[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8289 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8289
To amend the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 to ensure expeditious
processing of license applications, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 15, 2026
Mr. Meeks (for himself and Mr. Issa) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 to ensure expeditious
processing of license applications, and for other purposes.
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 ``BIS Licensing Efficiency Act of
2026''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Section 1756(a)(2) of the Export Control Reform Act of
2018 (50 U.S.C. 4815(a)(2)) requires the Secretary of Commerce
to ensure that ``licensing decisions are made in an expeditious
manner, with transparency to applicants on the status of
license and other authorization processing and the reason for
denying any license or request for authorization''.
(2) Section 1756(b) of the Export Control Reform Act of
2018 (50 U.S.C. 4815(b)) expresses the sense of Congress that
``the Secretary should make best efforts to ensure that an
accurate, consistent, and timely evaluation and processing of
licenses or other requests for authorization to export,
reexport, or in-country transfer items controlled under this
subchapter is generally accomplished within 30 days from the
date of such license request''.
(3) Executive Order 12981 (61 Fed. Reg. 54079; relating to
administration of export controls), which was codified in
Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.),
stipulates that ``all license applications submitted under the
Act and the Regulations or any renewal of, or successor to, the
Export Administration Act and the Regulations, shall be
resolved or referred to the President no later than 90 calendar
days''.
(4) The Export Administration Regulations (parts 730-774 of
title 15, Code of Federal Regulations) stipulate that license
applications should be ``resolved or referred to the President
no later than 90 calendar days from the date of BIS's
registration of the license application''.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) long license delays at the Bureau of Industry and
Security of the Department of Commerce create uncertainty for
United States exporters and domestic manufacturers and can lead
to the loss of business to foreign companies, harming the
United States economy;
(2) efficient and predictable processing of export licenses
is critical to the competitiveness of United States technology
companies and the stability of global supply chains;
(3) United States technology and economic leadership
requires that the export controls system functions efficiently
and that license decisions are made in an expeditious manner;
and
(4) transparency regarding the efficiency and timeliness of
license reviews is necessary for effective Congressional
oversight of the export control system.
SEC. 4. LICENSING TIMELINE; LICENSING REVIEWS.
Section 1756 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C.
4815) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (g);
(2) in subsection (g), as so redesignated, in the header,
by striking ``report'' and inserting ``annual report on end use
checks''; and
(3) by inserting after subsection (d) the following new
subsections:
``(e) Licensing Timeline.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date on
which an application for a license under this section is
submitted, the Secretary should make a licensing decision and
notify the applicant of such decision.
``(2) Delayed application.--If no licensing decision is
made not later than 120 days after the date on which an
application for a license under this section was submitted, the
Secretary shall notify the applicant of the status of such
application, the reason such a decision has not been made, and
request any additional information necessary to make such a
decision.
``(f) Licensing Reviews.--Licensing officers with relevant subject
matter expertise shall play an essential role in conducting license
reviews of all applications for a license under this section.''.
SEC. 5. QUARTERLY REPORT ON LICENSE PROCESSING.
Section 1756 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C.
4815), as amended by section 1, is further amended by inserting after
subsection (g) the following new subsection:
``(h) Quarterly Report on License Processing.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this subsection, and not less frequently than
quarterly thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report detailing the
processing of license applications and other requests for
authorization for the export, reexport, release, and in-country
transfer of items controlled under this section.
``(2) Elements.--
``(A) Initial report.--The first report required by
paragraph (1) shall include, with respect to the
preceding one-year period, the following:
``(i) The total number of license
applications submitted.
``(ii) On the date on which such report is
submitted, the total number of license
applications in the below statuses on the:
``(I) Received.
``(II) On hold (i.e., on hold
without action).
``(III) Referred to another
department or agency.
``(IV) Signed off by a Licensing
Officer.
``(V) Countersigned.
``(VI) Validated.
``(iii) A breakdown of the total number of
licenses approved, denied, and returned without
action.
``(iv) The average and median processing
time for all license applications, in calendar
days from the date on which an application is
first submitted to the date on which a decision
on an application is communicated to the
applicant.
``(v) The average and median processing
time of license applications broken out by--
``(I) end-user country (for license
applications with multiple end-user
countries listed, such applications
shall be included in the calculation of
each country);
``(II) Export Control
Classification Number (`ECCN') (for
license applications with multiple
ECCNs listed, such applications shall
be included in the calculation of each
ECCN); and
``(III) whether the license
application was for an export, re-
export, deemed export, or in-country
transfer.
``(vi) The total number of license
applications referred to--
``(I) the Department of State;
``(II) the Department of Defense;
or
``(III) the Department of Energy.
``(vii) The number of license applications
that remained pending for not less than 90
calendar days and a summary of the reasons for
such delays, including interagency referral,
pre-license check, or administrative backlog.
``(B) Subsequent reports.--Each subsequent report
required by paragraph (1) shall include, with respect
to the preceding quarter, the information described in
subparagraph (A)(i) through (A)(vii).
``(3) 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''.
SEC. 6. AUDIT AND REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States
shall commence an audit of the license review process of the Bureau of
Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce.
(b) Contents.--The audit required under subsection (a) should
analyze whether licensing decisions under the Export Control Reform Act
of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.) have been made in an expeditious
manner in the preceding calendar year consistent with the procedures
and timelines mandated by such Act and identify any bottlenecks that
may impact the timing of licensing decisions.
(c) Report.--Not later than one year after the enactment of this
Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
(1) submit a report with the findings from the audit
required by subsection (a) to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and
(2) post the report on a publicly available website of the
United States Government Accountability Office.
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