Export Control Enforcement and Enhancement Act
Floor Speech
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Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7151) to amend the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 to provide for expedited consideration of proposals for additions to, removals from, or other modifications with respect to entities on the Entity List, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 7151
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 ``Export Control Enforcement and Enhancement Act''. SEC. 2. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSALS FOR ADDITIONS TO, REMOVALS FROM, OR OTHER MODIFICATIONS WITH RESPECT TO ENTITIES ON THE ENTITY LIST.
Section 1754 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4813) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Expedited Consideration of Proposals for Additions to, Removals From, or Other Modifications With Respect to Entities on the Entity List.--
``(1) In general.--Any member of the End-User Review Committee may submit a proposal directly to the Committee requesting a vote of all members of the Committee for additions to, removals from, or other modifications with respect to the Entity List. A proposal to add an entity to the Entity List shall be made in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (3).
``(2) Consideration.--Subject to paragraph (4)(B), the End- User Review Committee shall vote to approve or disapprove a proposal submitted under paragraph (1) not later than 30 days after the date on which the proposal is submitted to the Committee.
``(3) Additional information.--The Chair of the End-User Review Committee, with the concurrence of the member of the Committee that submitted a proposal under paragraph (1), may suspend for an additional 15 days the time period specified in paragraph (2) with respect to consideration of the proposal if the Chair and the member determine that additional information is required in order make a determination with respect to the proposal, including the impact and effect of the proposal.
``(4) Additions to the entity list.--
``(A) In general.--An entity may be added to the Entity List if the End-User Review Committee by majority vote of its members has determined that the entity has engaged, is engaged, or is at risk of engaging in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.
``(B) Licensing policy.--
``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), there shall be in effect a policy of presumption of denial for all applications for a license to export, reexport, or in-country transfer any item subject to the Export Administration Regulations if an entity added to the Entity List under this subsection is or would be a party to a transaction with respect to which the application applies.
``(ii) Exception.--The licensing policy required by clause (i) shall not apply with respect an entity described in such clause if the members of the End-User Review Committee that voted to add the entity to the Entity List under this subsection agree by majority vote of such members to apply a different policy with respect to the entity for all or specific types of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations that would be in the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.
``(C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to limit or otherwise affect the escalation procedures described in part 750 of the Export Administration Regulations.
``(5) Administrative provisions.--
``(A) In general.--Each member of the End-User Review Committee shall have 1 vote with respect to matters described in this subsection. The chairperson of the Committee shall not have the authority to make determinations or override any voting decision with respect to such matters.
``(B) Suspension of voting period.--The chairperson of the End-User Review Committee may suspend the 30-day voting period described in paragraph (2) if the members of the Committee unanimously agree to postpone the vote.
``(C) Notice; implementing authority.--The chairperson of the End-User Review Committee shall notify the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration of all final decisions of the Committee with respect to additions to, removals from, or other modifications with respect to the Entity List under this subsection so that the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration may implement all such modifications.
``(6) Definitions.--In this subsection--
``(A) the terms `End-User Review Committee' and `Committee' mean--
``(i) the End-User Review Committee established under section 744.16(d) of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations; and
``(ii) any successor committee; and
``(B) the term `Entity List' means the list maintained by the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce and set forth in Supplement No. 4 to part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations, or successor regulations.''. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional commitees.--The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
(2) End-user review committee.--The term ``End-User Review Committee'' means--
(A) the End-User Review Committee established under section 744.16(d) of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations; or
(B) any successor committee.
(3) Export, reexport, and in-country transfer.--The terms ``export'', ``reexport'', and ``in-country transfer'' have the meanings given such terms in section 1742 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801).
(4) Entity list.--The term ``Entity List'' means the list maintained by the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce and set forth in Supplement No. 4 to part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations, or successor regulations.
(5) Export administration regulations.--The term ``Export Administration Regulations'' means the regulations set forth in subchapter C of chapter VII of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regulations.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 7151, the Export Control Enforcement and Enhancement Act.
The People's Republic of China is bent on supplanting the U.S. economically and militarily. To do so, it seeks to turn our strengths against us, using American ingenuity to fuel its own dangerous and nefarious ambitions.
The U.S. export control regime is an important tool that helps us guard against China's outright theft of the achievements of America's brilliant entrepreneurs, inventors, and thinkers. Export controls are also a powerful tool against adversaries like Iran and Russia, adversaries that rely on access to ill-gotten foreign technology to support their violent and destabilizing agendas.
China, Iran, and Russia have formed a new axis of evil to attack our national security interests and help each other circumvent U.S. export controls. They have created a massive network designed to maintain the flow of controlled Western technologies to dictatorships like Russia, Iran, and North Korea, with China at the center.
To disrupt and destroy this web of evasion, vigilantly updating and enforcing our export controls is more important today, Mr. Speaker, than ever before.
However, America is losing the fight to keep our most sensitive technologies out of enemy hands.
Advanced American tech is being used to advance China's hypersonic weapons program. It was found in the spy balloon that China sent over the continental U.S. last year, including directly over my home in St. Louis, Missouri, that collected data on our most sensitive military installations. It is turning up in Iranian drones and Russian military equipment.
In short, wherever our national security interests are at greatest risk, whether in People's Liberation Army laboratories or the military facilities of Iran and its proxies, our adversaries are exploiting vulnerabilities in our export control regime and using American products to gain an advantage.
The current export control regime is simply too slow and cumbersome to prevent Chinese and other companies from accessing sensitive technologies that can be used to give our adversaries a military edge.
My legislation on the floor today will give the Departments of State, Defense, and Energy greater ability to propose changes to the entity list, a roster of foreign companies, research institutions, and individuals who pose a serious national security risk to the United States and who are prohibited from purchasing sensitive American products.
Mr. Speaker, State, Defense, and Energy have deep expertise in the current threat landscape, and we should use that expertise to make sure that the entity list is comprehensive and accurate, and the bill makes sure that their recommendations are acted on rather than languishing in red tape by setting a 30-day clock to address proposed changes.
These reforms, Mr. Speaker, will make our export control regime agile and airtight, and they will give the United States the tools to fight back when our adversaries try to cheat the system.
I thank Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Meeks for working with me on this legislation.
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Mrs. WAGNER. In closing, we must act decisively to ensure that our export controls are robust, effective, timely, and adaptive to the threats that we face in today's world.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bipartisan piece of legislation, H.R. 7151, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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