Clarksville Times

WASHINGTON— On May 26, Rep. Mark Green gave the following statement at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing entitled, Modernizing U.S. Arms Exports and a Stronger AUKUS. 

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this important hearing today and for your work to strengthen America’s alliances during a critical point in our nation’s history.  

“The Australia, United Kingdom, and United States or AUKUS partnership represents one of the most critical strategic frameworks for countering the Chinese Communist Party in the Indo-Pacific and around the globe. Working alongside our close allies, the United Kingdom and Australia, is a golden opportunity to roll back the gains the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has made not only in the Indo-Pacific, but in other critical domains of competition such as cyber or financial markets. As we celebrated Victory in Europe Day this week, it was a timely reminder of what can be achieved when we work together with freedom-loving partners. However, without consistent effort and effective diplomacy, there is no way AUKUS can live up to this potential. 

“The Biden administration wants to take a victory lap for signing this agreement but doesn’t seem willing to make the effort to ensure we are leveraging it in the fight against the CCP. 

“American leadership is the most essential component of this alliance, but how can our partners trust us when they see how we treat our Taiwanese allies, where we have a $19 billion backlog in weapon system deliveries while they experience an existential threat to their way of life?

“I recognize the inherent challenges present in achieving the goals of AUKUS, many of which stem from bureaucratic inefficiencies and outdated statutes that don’t move at the pace of the threat or technology. I thank our witnesses for their commitment to tackling these issues head-on and working with us to develop actionable solutions. I also thank my colleagues on this committee for making Arms Export Reform a priority. 

“I would like to address the issues of International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and ITAR exemptions. Last week, I traveled to the United Kingdom, and I met with, among others, the Defense Minister. He raised a concern that Canada is granted a full ITARs exemption while the U.K., our greatest ally, is not. He cited a specific example of a U.K. company that has technology that would advance our hypersonic missile capability, but if the company sells to the U.S. under ITAR, that technology becomes exclusively controlled by the United States. That company has chosen not to sell that technology to the United States to help us with our capability. He also said compliance costs have him spending half a billion pounds every year. He specifically said that half a billion pounds could buy American equipment for him if he didn’t have to do that with compliance. The U.K. wants an ITAR exemption equivalent to Canada.”

“As Winston Churchill noted regarding our World War II alliance: “There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them.”

“It is long past time that the Departments of State and Defense got serious about making good on our promises to our allies to ensure America never has to fight alone.” 

Watch Rep. Green’s full remarks here.

Original source can be found here.