittees’’ means— 5 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 6 the Committee on Appropriations, and the 7 Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; 8 and 9 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 10 Committee on Appropriations, and the Com- 11 mittee on Armed Services of the House of Rep- 12 resentatives. 13 (2) AUKUS; AUKUS PARTNERSHIP.—The terms 14 ‘‘AUKUS’’ and ‘‘AUKUS partnership’’ means the 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1471.IS S1471 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1471 IS trilateral security partnership between the United 1 States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, which 2 includes the following two pillars: 3 (A) Pillar One of AUKUS is focused on 4 developing a pathway for Australia to acquire 5 conventionally armed, nuclear powered sub- 6 marines. 7 (B) Pillar Two of AUKUS is focused on 8 enhancing trilateral collaboration on advanced 9 defense capabilities to include hypersonic and 10 counter hypersonic capabilities, quantum tech- 11 nologies, undersea technologies, and artificial 12 intelligence. 13 (3) AUKUS PARTNER.—The term ‘‘AUKUS 14 partner’’ refers to a member of AUKUS. 15 (4) DEFENSE ARTICLE; DEFENSE SERVICE.— 16 The terms ‘‘defense article’’ and ‘‘defense service’’ 17 have the meanings given those terms in section 47 18 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2794). 19 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 20 Congress makes the following findings: 21 (1) The United States has entered into a period 22 of intense strategic rivalry with China that includes 23 military competition on a scale unseen in genera- 24 tions. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1471.IS S1471 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1471 IS (2) The perpetuation of a military balance of 1 power in the Indo-Pacific favorable to the United 2 States and its allies and partners can no longer be 3 assumed as China continues to invest massive re- 4 sources in its military. 5 (3) China has undertaken a nuclear breakout, 6 fields the world’s largest navy, and is fielding a fully 7 modernized air force. 8 (4) North Korea remains an urgent and gath- 9 ering threat as it fields an increasingly diverse and 10 advanced nuclear and missile force backed by a mas- 11 sive conventional army. 12 (5) Iran continues to pursue a nuclear weapons 13 capability while fomenting unrest in the Middle East 14 and beyond. 15 (6) While China remains the pacing threat for 16 the United States, Russia’s unprovoked and brutal 17 invasion of Ukraine makes clear that multiple dissat- 18 isfied powers are coalescing into an informal bloc de- 19 signed to challenge the existing United States-led 20 global order. 21 (7) United States efforts to help Ukraine de- 22 fend itself against Russian aggression and strength- 23 en Taiwan’s ability to resist the coercion of the Chi- 24 nese Communist Party have exposed the production 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1471.IS S1471 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1471 IS constraints inherent in the United States defense in- 1 dustrial base. 2 (8) The capacity limitations of the United 3 States defense industrial base require urgent remedy 4 to include a renewed examination of burden sharing 5 roles with United States allies. 6 (9) To meet this comprehensive challenge to 7 American interests, we must act at the speed of rel- 8 evance to expand the resilience and capacity of our 9 defense industrial base. United States allies should 10 be full partners in this effort and the AUKUS part- 11 nership is a necessary first step to share the respon- 12 sibility of perpetuating the existing rules-based 13 order. 14 (10) The security partnership between Aus- 15 tralia, the United Kingdom, and the United States 16 (referred to as the ‘‘AUKUS partnership’’) is meant 17 to bolster capability of the United States and allies 18 in the Indo-Pacific and beyond through technology 19 sharing, cooperation, and defense exports. 20 (11) The AUKUS partnership’s focus on con- 21 ventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines and 22 advanced capabilities, known respectively as Pillars 23 One and Two, rightly centers on cooperation at the 24 highest end of security and geostrategic competition. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1471.IS S1471 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1471 IS (12) Pillar One, while bold, is complex, highly 1 contingent and unlikely to produce additive sub- 2 marine capability in the Indo-Pacific until the 3 2030s. 4 (13) The Pillar One initiative will rely on the 5 expertise developed by the United States and United 6 Kingdom in operating their submarine fleets to 7 bring an Australian capability into service at the 8 earliest achievable date. 9 (14) Pillar Two proposes that AUKUS partners 10 will also deepen cooperation and integration on ad- 11 vanced defense technologies to include hypersonic 12 missiles, space technology, artificial intelligence, 13 quantum technologies and additional undersea capa- 14 bilities. 15 (15) Pillar Two, if executed with the vision de- 16 scribed by the three allies in the AUKUS announce- 17 ment of September 2021, offers the potential to 18 produce meaningful capability and increase indus- 19 trial capacity during the current decade. 20 (16) Pillar Two can also expand and build resil- 21 ience across the supply chain of the AUKUS part- 22 ners. 23 (17) However, certain statutory components of 24 the United States export control and regulatory sys- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1471.IS S1471 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1471 IS tem are overly cumbersome for industries in the 1 United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, 2 delaying and complicating the United States from 3 achieving national security objectives at the speed of 4 relevance. 5 (18) Australia and the United Kingdom have 6 legal, regulatory, and technology control regimes 7 that are sufficiently comparable to those of the 8 United States. 