Introduce and support bipartisan legislation to strengthen AUKUS cooperation and licensing for defense technology sharing.

Ricketts and Sen. Tim Kaine introduced the UNLOCK AUKUS Act to strengthen AUKUS cooperation and licensing for defense technology sharing.

Ricketts backed legislation to improve AUKUS cooperation and make defense technology sharing licensing easier.

Ricketts, Kaine Introduce Bill to Bolster AUKUS Cooperation
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Sponsor: Sen. Ricketts, Pete [R-NE] (Introduced 06/18/2025). Latest Action: Senate - 10/30/2025 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 235. This bill has the status Introduced.

Congress.gov shows Ricketts introduced the AUKUS Improvement Act of 2025 and that the bill advanced out of committee to the Senate calendar, satisfying the promise to introduce relevant AUKUS legislation even though it had not become law by 2026-07-01.

delivered same_term A for effort

S.2130 - AUKUS Improvement Act of 2025
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Mr. Ricketts (for himself, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Coons, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Sullivan, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Bennet, Ms. Rosen, and Mr. Peters) introduced the following bill. The bill states it is to make improvements to the AUKUS partnership and includes sections on Arms Export Control Act flexibility and elimination of certification requirements for commercial technical assistance or manufacturing license agreements involving Australia and the United Kingdom.

The bill text directly matches the promise: Ricketts introduced a bipartisan AUKUS bill with provisions addressing defense article transfers and licensing/certification requirements for Australia and the United Kingdom.

delivered same_term A for effort

Text - S.2130 - AUKUS Improvement Act of 2025
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 97%

Sponsor: Sen. Ricketts, Pete [R-NE] | Cosponsor statistics: 10 current - includes 7 original. Party of Cosponsor: Democratic [5], Republican [5]. Original cosponsors included Sen. Kaine [D-VA], Sen. Cornyn [R-TX], Sen. Coons [D-DE], Sen. Fischer [R-NE], Sen. Murphy [D-CT], Sen. Scott [R-FL], and Sen. Sullivan [R-AK].

Congress.gov confirms the legislation was bipartisan, with an even split of Democratic and Republican cosponsors and bipartisan original cosponsors.

delivered same_term A for effort

Cosponsors - S.2130 - AUKUS Improvement Act of 2025
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Public Law 118-31 includes 'Subtitle B--Matters Relating to the AUKUS Partnership.' It defines AUKUS as the enhanced trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and says Pillar Two focuses on enhancing trilateral collaboration on advanced defense capabilities. Section 1343 adds AUKUS defense trade cooperation export control exemptions; section 1344 establishes expedited review of export licenses for advanced technologies to Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

The enacted FY2024 NDAA contained AUKUS cooperation and defense technology licensing provisions, establishing that legislation of the kind promised became law during Ricketts's Senate service.

partial unknown

Public Law 118-31 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 91%

Question: On the Conference Report (Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 2670). Measure Number: H.R. 2670 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024). Vote Result: Conference Report Agreed to. Vote Counts: YEAs 87, NAYs 13. Ricketts (R-NE), Yea.

Ricketts voted for the conference report on the FY2024 NDAA, which included AUKUS technology transfer and licensing provisions. This supports the 'support' portion of the promise, though the clearest fulfillment of the 'introduce' portion came later with S.2130.

partial unknown A for effort

U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote 118th Congress - 1st Session, Vote 343
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 93%