U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin welcomed his Australian counterpart Peter Dutton to the Pentagon Wednesday for a meeting centered on bilateral issues, and the importance of the U.S. - Australian Alliance. Secretary Austin reinforced to Dutton that the United States will never forget that twenty years ago, on September 11, Australia invoked, for the first time in its history, the collective defense article of the ANZUS Treaty and thanked the Australian minister for his country's support and contributions in Afghanistan.