Maintaining American Superiority By Improving Export Control Transparency Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. RADEWAGEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6614) to amend the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 relating to licensing transparency, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 6614

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Maintaining American Superiority by Improving Export Control Transparency Act''. SEC. 2. LICENSING TRANSPARENCY.

Section 1756 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4815) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``(e) Report.--

``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, and not less frequently than every 90 days thereafter, the Secretary, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on license applications, enforcement actions, and other requests for authorization for the export, reexport, release, and in- country transfer of items controlled under this part to covered entities.

``(2) Elements.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall include, with respect to the 90 days preceding the previous 90-day period, the following:

``(A) For each license application or other request for authorization, the name of the entity submitting the application (both parent company as well as the subsidiary directly involved), a brief description of the item (including the Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) and level of control, if applicable), the name of the end- user, the end-user's location, a value estimate, decision with respect to the license application or authorization, and the date of submission.

``(B) The date, location, and result of site inspections, monitoring, and enforcement actions to ensure compliance with United States export controls.

``(C) Aggregate statistics on all license applications and other requests for authorization as described in subparagraph (A).

``(D) For each license denial in which items in category EAR99 constitute at least 50 percent of the financial value of the license application, a list detailing what specific items are being denied a license.

``(3) Confidentiality of information.--The information required to be provided in the reports required by this subsection (other than the information required by paragraph (2)(C)) shall be exempt from public disclosure pursuant to section 1761(h)(1).

``(4) Definitions.--In this subsection--

``(A) the term `appropriate congressional committees' means--

``(i) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and

``(ii) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and

``(B) the term `covered entity' means any entity included on--

``(i) the list maintained and set forth in Supplement No. 4 to part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations; or

``(ii) the list maintained and set forth in Supplement No. 7 to part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations.''.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Maintaining American Superiority by Improving Export Control Transparency Act, introduced by my colleague from Texas (Mr. Jackson) along with Foreign Affairs Chairman McCaul.

Export controls are one of the most powerful tools we have to constrain China's military modernization and rebuke its severe human rights abuses.

Ultimately, the strength of our export control regime hinges on the ability to approve or deny a license to sell sensitive technology to China. That process is overseen by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, or BIS.

On multiple occasions, in response to persistent committee requests, BIS has provided the House Foreign Affairs Committee with licensing data--information on whether BIS approved or denied licenses to China.

The committee found that even for companies like SMIC and Huawei with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party and military, BIS rarely, if ever, denied a license.

This data has been essential to our committee's oversight efforts. This bill will ensure better oversight of the Commerce Department's export control policies and licensing practices.

Every 90 days, the Secretary of Commerce will submit a report to Congress on activities related to items affected by export control policies, including licenses granted to foreign persons and entities on the entity list.

This bill will finally give Congress the visibility it needs to conduct real oversight on licensing decisions and will help us assess where and how BIS is drawing the line on U.S. national security.

At the Foreign Affairs Committee markup, H.R. 6614 was adopted by a unanimous bipartisan vote of 43-0.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Maintaining American Superiority by Improving Export Control Transparency Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

I thank Chairman McCaul for his leadership in moving this bill through committee and to the floor. I also thank my bipartisan committee colleagues for their unanimous vote to ensure greater congressional oversight of export controls.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to vote in favor of H.R. 6614, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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