II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4279 

To require the Department of State and the Department of Defense to 

engage with the Government of Japan regarding areas of cooperation 

within the Pillar Two framework of the AUKUS partnership, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 8, 2024 

Mr. ROMNEY (for himself, Mr. KAINE, Mr. RISCH, and Mr. HAGERTY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require the Department of State and the Department 

of Defense to engage with the Government of Japan 

regarding areas of cooperation within the Pillar Two 

framework of the AUKUS partnership, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coordinating AUKUS 

5 Engagement with Japan Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 4279 IS

1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

5 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

6 Senate; and 

7 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

8 the Committee on Armed Services of the House 

9 of Representatives. 

10 (2) AUKUS OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘AUKUS of11 ficial’’ means a government official with responsibil12 ities related to the implementation of the AUKUS 

13 partnership. 

14 (3) AUKUS PARTNERSHIP.—The term 

15 ‘‘AUKUS partnership’’ has the meaning given that 

16 term in section 1321 of the National Defense Au17 thorization Act of Fiscal Year 2024 (22 U.S.C. 

18 10401). 

19 (4) COMMERCE CONTROL LIST.—The term 

20 ‘‘Commerce Control List’’ means the list maintained 

21 pursuant to part 774 of title 15, Code of Federal 

22 Regulations (or successor regulations). 

23 (5) STATE AUKUS COORDINATOR.—The term 

24 ‘‘State AUKUS Coordinator’’ means the senior advi25 sor at the Department of State designated under 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 4279 IS

1 section 1331(a)(1) of the National Defense Author2 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (22 U.S.C. 

3 10411(a)(1)). 

4 (6) DEFENSE AUKUS COORDINATOR.—The term 

5 ‘‘Defense AUKUS Coordinator’’ means the senior ci6 vilian official of the Department of Defense des7 ignated under section 1332(a) of the National De8 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (22 

9 U.S.C. 10412(a)). 

10 (7) PILLAR TWO.—The term ‘‘Pillar Two’’ has 

11 the meaning given that term in section 1321(2)(B) 

12 of the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal 

13 Year 2024 (22 U.S.C. 10401(2)(B)). 

14 (8) UNITED STATES MUNITIONS LIST.—The 

15 term ‘‘United States Munitions List’’ means the list 

16 set forth in part 121 of title 22, Code of Federal 

17 Regulations (or successor regulations). 

18 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

19 It is the sense of Congress that— 

20 (1) the United States should continue to 

21 strengthen relationships and cooperation with allies 

22 in order to effectively counter the People’s Republic 

23 of China; 

24 (2) the United States should capitalize on the 

25 technological advancements allies have made in 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 4279 IS

1 order to deliver more advanced capabilities at speed 

2 and at scale to the United States military and the 

3 militaries of partner countries; 

4 (3) the historic announcement of the AUKUS 

5 partnership laid out a vision for future defense co6 operation in the Indo-Pacific among Australia, the 

7 United Kingdom, and the United States; 

8 (4) Pillar Two of the AUKUS partnership envi9 sions cooperation on advanced technologies, includ10 ing hypersonic capabilities, electronic warfare capa11 bilities, cyber capabilities, quantum technologies, un12 dersea capabilities, and space capabilities; 

13 (5) trusted partners of the United States, the 

14 United Kingdom, and Australia, such as Japan, 

15 could benefit from and offer significant contributions 

16 to a range of projects related to Pillar Two of the 

17 AUKUS partnership; 

18 (6) Japan is a treaty ally of the United States 

19 and a technologically advanced country with the 

20 world’s third-largest economy; 

21 (7) in 2022, Australia signed a Reciprocal Ac22 cess Agreement with Japan to facilitate reciprocal 

23 access and cooperation between the Self-Defense 

24 Forces of Japan and the Australian Defence Force; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 4279 IS

1 (8) in 2023, the United Kingdom signed a Re2 ciprocal Access Agreement with Japan to facilitate 

3 reciprocal access and cooperation between the Self4 Defense Forces of Japan and the Armed Forces of 

5 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern 

6 Ireland; 

7 (9) in 2014, Japan relaxed its post-war con8 straints on the export of non-lethal defense equip9 ment, and in March 2024, Japan further refined 

10 that policy to allow for the export of weapons to 

11 countries with which it has an agreement in place on 

12 defense equipment and technology transfers; 

13 (10) in 2013, Japan passed a secrecy law obli14 gating government officials to protect diplomatic and 

15 defense information, and in February 2024, the 

16 Cabinet approved a bill creating a new security 

17 clearance system covering economic secrets; and 

18 (11) in April 2024, the United States, Aus19 tralia, and the United Kingdom announced they 

20 would consider cooperating with Japan on advanced 

21 capability projects under Pillar Two of the AUKUS 

22 partnership. 

