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Washington, DC – This week, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul spoke on the House Floor in support of passing H.R. 1093, To direct the Secretary of State to submit to Congress a report on implementation of the advanced capabilities pillar of the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The bill passed the House 393-4.

WATCH HERE

 

– Chairman McCaul delivered the following remarks –

Mr. Speaker,

I move that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill H.R. 1093.

I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks, and to include extraneous material on this measure.

Thank you.  I yield myself such time as I may consume.

As China continues its aggressive posture in the Indo-Pacific, strengthening partnerships to deter Chairman Xi are more important than ever.

I want to thank to my friend, Ranking Member Meeks, for standing with me in support of this bipartisan measure.

The Australia-United Kingdom-United States Partnership – known as AUKUS – is a long-term security pact to protect peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

The recent announcement on AUKUS implementation only addressed one piece of this partnership – cooperation on conventionally-armed nuclear-powered submarines.

But there is more to this partnership.

The second pillar of AUKUS is cooperation on advanced capabilities.

The purpose is to collaborate on high tech research and the application of systems such as hypersonics, undersea capabilities, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, and much more.

This legislation focuses on ensuring the State Department is authorizing technology transfers quickly to fully support implementation of this vital pillar.

We are facing a generational challenge from the Chinese Communist Party.

 We must bring all tools to bear in our effort to counter Chairman Xi’s attempts to disrupt the global balance of power.

 With AUKUS, our three nations can achieve the shared strategic goal of defending the Indo-Pacific region, while maintaining our technological and military superiority.

This bill presses the State Department to take action and account for our arms transfers with the UK and Australia, so that we can address any hurdles and act seamlessly now, and not wait for a time of crisis or even war.

For these reasons, I am proud of my bipartisan bill, which will begin to address numerous long-standing challenges in our arms exports to our closest allies.

And, potentially serve as a roadmap for working with other close allies and partners.

I want to thank Ranking Member Meeks, his team, and our members for working with my staff, to ensure that this bipartisan bill in support of a new long-term security pact with our allies becomes a reality.

This bill deserves our unanimous support.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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