Washington, D.C. - Last Friday, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal faulting the Biden-Harris administration for jeopardizing the trilateral security agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia (AUKUS) by maintaining unnecessary barriers for cooperation on research and development in advanced defense technology. Chairman McCaul called on the administration to lift these restrictions to comply with congressional intent, deter China and maintain a peaceful Indo-Pacific.

Biden-Harris Undercut Aukus, Their One Foreign-Policy Success

By Chairman Michael McCaul

The Wall Street Journal

August 30, 2024

Joe Biden's most significant foreign-policy accomplishment is Aukus, the September 2021 deal between the U.S., U.K. and Australia. But the Biden-Harris administration is putting it in jeopardy.

Along with allowing the U.S. to sell conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, Aukus includes an agreement to increase cooperation on research and development in advanced technologies with military applications. …

To clear the way for this critical new security deal, I ensured the inclusion of bipartisan language in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act providing that 'exports and transfers of … defense articles and services' between Aukus partners are to be exempt from 'licensing or other approval requirements,' with limited exceptions.

After four months of delays, the Biden-Harris administration has finally issued these congressionally mandated exemptions for Australia and the U.K. Disappointingly, it also included a lengthy Excluded Technologies List, effectively creating a new, burdensome regulatory framework for approving defense transfers to Aukus partners.

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If the administration insists on defying Congress and maintaining a lengthy Excluded Technologies List for Aukus, it risks handing a victory to communist China. …

It is up to the Biden-Harris administration to meet our partners' commitment and comply with Congress's clear intent by shortening the Excluded Technologies List to only those required by statute or treaty. …

This administration's foreign policy has so far been defined by the chaotic and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan and the wars in Europe and the Middle East that followed. By unleashing Aukus's full potential, the administration can mitigate some of the damage caused by its past failures and enable America and its allies to cement true deterrence.

Read the full op-ed here.

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