House Bill Would Authorize Nuclear Submarine Transfer to Australia

House Democrats introduced a bill last week that they said will help facilitate the transfer of two Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the U.S. to Australia as part of the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership. The AUKUS Undersea Defense Act would also authorize “the training of Australian private sector defense personnel,” the lawmakers said.

This legislation “will enhance our collective undersea defense capabilities and interoperability and pave the way for critical training and collaboration between the US and Australia as we face common security challenges,” said Rep. Greorgy Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who introduced the bill alongside Reps. Ami Bera of Maryland and Joe Courtney of Connecticut.

The bill deals only with the first pillar of the AUKUS agreement, which is aimed at helping Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines. Other lawmakers have introduced legislation -- such as the Torpedo Act (see 2305050063) -- aimed at implementing pillar two of the deal, which is meant to improve collaboration between the three countries across a range of critical technologies.