22 U.S.C. § 10411 — AUKUS partnership oversight and ac-

Page 2334 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE § 10411 (§§ 1351–1354) of subtitle B of title XIII of div. A of Pub. L. 118–31, enacting subchapter III of this title and amending section 8680 of Title 10, Armed Forces] may be cited as the ‘AUKUS Submarine Transfer Authoriza- tion Act’.’’ SUBCHAPTER I—ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS § 10411. AUKUS partnership oversight and ac- countability framework (a) Senior Advisor (1) Designation (A) In general The Secretary of State shall designate a senior advisor at the Department of State (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Senior Advisor’’), who shall oversee and coordinate the implementation of the AUKUS partner- ship. (B) Qualification The Senior Advisor may be an individual serving within the existing leadership of the Department of State but that individual may not hold any other position concur- rently while serving as the Senior Advisor. (C) Reporting The Senior Advisor shall report directly to the Secretary of State. (D) Guidance The Secretary of State shall issue guid- ance to all bureaus of the Department of State specifying the Senior Advisor’s re- sponsibility for coordinating the implemen- tation of all AUKUS partnership-related ac- tivities. (2) Duties The duties of the Senior Advisor shall be to— (A) coordinate efforts to implement the AUKUS partnership across relevant bureaus, directorates, and offices of the Department of State involved in matters such as arms exports, non-proliferation, deterrence, secu- rity assistance, and Indo-Pacific and United Kingdom relations; (B) serve as the lead within the Depart- ment of State on matters relating to the AUKUS partnership in the interagency proc- ess; (C) lead diplomatic efforts related to the AUKUS partnership with other governments to explain how the partnership will enhance security and stability in the Indo-Pacific re- gion; and (D) consult regularly with the appropriate congressional committees and keep such committees fully and currently informed on all aspects of the AUKUS partnership, to in- clude— (i) Australia’s acquisition of convention- ally armed, nuclear-powered submarines; (ii) jointly developing advanced military capabilities; and (iii) any new programs under the AUKUS partnership. (3) Personnel to support the Senior Advisor The Secretary of State shall ensure that the Senior Advisor is adequately staffed with re- spect to the Senior Advisor’s duties described in paragraph (2) through details, or assign- ment of employees of the Department of State, with expertise consistent with such du- ties. (b) Task Force (1) Establishment The Secretary of State shall establish a task force, to be known as the Task Force on AUKUS (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’), which— (A) shall meet regularly to coordinate in- ternally on issues relating to the implemen- tation of the AUKUS partnership; and (B) shall be led by the Senior Advisor. (2) Duties The duties of the Task Force may include— (A) ensuring that responsible offices main- tain a unified list of all defense-related transactions that have taken place under the AUKUS partnership; (B) ensuring the establishment of a frame- work for gathering, maintaining, and ex- changing information relating to companies, individuals, or entities that are compro- mising security of military technology, de- fense articles, and defense services ex- changed under the AUKUS partnership; and (C) establishing an AUKUS industry forum for industry stakeholders, including non-tra- ditional defense contractors (as such term is defined in section 3014 of title 10), that will be open for the participation of foreign in- dustry involved in the AUKUS partnership. (3) Personnel to support the Task Force The personnel assigned to support the Senior Advisor under subsection (a)(3) shall also sup- port the Task Force. The Secretary of State may not assign any additional personnel to support the Task Force. (c) Notification Not later than 180 days after December 22, 2023, or not later than 90 days after the date on which a senior advisor at the Department of State is designated as the Senior Advisor, whichever occurs earlier, the Secretary of State shall notify the appropriate congressional com- mittees of the number of personnel, relevant ex- pertise of such personnel, and duties of such per- sonnel directly supporting the work of the Sen- ior Advisor and the offices supporting the Task Force. (d) Report Not later than 120 days after December 22, 2023, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes the following: (1) A detailed description of the planned work of the Senior Advisor and the Task Force on matters related to the implementation of the AUKUS partnership. (2) For the preceding two calendar years and the current calendar year— (A) the average and median times for the United States Government to review appli- cations for licenses to export defense arti- cles or defense services to persons, corpora- Page 2335 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE § 10412 tions, and the governments (including agen- cies and subdivisions of such governments, including official missions of such govern- ments) of Australia or the United Kingdom; (B) the average and median times for the United States Government to review appli- cations from Australia and the United King- dom for foreign military sales beginning from the date Australia or the United King- dom submitted a letter of request that re- sulted in a letter of acceptance; and (C) the number of applications from Aus- tralia and the United Kingdom for licenses to export defense articles and defense serv- ices that were denied or approved with pro- visos, listed by year. (3) For each of the preceding two calendar years, the number of voluntary disclosures re- sulting in a violation of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations enumerated under section 2780 of this title or involving pro- scribed countries listed in section 126.1 of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, by persons, corporations, and the governments (including agencies and subdivisions of such governments, including official missions of such governments) of Australia or the United Kingdom, including information with respect to— (A) any instance of unauthorized access to technical data or defense articles; (B) inadequate physical or cyber security; (C) retransfers or re-exports without au- thorization; and (D) employees of foreign companies that are United States persons that provide de- fense services without authorization. (e) Annual report Not later than one year after December 22, 2023, and annually thereafter, the Senior Advisor shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes— (1) a detailed description of any issues that representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, or Australia have identified that threaten or conflict with the stated goals of the AUKUS partnership and any efforts to resolve these issues; (2) information on the National Disclosure Policy Committee with respect to adoption of a classification category relating to any antic- ipatory disclosure policy for Australia and the United Kingdom; (3) a detailed description of Department of State investigations into violations under sec- tion 2778 of this title or related provisions that involve AUKUS partners or entities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Aus- tralia; (4) details on whether regulatory changes to exemptions authorized under subsection (l) of section 2778 of this title are likely or nec- essary within the next year; and (5) an assessment of the change in the aver- age and median Department of State licensing review times for the current reporting year based on the average and median licensing re- view times from the prior calendar year, in- cluding review times across the interagency for export licenses issued to Australia or the United Kingdom. (f) Sunset (1) In general Subject to paragraph (2), the position of the Senior Advisor and the Task Force shall ter- minate on the date that is 7 years after De- cember 22, 2023. (2) Renewal The Secretary of State may renew the posi- tion of the Senior Advisor and the Task Force for 1 additional period of 4 years beginning after the date on which the Secretary notifies the appropriate congressional committees of the renewal. (g) Appropriate congressional committees de- fined In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres- sional committees’’ means— (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. (Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XIII, § 1331, Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 502.) § 10412. Designation of senior official for Depart- ment of Defense activities relating to, and implementation plan for, the AUKUS part- nership (a) Designation of senior official Not later than 90 days after December 22, 2023, the Secretary of Defense shall designate a senior civilian official of the Department of Defense who shall be responsible for overseeing Depart- ment of Defense activities relating to the AUKUS partnership. (b) Plan (1) In general Not later than 90 days after December 22, 2023, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Administrator for Nuclear Security and the Secretary of State, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report containing an implementation plan outlining Department of Defense efforts relating to the AUKUS partnership. (2) Elements The plan required by paragraph (1) shall in- clude the following: (A) Timelines and major anticipated mile- stones for the implementation of the AUKUS partnership. (B) An identification of dependencies of such milestones on defense requirements that are— (i) unrelated to the AUKUS partnership; and (ii) solely within the decisionmaking re- sponsibility of Australia or the United Kingdom. (C) A consideration of the implications of the plan on the industrial base with respect to— (i) the expansion of existing United States submarine construction capacity to fulfill United States, United Kingdom, and Australia requirements;