9 (19) United States technology controls and ex- 10 port licensing decisions must balance the relatively 11 low risk of compromise that exists across all three 12 AUKUS partners regulatory regimes against the re- 13 quirements to respond at the speed of relevance to 14 the rapid military advances made by the Chinese 15 People’s Liberation Army. 16 (20) In order to implement the AUKUS agree- 17 ment and realize the value of increased cooperation 18 between the United States, the United Kingdom, 19 and Australia, the United States must ensure co- 20 operation is fostered, not inhibited, by the United 21 States regulatory system. 22 (21) The United States export control system, 23 encompassing both the International Traffic and 24 Arms Regulations and the Export Administration 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1471.IS S1471 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1471 IS Regulations, is largely based on a bilateral govern- 1 ment-to-government relationship, is not optimized 2 for a trilateral arrangement, and must reflect the 3 new era of allied partnership continuing evolution of 4 United States export control regulation. 5 (22) The Department of State, in concert with 6 the Department of Defense, the Department of 7 Commerce, and other relevant United States agen- 8 cies, should clearly communicate to our AUKUS 9 partners any United States requirements to address 10 matters related to the technology security and export 11 control measures of Australia and the United King- 12 dom. 13 (23) Further, the Department of State, in con- 14 cert with the Department of Defense, the Depart- 15 ment of Commerce, and other relevant United States 16 agencies, should work to reduce barriers to defense 17 innovation, cooperation, trade, production, and 18 sustainment with the governments and industry 19 partners of the United Kingdom and Australia. 20 (24) These barriers include the overuse of ‘‘no 21 foreign nationals’’ (NOFORN) and Controlled Un- 22 classified Information (CUI) determinations that in- 23 hibit collaboration among AUKUS partners in deter- 24 mining requirements, design, development, acquisi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1471.IS S1471 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1471 IS tion, testing, operation, and sustainment of capabili- 1 ties designed to be interoperable. 2 (25) The successful implementation of the 3 AUKUS partnership requires regulatory and licens- 4 ing changes on the part of all AUKUS partner coun- 5 tries and the continued enhancement of the export 6 control and technology security regimes of all three 7 nations. 8 (26) If AUKUS realizes its potential, it will set 9 a precedent and incentivize similar agreements with 10 other close United States allies, which will be nec- 11 essary if we are to prevail in the long-term competi- 12 tion with China, Russia and its partners. 13 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 14 It is the policy of the United States— 15 (1) to support a transformation and expansion 16 of our already close cooperation on a range of de- 17 fense and security issues with the United Kingdom 18 and Australia, including enhancing cooperation in 19 the development and fielding of advanced commer- 20 cial and defense capabilities and in pursuing deeper 21 integration of our defense industrial bases and sup- 22 porting supply chains; 23 (2) to use AUKUS to enhance trilateral co- 24 operation across the submarine fleets of the partner 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1471.IS S1471 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1471 IS countries and to support Australian efforts to ac- 1 quire nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal 2 Australian Navy; 3 (3) to reassess, and as needed revise, existing 4 regulatory and legal regimes, to include licensing, 5 technology release and contracting procedures to 6 meet the objectives outlined in the September 15, 7 2021, announcement of the AUKUS partnership; 8 (4) to reinvigorate burden sharing with United 9 States allies as a key component of adopting a sus- 10 tainable long-term strategy to compete with China, 11 Russia, and other revanchist dissatisfied powers; and 12 (5) to modernize the United States export con- 13 trol system to reflect the new era of cooperation with 14 partners and allies, incorporating commercial and 15 defense technology that preserve, and enhance our 16 way of life. 17 SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF STATE PERSONNEL AND RE- 18 SOURCES. 19 (a) SENIOR ADVISOR AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT 20 FOR AUKUS.— 21 (1) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary of State 22 shall appoint a senior advisor at the Department of 23 State to oversee and coordinate the implementation 24 of the AUKUS agreement by the Department of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1471.IS S1471 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1471 IS State (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Senior Advi- 1 sor’’). 2 (2) REPORTING.—The senior advisor shall re- 3 port directly to the Secretary of State. 4 (3) RESPONSIBILITIES.—It shall be the respon- 5 sibility of the senior advisor— 6 (A) to coordinate AUKUS implementation 7 between relevant Department of State bureaus, 8 directorates, and offices; 9 (B) to represent the Department of State 10 on matters relating to AUKUS in the inter- 11 agency process; 12 (C) to engage with relevant government 13 and industry entities in the United Kingdom 14 and Australia; and 15 (D) to issue guidance, including promul- 16 gating regulations, in order to reduce barriers 17 to defense collaboration, innovation, trade, and 18 production with the Governments and industry 19 partners of the United States, United Kingdom, 20 and Australia. 21 (4) SALARY.—The annual salary of the senior 22 advisor described in this section shall not exceed sal- 23 aries authorized in the Office of Personnel Manage- 24 ment’s Executive pay scale. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1471.IS S1471 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1471 IS (b) DIRECTORATE OF DEFENSE TRADE CONTROLS 1 STAFFING.—Section 45 of the State Department Basic 2 Aut [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]