U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) led a bipartisan group of five lawmakers in requesting that President Joe Biden provide an update on the administration’s plans to implement the 2021 Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) agreement.
The AUKUS partnership is intended to strengthen the ability of each government to support security and defense interests, building on long-standing and ongoing bilateral ties, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
“The collaboration across the U.S. government over the last several months has enabled significant progress in the development of the legal authorities necessary for AUKUS implementation, and we are eager to see those authorities be signed into law this year,” wrote Sen. Wicker and his colleagues in an Oct. 12 letter sent to Biden.
The senators noted that to realize the full potential of AUKUS, the American defense industrial base will require significant resources to improve submarine construction and maintenance rates.
“The volume of submarine tonnage the industrial base must produce to meet the Navy’s own requirements and fully implement the AUKUS agreement will require historic and sustained investments in the submarine workforce and supplier network,” they added. “To achieve such capacity, Congress must have a comprehensive understanding of the current status of the submarine industrial base, as well as the future resource investments necessary to meet our nation’s requirements.”
Sen. Wicker, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, was joined in signing the letter by his committee colleagues, including U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA).
They pointed out that while the Submarine Industrial Base (SIB) 2025 study from the U.S. Navy and the director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation has been completed, the administration doesn’t plan to share its findings with Congress until the President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2025 is released, sometime early next year.
“However, understanding the scope of the generational investment required for the SIB’s viability is critical for development of AUKUS-authorizing legislation this year and for robust congressional oversight as the United States charts the future course of AUKUS,” Sen. Wicker and the committee members wrote.
With that in mind, they asked that the administration provide the cost estimates contained within the SIB 2025 study to Congress no later than Oct. 31 to inform congressional consideration of any AUKUS-associated legislation.
“It is critical that the administration articulate a detailed plan for instituting necessary enhancements to the submarine industrial base,” concluded the senators. “This is a crucial first step in posturing the United States to effectively address existing security challenges in the Indo-Pacific, and essential for fully realizing the potential of the AUKUS agreement.”