Reps. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Gabi Amo (D-R.I.) introduced legislation Aug. 22 to exempt entities already approved for AUKUS work from another Foreign Military Sales requirement, matching a bill introduced in the Senate in June.
The bill, dubbed the AUKUS Improvement Act, would specifically exempt the entities previously vetted by the State Department as AUKUS authorized users from the Third Party Transfer requirement for Foreign Military Sales (FMS), a U.S. program that allows foreign countries to purchase military services, such as articles or training, from the U.S. through an agreement with both governments.
McCaul argued this kind of legislation will further help deter China as it is working with Iran, Russia and North Korea “to outpace the free world’s defense production base and shape the future of warfare.”
“This smart, bipartisan, bicameral legislation will make it easier for our nation’s defense industrial bases to work together to build the next generation defense technologies needed to counter a rising China. I’m grateful to Chairman McCaul for his willingness to work across the aisle to get this done and to Senators Pete Ricketts and Tim Kaine for their leadership on this bill in the Senate,” Amo added in a statement.
McCaul’s callout to Kaine (D-Va.) and Ricketts (R-Neb.) refers to their version of this bill previously introduced to the Senate in June. At the time, Kaine said it was based on provisions he had tried to get into the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act.
McCaul is the chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-chair of the Friends of Australia Caucus while Amo is the vice ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily first published this article.
