{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://courtney.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-courtney-statement-aukus-ministerial-announcement", "Rep. Courtney Statement on AUKUS Ministerial Announcement", "2023-12-01", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Joe Courtney", "C001069", "courtney.house.gov", "courtney", "https://courtney.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) issued the following statement following a joint statement from Lloyd J. Austin, U.S. Secretary of Defense, the Honourable Richard Marles MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense, Australia, and the Right Honourable Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom, on action steps on the trilateral AUKUS security mission.\n\n\u201cToday\u2019s meeting between U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, and Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps, demonstrates the clear progress our three nations have made in executing the AUKUS \u201cOptimal Pathway\u201d announced in March of this year and reaffirms the leaders\u2019 ironclad commitment to ensuring peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.\n\n\u201cThe announcement is tangible evidence that the trilateral mission is moving forward to recapitalize Australia\u2019s submarine fleet with conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines at the earliest date possible while upholding the highest standards of stewardship and transparency through continued and constant communication with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The announcement also provides a clear framework for future Australian submariners to continue their important education at Nuclear Power School as well as U.S. Submarine School at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, CT, deepening the relationship between Connecticut and Australia.\n\n\u201cThe leaders were also right to acknowledge the importance of the AUKUS enabling legislation that is before the U.S. Congress \u2018to ensure the success\u2019 of the mission. I will continue to press my colleagues to pass enabling legislation as part of the FY24 annual defense bill.\n\n\u201cThe leaders\u2019 commitment to safely leveraging the expertise and resources of each ally in the AUKUS security agreement will also ensure we have the advanced technologies to strengthen our military capabilities and streamline our ability to secure stability and prosperity in the region without prohibitive roadblocks.\n\n\u201cI commend U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, and U.K. Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps, for continuing to achieve milestones at a cadence that demonstrates their unwavering commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.\u201d\n\nThe announcement is also coupled with the State Department\u2019s decision to clear a potential $2 billion sale of AUKUS-related training and training devices to Australia in support of enhancing their workforce\u2019s capacity to safely operate and sustain their future submarine program.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://courtney.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-courtney-statement-aukus-ministerial-announcement"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5911748632788658, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}