The return of security cooperation between the United States and New Zealand to a high level has forged a new security partnership between the two countries. The two nations, which fought together in many of America's wars and established the Australia-New Zealand-United States (ANZUS) alliance in 1951, are once again close security partners in the Asia Pacific and beyond. New Zealand's nuclear policies in the mid-1980s that prohibited nuclear-armed or nuclear-powered ships from entering New Zealand ports led the United States to restrict bilateral defense cooperation with New Zealand. For many years this difference largely defined the relationship between the two nations. Recent developments, while not restoring the formal alliance relationship, have greatly bolstered practical aspects of the two nation's bilateral defense and security cooperation as well as reaffirmed an overall close United States bilateral relationship with New Zealand. The extent to which the nuclear issue had been put into the past was demonstrated when President Obama invited Prime Minister John Key to attend the Nuclear Summit in April 2010 and stated that New Zealand had "well and truly earned a place at the table. " New Zealand was the only non-nuclear state invited to the conference. Several organizations and groups, some involving Members of Congress, help promote bilateral ties between the United States and New Zealand, including the United States-New Zealand Council in Washington, DC, and its counterpart, the New Zealand-United States Council in Wellington; the Friends of New Zealand Congressional Caucus and its New Zealand parliamentary counterpart; and the more recent Pacific Partnership Forum. The U.S.-N.Z. Council was established in 1986 to promote cooperation between the two countries and works with government agencies and business groups to this end. The bipartisan Friends of New Zealand Congressional Caucus was launched by former Representatives Jim Kolbe, Ellen Tauscher, and 52 other Members in February 2005. The caucus has included over 60 Members of Congress. Representative Kevin Brady has since replaced Kolbe as the Republican co-chair of the caucus. The Democrat co-chair, Representative Rick Larsen, replaced Ellen Tauscher when she left the House. The first Partnership Forum was held in April 2006. The next Partnership Forum meeting is scheduled for May 2013. The Wellington Declaration of 2010 was a key turning point in United States-New Zealand relations. It built on ongoing improvements in the relationship to enable a reorientation of the bilateral relationship that has put aside past differences to focus on the present and future. The degree to which the Wellington Declaration was able to move the relationship forward is attested to by the 2012 Washington Declaration on Defense Cooperation, which consolidated the developing relationship and opened the way for further enhanced strategic dialogue and defense cooperation. This positive momentum in the relationship has been maintained by subsequent developments such as then U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta's September 2012 visit to New Zealand where he lifted a ban on New Zealand naval ship visits. New Zealand, like many countries in its region, has both benefited economically by the rise of China while at the same time found itself in a period of geopolitical uncertainty that has resulted from China's rise. Continuing to develop bilateral security ties with New Zealand within this geopolitical context will likely require continued attention by the United States. New Zealand's military commitment to Afghanistan did much to change U.S. perceptions of New Zealand. New Zealand's commitment of regular troops and other assistance in support of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan, as well as the commitment of Special Forces, demonstrated New Zealand's value not only in political or diplomatic terms but also as a military partner in the field. These deployments were instrumental in positively affecting perceptions in Washington and underlining the value of partnering with New Zealand in the future. President Obama described New Zealand as "an outstanding partner" during Prime Minister Key's visit to Washington in July 2011. This warming of relations added ballast to the relationship and moved forward a process for contemplating how the two nations could enhance their cooperation in a Pacific and broader context. The Wellington Declaration of November 2010 established in a public way a new strategic partnership between the United States and New Zealand. It stated that "our shared democratic values and common interests" will guide the two nations' collective action. The Declaration is viewed as putting to rest past differences, which had been fading for some time, to focus on areas of ongoing and future cooperation between the two nations. The agreement reaffirmed their close ties and established a framework of "strategic partnership to shape future practical cooperation and political dialogue." The agreement also noted that the United States and New Zealand are Pacific nations in addition to emphasizing shared interests and values: Our governments and peoples share a deep and abiding interest in maintaining peace, prosperity and stability in the region, expanding the benefits of freer and more open trade, and promoting and protecting freedom, democracy and human rights. The agreement pointed to the need to address regional and global challenges including enhanced dialogue on regional