[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 133 (Friday, August 1, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5304-S5305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3523. Mr. KAINE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 2296, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2026 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle E of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1265. SUPPORT FOR AUKUS PARTNERSHIP.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) In September, 2021, the leaders of Australia, the 
     United Kingdom, and the United States announced a trilateral 
     security partnership (commonly known as ``AUKUS'') to 
     strengthen the ability of each country to support common 
     security and defense interests and build upon longstanding 
     and ongoing bilateral ties.
       (2) For more than a century, the countries of AUKUS have 
     stood shoulder-to-shoulder, along with other allies and 
     partners, to help sustain peace, stability, and prosperity 
     around the world, including in the Indo-Pacific region, and 
     believed in a world that protects freedom and respects human 
     rights, the rule of law, the independence of sovereign 
     states, and the rules-based international order.
       (3) The United States has brought into force a mutual 
     defense agreement with Australia, which was modeled on the 
     1958 bilateral mutual defense agreement with the United 
     Kingdom, for the sole purpose of facilitating the transfer of 
     naval nuclear propulsion technology to Australia.
       (4) Congress, on a strong bipartisan basis, endorsed the 
     AUKUS partnership by authorizing the transfer of Virginia-
     class submarines from the United States under section 1352 of 
     the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 
     (22 U.S.C. 10431).
       (5) As part of the AUKUS partnership, Australia has already 
     contributed $550,000,000 out of a commitment of 
     $3,000,000,000 for the expansion of the submarine industrial 
     base of the United States.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the AUKUS partnership will promote deeper information 
     and technology sharing, foster deeper integration of security 
     and defense-related science and technology, the industrial 
     base, and the supply chains of each country, and 
     significantly deepen cooperation on a range of security and 
     defense capabilities;
       (2) the AUKUS partnership is integral to the national 
     security of the United States, will increase the capabilities 
     of the United States and allies in the undersea domain of the 
     Indo-Pacific region, and will lead to the development of 
     cutting-edge military capabilities while the transfer of 
     conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines to 
     Australia--
       (A) will position the United States and its allies to 
     better deter aggression by the People's Republic of China in 
     the Indo-Pacific region; and
       (B) will be safely implemented in accordance with the 
     highest non-proliferation standards in alignment with--
       (i) safeguards established by the International Atomic 
     Energy Agency; and
       (ii) the Additional Protocol to the Agreement between 
     Australia and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the 
     application of safeguards in connection with the Treaty on 
     the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, done at Vienna 
     September 23, 1997;
       (3) working with the United Kingdom and Australia to 
     develop and provide joint advanced military capabilities to 
     promote security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region 
     will have tangible impacts on the effectiveness of the United 
     States military worldwide; and
       (4) it is vital to the national security of the United 
     States to expand the capabilities of the submarine industrial 
     base of the United States, and AUKUS is a significant 
     component of the expansion.
       (c) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United 
     States--
       (1) to continue to fully support the AUKUS partnership and 
     the commitment to transfer Virginia-class nuclear-powered 
     submarines to Australia at the earliest practicable 
     opportunity;
       (2) to fully support the provision of sufficient and 
     appropriate funds to enhance the domestic submarine 
     industrial base and increase the production of Virginia-class 
     nuclear-powered submarines to meet the goals and objectives 
     of the AUKUS partnership;
       (3) for the Department of Defense and the Department of 
     State to continue to engage and consult with the Committee on 
     Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate before making any decision to change 
     the AUKUS partnership;
       (4) for the President to reaffirm the AUKUS partnership in 
     all aspects; and

[[Page S5305]]

       (5) for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State 
     to engage in immediate and continuing consultations with the 
     Government of Australia and the Government of the United 
     Kingdom regarding review of any part of the AUKUS partnership 
     by the United States.
                                 ______