BOISE, Idaho – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement on the Biden-Harris Administration’s decision to finally certify that the United Kingdom and Australia have regulatory systems comparable to the United States:
“It’s been nearly three years since AUKUS was announced, and the Biden-Harris Administration has just now decided to certify that our closest allies, the United Kingdom and Australia, have regulatory systems comparable to ours. That means there were three years of wasted time that could have been avoided if the executive branch started working on a licensing exemption when it first announced AUKUS.
“While the Biden-Harris Administration has yet to share with Congress the interim final International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) rule, or its accompanying excluded technology list, I nonetheless plan to conduct vigorous oversight of its use to ensure that AUKUS is implemented according to the lofty goals with which it was announced.
“Good ideas are only as good as the will to implement them. Our inaction only rewards China, which is not suffering from the same self-imposed paralysis of the Biden-Harris Administration. Moving forward, I hope the State and Defense Departments will move more quickly to push AUKUS forward and deliver results.”
Background:
In May 2023, Senator Risch introduced the TORPEDO Act, legislation to enable cooperation with the United Kingdom and Australia on advanced defense and other controlled technologies and hold the administration to account on implementation of the AUKUS agreement.
In July 2023, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed AUKUS legislation that was included in a State Department authorization package. It laid out a prudent path forward to aiding Australia in the acquisition of nuclear powered, conventionally armed submarines and facilitated innovation and collaboration between the defense industries of the AUKUS partners.
Also in July 2023, Risch published an op-ed in Defense News highlighting the need for the United States to ease defense regulations for allies in order to ensure AUKUS is successful.
In September 2023, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on AUKUS where Risch emphasized the need to move faster to implement Pillar 2 or risk showing us to be an unreliable ally and signal that we are fundamentally unserious about competing with China.
In December 2023, AUKUS legislation was included in the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act.
In April 2024, Risch released a statement criticizing the Biden-Harris Administration’s decision not to certify the United Kingdom and Australia for ITAR exemptions under AUKUS.
In May 2024, Risch sent a letter to President Biden asking the administration to certify the United Kingdom and Australian export control systems as comparable to those of the United States and to follow through on implementing Pillar 2 of AUKUS.
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