security in the Pacific. New Zealand and the United States actively support Pacific island countries (PICs) by helping them patrol their Exclusive Economic Zones. Pacific island states have few naval or air assets of their own to patrol these vast maritime zones. New Zealand's upgraded P-3K2 Orion aircraft and Offshore Patrol Vessels provide it with enhanced capabilities to conduct aerial surveillance and enforcement in the Pacific. New Zealand supports the work of the Forum Fisheries Agency, which is an agency of the main regional grouping of Pacific island states, the Pacific Islands Forum, and the Te Vaka Toa Arrangement which provides for enhanced collaboration between New Zealand and PICs in the areas of fisheries protection. The region-wide Niue Treaty also seeks to strengthen regional fisheries protection. New Zealand works with the United States, as well as with Australia and France, in providing maritime surveillance of the region, particularly in fisheries. This group is known as the Quadrilateral Defense Coordination Group, or Quad. A World Bank study has projected that strengthening fisheries management could yield PICs an additional U.S. $60 million in revenue annually. The U.S. Coast Guard Ship Rider Program works with Forum Fisheries Agency Member states to help them enforce control of their fisheries. The Ship Rider Program seeks to "build capacity and strengthen interoperability among Pacific Island countries" to deal with illegal fishing. The Program puts law enforcement officers from various Pacific Island nations on U.S. Coast Guard ships, which can then serve as platforms for boarding commercial vessels found in Pacific Island nations' exclusive economic zones. The United States and New Zealand also participated in Operation Kurukuru , . the single largest monitoring control and surveillance operation conducted in the region to date. New Zealand has also joined the United States in the annual U.S.-led Pacific Partnership exercise. The annual humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise is aimed at increasing interoperability in the Pacific among U.S., Australian, New Zealand, and French forces. Bilateral relations were further enhanced in May and June 2012 by the New Zealand government's hosting a number of events to mark the remembrance of U.S. forces that were based in New Zealand during World War II. Exercises Alam Halfa and Bold Alligator are further evidence of the removal of barriers to bilateral defense exercises between the United States and New Zealand. U.S. troops travelled to New Zealand in June 2012 to work with their New Zealand counterparts in exercise Alam Halfa , which provided soldiers from both countries an opportunity to exchange knowledge on tactics and procedures and set a precedent for future training opportunities. Bold Alligator 2012 was held in January and February 2012 off the coast of Virginia, North Carolina and Florida and included participants from nine countries including New Zealand. The significant development of bilateral defense cooperation that followed the Wellington Declaration of 2010, as discussed above, was consolidated and substantially extended by the Washington Declaration of June 2012. The Washington Declaration does much to provide a framework for the new strategic partnership for which the Wellington Declaration called. The Washington Declaration, signed by Secretary of Defense Panetta and the Key government's Minister of Defence Coleman, reaffirmed the increasingly close bilateral relationship by setting principles of cooperation while also discussing purposes, scope, and implementation of expanded defense and security cooperation. The agreement marks a return to close security cooperation. Minister Coleman described the Declaration as foreshadowing greater cooperation in maritime security, counterterrorism, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief in the region while also promoting peace support initiatives. Coleman stated, "This high level arrangement recognizes the significant security cooperation that exists between New Zealand and the United States within the context of our independent foreign policy, and seeks to build upon that cooperation in the years ahead." The agreement does much to codify many of the ongoing bilateral arrangements that have been re-established since the Wellington Declaration while also providing a framework for moving defense cooperation forward. New Zealand's return to increasingly close defense cooperation with the United States is not limited to disaster relief and humanitarian assistance. For the first time in 28 years New Zealand defense forces joined with 21 other nations' militaries in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercise hosted by the U.S. Pacific Fleet and held off Hawaii. The June to August 2012 exercise involved 42 ships, 6 submarines, over 200 aircraft, and 25,000 defense personnel. New Zealand sent HMNZS Te Kaha and HMNZS Endeavour , a rifle platoon, an Orion P-3K aircraft, and headquarters staff to participate in RIMPAC. Commander Joint Forces New Zealand Major General Dave Gawn stated, "Participation in exercises like RIMPAC also enables the Defence Force to prepare for a variety of contingencies to ensure that New Zealand can play its part effectively in working with other nations to reduce conflict and improve stability in the Pacific and around the world." During his September 2012 visit to New Zealand then-U.S. Defense Secretary Panetta lifted a ban on New Zealand naval ship visits to U.S. ports.