23 SEC. 4. ENGAGEMENT WITH JAPAN ON AUKUS PILLAR TWO 

24 COOPERATION. 

25 (a) ENGAGEMENT REQUIRED.— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 4279 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the State 

3 AUKUS Coordinator and the Defense AUKUS Co4 ordinator shall jointly engage directly, at a technical 

5 level, with the relevant stakeholders in the Govern6 ment of Japan— 

7 (A) to better understand the export control 

8 system of Japan and the effects of the reforms 

9 the Government of Japan has made to that sys10 tem since 2014; 

11 (B) to determine overlapping areas of in12 terest and the potential for cooperation with 

13 Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United 

14 States on projects related to the AUKUS part15 nership and other projects; 

16 (C) to identify areas in which the Govern17 ment of Japan might need to adjust the export 

18 control system of Japan in order to guard 

19 against export control violations or other re20 lated issues in order to be a successful potential 

21 partner in Pillar Two of the AUKUS partner22 ship; and 

23 (D) to assess the Government of Japan’s 

24 implementation and enforcement of export con25 trols on sensitive technologies with respect to 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 4279 IS

1 the People’s Republic of China, including the 

2 implementation of export controls on semicon3 ductor manufacturing equipment. 

4 (2) CONSULTATION WITH AUKUS OFFICIALS.— 

5 In carrying out the engagement required by para6 graph (1), the State AUKUS Coordinator and the 

7 Defense AUKUS Coordinator shall consult with rel8 evant AUKUS officials from the United Kingdom 

9 and Australia. 

10 (b) BRIEFING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 30 

11 days after the date of the engagement required by sub12 section (a), the State AUKUS Coordinator and the De13 fense AUKUS Coordinator shall jointly brief the appro14 priate congressional committees on the following: 

15 (1) The findings of that engagement. 

16 (2) A strategy for follow-on engagement. 

17 SEC. 5. ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL FOR COOPERATION 

18 WITH JAPAN ON AUKUS PILLAR TWO. 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact20 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State, with the concur21 rence of the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the ap22 propriate congressional committees a report assessing the 

23 potential for cooperation with Japan on Pillar Two of the 

24 AUKUS partnership, detailing the following: 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 4279 IS

1 (1) Projects the Government of Japan is en2 gaged in related to the development of advanced de3 fense capabilities under Pillar Two of the AUKUS 

4 partnership. 

5 (2) The average and median length of time it 

6 takes to approve licenses to export products on the 

7 United States Munitions List and the Commerce 

8 Control List to Japan. 

9 (3) Areas of potential cooperation with Japan 

10 on advanced defense capabilities within and outside 

11 the scope of Pillar Two of the AUKUS partnership. 

12 (4) The Secretaries’ assessment of the current 

13 export control system of Japan, including— 

14 (A) the procedures under that system for 

15 protecting classified and sensitive defense, dip16 lomatic, and economic information; 

17 (B) the effectiveness of that system in pro18 tecting such information; and 

19 (C) such other matters as the Secretaries 

20 consider appropriate. 

21 (5) Any reforms by Japan that the Secretary of 

22 State considers necessary before considering includ23 ing Japan in the privileges provided under Pillar 

24 Two of the AUKUS partnership. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 4279 IS

1 (6) Any recommendations regarding the scope 

2 and conditions of potential cooperation with Japan 

3 under Pillar Two of the AUKUS partnership. 

4 (7) A strategy and forum for communicating 

5 the potential benefits of and requirements for engag6 ing in projects related to Pillar Two of the AUKUS 

7 partnership with the Government of Japan. 

8 (8) Any views provided by AUKUS officials 

9 from the United Kingdom and Australia on issues 

10 relevant to the report, and a plan for cooperation 

11 with such officials on future engagement with the 

12 Government of Japan related to Pillar Two of the 

13 AUKUS partnership. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS