§10411 Aukus Partnership Oversight and Accountability Framework

Summary

Requires the Secretary of State to pick a single Senior Advisor at the Department of State to run and coordinate how the AUKUS partnership is carried out. That person must report to the Secretary, cannot keep another job at the same time, and the Secretary must tell all State bureaus that the Senior Advisor leads AUKUS work. The Senior Advisor must coordinate across offices on things like arms exports, nonproliferation, deterrence, security help, and relations with the Indo‑Pacific and the United Kingdom; lead AUKUS work in the interagency process; lead diplomatic talks to explain how AUKUS will improve Indo‑Pacific security; and regularly update Congress on items such as Australia’s purchase of conventionally armed, nuclear‑powered submarines, joint development of advanced military capabilities, and any new AUKUS programs. The Secretary must staff the Senior Advisor with employees who have the right expertise. The Secretary must also set up a Task Force on AUKUS, led by the Senior Advisor, that meets regularly, keeps a single list of defense transactions under AUKUS, creates a system to track companies or people who threaten military technology security, and runs an industry forum open to non‑traditional and foreign contractors. Staff for the Senior Advisor will also support the Task Force and no extra staff may be added. The Secretary and Senior Advisor must give several reports to the named congressional committees (House Foreign Affairs; House Appropriations; Senate Foreign Relations; Senate Appropriations). Not later than 180 days after December 22, 2023, or 90 days after the advisor is named (whichever is earlier), the Secretary must tell Congress how many people, what skills, and what duties support the Senior Advisor and Task Force. Not later than 120 days after December 22, 2023, the Secretary must report planned work and detailed licensing statistics for the prior two calendar years and the current year (average/median review times, foreign military sales review times, and counts of denied or proviso approvals by year). The report must also show voluntary disclosures that led to violations of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (including unauthorized access, poor physical or cyber security, unauthorized retransfers or re‑exports, and U.S. persons in foreign companies giving defense services without authorization) for the prior two years. The Senior Advisor must send an annual report starting one year after December 22, 2023, covering problems that threaten AUKUS goals and efforts to fix them; National Disclosure Policy Committee action on any classification for anticipatory disclosure for Australia and the U.K.; State Department investigations into violations under section 2778; whether changes to exemptions under subsection (l) of section 2778 are likely or needed; and changes in average and median State licensing review times. The Senior Advisor and Task Force end 7 years after December 22, 2023, but the Secretary may renew them once for 4 more years after notifying those congressional committees.