[Senate Hearing 117-317]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      S. Hrg. 117-317


              NOMINATIONS OF ALAN F. ESTEVEZ, THEA D. 
               ROZMAN KENDLER, ALEXIA MARIE GABRIELLE 
               LATORTUE, AND GRAHAM S. STEELE

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                              COMMITTEE ON
                   BANKING,HOUSING,AND URBAN AFFAIRS
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                                   ON

                            NOMINATIONS OF:

  ALAN F. ESTEVEZ, OF MARYLAND, TO BE UNDER SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR 
                         INDUSTRY AND SECURITY

                               __________

   THEA D. ROZMAN KENDLER, OF MARYLAND, TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF 
                                COMMERCE

                               __________

  ALEXIA MARIE GABRIELLE LATORTUE, OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, TO BE 
                  ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY

                               __________

   GRAHAM S. STEELE, OF CALIFORNIA, TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE 
                                TREASURY

                               __________

                           SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

                               __________

  Printed for the use of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                                Affairs
                                
                                
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                Available at: https: //www.govinfo.gov /
                
                                __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                
 
            COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS

                     SHERROD BROWN, Ohio, Chairman

JACK REED, Rhode Island              PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey          RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama
JON TESTER, Montana                  MIKE CRAPO, Idaho
MARK R. WARNER, Virginia             TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts      MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland           THOM TILLIS, North Carolina
CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada       JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana
TINA SMITH, Minnesota                BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  JERRY MORAN, Kansas
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia             KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota
                                     STEVE DAINES, Montana

                     Laura Swanson, Staff Director

                 Brad Grantz, Republican Staff Director

                       Elisha Tuku, Chief Counsel

                        Mohammad Aslami, Counsel

                 Dan Sullivan, Republican Chief Counsel

                 John Crews, Republican Policy Director

                      Cameron Ricker, Chief Clerk

                      Shelvin Simmons, IT Director

                    Charles J. Moffat, Hearing Clerk

                                  (ii)


                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                      TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

                                                                   Page

Opening statement of Chairman Brown..............................     1
        Prepared statement.......................................    30

Opening statements, comments, or prepared statements of:
    Senator Toomey...............................................     3
        Prepared statement.......................................    31

                                NOMINEES

Alan F. Estevez, of Maryland, to be Under Secretary of Commerce 
  for Industry and Security......................................     5
    Prepared statement...........................................    32
    Biographical sketch of nominee...............................    34
    Responses to written questions of:
        Chairman Brown...........................................    82
        Senator Toomey...........................................    83
        Senator Menendez.........................................    91
        Senator Scott............................................    93
Thea D. Rozman Kendler, of Maryland, to be Assistant Secretary of
  Commerce.......................................................     6
    Prepared statement...........................................    43
    Biographical sketch of nominee...............................    44
    Responses to written questions of:
        Chairman Brown...........................................    94
        Senator Toomey...........................................    95
        Senator Sinema...........................................   102
        Senator Scott............................................   103
Alexia Marie Gabrielle Latortue, of the District of Columbia, to 
  be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.........................     8
    Prepared statement...........................................    53
    Biographical sketch of nominee...............................    54
Graham S. Steele, of California, to be Assistant Secretary of the 
  Treasury.......................................................    10
    Prepared statement...........................................    63
    Biographical sketch of nominee...............................    64

                                 (iii)

 
 NOMINATIONS OF ALAN F. ESTEVEZ, THEA D. ROZMAN KENDLER, ALEXIA MARIE 
                GABRIELLE LATORTUE, AND GRAHAM S. STEELE

                              ----------                              


                      TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

                                       U.S. Senate,
          Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met at 10:02 a.m., via Webex and in room G50, 
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Sherrod Brown, Chairman of 
the Committee, presiding.

          OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN SHERROD BROWN

    Chairman Brown. The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs will come to order.
    Good morning, everyone. The Committee meets today to 
consider the nominations of Alan Estevez to be Under Secretary 
for Industry and Security at the Department of Commerce, Thea 
Kendler to be Assistant Secretary for Export Control at the 
Department of Commerce, Alexia Latortue to be Assistant 
Secretary for International Markets at the Department of 
Treasury, Graham Steele to be Assistant Secretary for Financial 
Institutions at the Department of Treasury. We welcome the 
nominees and their families.
    We thank you, all four of you, for your willingness to 
serve our country in this crucial time in our Nation's history. 
For the nominees, during your opening statement, as we 
discussed earlier, please feel free to introduce your families 
and those who have accompanied you here today to show support.
    The nominees before us today have the experience and the 
preparation they need to take on these unique and important 
roles. If confirmed, each nominee would play a significant role 
in protecting U.S. interests at home and abroad.
    Mr. Estevez would lead the Bureau of Industry and Security 
at the Commerce Department. As Under Secretary for BIS, Mr. 
Estevez would play a pivotal role in helping advance our 
country's national security, foreign policy, and economic 
objectives by implementing an effective export control regime.
    As Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export 
Administration, Ms. Kendler would be responsible for 
safeguarding our national security by overseeing BIS's export 
licensing system.
    As the Treasury Department's Assistant Secretary for 
International Markets, Ms. Latortue would be responsible for 
strengthening and promoting U.S. interests in global financial 
and investment markets.
    And, Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at 
Treasury, Mr. Steele would be responsible for coordinating 
financial institution policy, community and economic 
development, and efforts to increase the resiliency of our 
financial system.
    All four nominees today are very well qualified. They all 
have an impressive record of public service. Let me outline 
that, and then I will call on Senator Toomey, and then we will 
begin the testimony.
    Mr. Estevez spent 36 years at the Department of Defense in 
various roles. From 2013 to '17, he served as Principal Deputy 
Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and 
Logistics. Prior to that role, he served as Assistant Secretary 
of Defense, focusing on logistics and materiel readiness. 
Earlier in his career, Mr. Estevez served as a program manager 
at the U.S. Army Strategic Logistics Agency.
    Welcome to the Committee, Mr. Estevez, and thank you for 
your many years of service to our country.
    Thea Kendler currently serves as a trial attorney in the 
Department of Justice's National Security Division, 
Counterintelligence, and Export Control Section--at DOL--I am 
sorry. At DOJ, Ms. Kendler investigates and prosecutes crimes 
related to export control and economic espionage. Prior to 
serving at DOJ, Ms. Kendler served as Senior Counsel in the 
Commerce Department's Office of Chief Counsel for Industry and 
Security, providing legal advice on export control, regulation, 
and enforcement.
    We are glad to have you, too, Ms. Kendler. Thank you for 
your public service.
    Alexia Latortue has more than 20 years of experience in 
international development and development finance. She is 
currently Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium 
Challenge Corporation, an independent U.S. Government agency 
working to eradicate global poverty. From 2013 to 2017, she 
served in the Obama administration as Principal Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for International Development Policy, where 
she worked on inclusive growth and poverty reduction through 
multilateral development banks. Ms. Latortue's experience 
includes serving at international financial institutions such 
as the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and 
Development.
    Welcome, Ms. Latortue. Thank you for your career of 
service. We are glad you are here today, too.
    Our final nominee is Graham Steele. Mr. Steele spent more 
than 7 years in my personal Senate office and on the Banking 
and Housing Committee as a senior trusted aide. From 2015 to 
2017, Mr. Steele served as Minority Chief Counsel for the 
Committee, where he crafted legislation and provided strategic 
advice and counsel on housing, banking, and national security 
issues. During that time, he worked on a broad set of issues 
with Chairman Crapo's staff and Chairman Shelby's staff, as 
well as the other Republicans and the Democrats on the 
Committee. He also worked with a diverse set of stakeholders, 
forging close relationships with civil rights groups, consumer 
advocates, and organizations like the bipartisan Ohio Bankers 
League, who have written in support of his nomination.
    Prior to serving as Chief Counsel, he served as my Staff 
Director of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection 
Subcommittee, fighting to protect all Americans' finances. He 
did especially important work during and after the financial 
crisis of 2008 as we worked to stabilize our financial system. 
In his work for my office, he traveled Ohio in the years that 
followed, talked with Ohioans who lost their homes and saw 
their communities devastated by Wall Street's Great Recession. 
I know he has not forgotten those Ohioans. He understands the 
far reaching effects the financial system has on workers and 
their families all over the country. And I know he has worked 
closely over the years with many of my colleagues and their 
staff on both sides of the aisle to make our financial system 
work for everyone.
    Mr. Steele, thank you for your many years of service to 
this Committee, the people of my State, and to our country. 
Welcome back.
    I look forward to the testimony of all four of you.
    Ranking Member Toomey.

         OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR PATRICK J. TOOMEY

    Senator Toomey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Estevez, Ms. Kendler, Ms. Latortue, and Mr. Steele, 
welcome to the Committee. You have been nominated for very 
important positions.
    But before turning to today's nominees, I do want to 
register my disappointment that our Democratic colleagues are 
still trying to ram through a reckless $3.5 trillion tax-and-
spending bill despite reservations from members in their own 
caucus. And given the profound impact that this bill will have 
on all Americans, the Republicans on this Committee have 
requested that we hold hearings and have a mark-up. 
Unfortunately, it appears that our Democratic colleagues have 
no such plans, and I fear that is because the bill is going to 
include many very flawed policies that will harm economic 
growth and jobs and invade the privacy of Americans. These 
include massively expanding the welfare State in an effort to 
make the middle class dependent on the Federal Government, 
raising taxes on U.S. employers, diminishing investment by 
increasing capital gains taxes, increasing the electric vehicle 
tax credit that subsidizes the wealthy, giving the IRS, an 
agency with a history of abuse, access to our personal bank 
account information. Those are just some of the destructive 
policies being advanced, and I wish our Democratic colleagues 
would allow those items to be subject to a debate and an 
amendment process here at the Committee, but it appears to me 
that that is unlikely to happen.
    Now turning to today's nominees, Mr. Estevez and Ms. 
Kendler, you would serve in Commerce's Bureau of Industry and 
Security, known as BIS, and of course, BIS determines which 
U.S. goods are too sensitive to be shipped abroad. In the face 
of China's drive for dominance in key tech sectors, BIS's 
mission today is as important as it has ever been.
    By setting U.S. export control policy on items used for 
both civilian and military purposes, BIS effectively has the 
power to reshape the supply chains of entire industries. That 
means BIS must craft export controls in a prudent, thoughtful, 
and effective manner that advances U.S. national security 
interests without unduly harming American domestic industry. 
This challenge is typified by BIS's efforts to impose 
congressionally mandated controls on ``emerging and 
foundational technologies,'' which I expect that you would 
prioritize.
    BIS is also responsible for Section 232 investigations, 
Section 232 of our trade law, of course, and this statute is 
intended to prevent the importation of goods to the U.S. that 
threaten American national security. Unfortunately, it has 
recently been abused to protect favored domestic industries. 
Does anyone truly think a Volvo station wagon is a national 
security threat, as the last Administration claimed? Tariffs on 
imported goods are taxes paid by American consumers. Those 
taxes weaken our economy, threaten American jobs, and erode our 
credibility with other Nations. You should urge the President 
of the United States to reverse the last Administration's 
mistakes by removing the current 232 tariffs harming our 
relationships with our allies and stopping the abuse of this 
part of our trade law.
    Now to the Treasury nominees, Ms. Latortue has been 
nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary for International 
Markets. Ms. Latortue has considerable experience in this area, 
but I do have questions about the priority she has placed on 
climate change at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, known 
as the MCC. According to the MCC's authorizing statute, its 
assistance is supposed to focus on ``achieving lasting economic 
growth and poverty reduction.'' The MCC should prioritize this 
mission, not other agendas. And by the way, in doing so, it 
will help developing countries improve their environments. As 
we all know, the most prosperous Nations in the world are also 
the greenest Nations in the world.
    Finally, Mr. Steele has been nominated to serve as 
Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, and I 
appreciate his past service as a Committee staffer, but I am 
concerned about some of the positions that Mr. Steele has 
taken. For instance, he has repeatedly advocated for using what 
I consider extra-legal measures to achieve extreme policies. 
Despite the absence of statutory authorization, he has proposed 
having bank regulators forbid financial institutions from 
making loans to perfectly legal and economically necessary 
enterprises in the energy space. He has advocated for 
aggressively using the FSOC to designate financial firms as 
systemically important, apparently, in order to subject them to 
burdensome regulations, including climate regulations, even 
when it is doubtful that they present a systemic risk. He has 
also proposed that Federal agencies radically reinterpret or 
abuse their authorities, like withholding FDIC deposit 
insurance from institutions that offer products that he deems 
to be too complex, and politicizing the Fed to pursue a 
progressive social agenda, and to socializing banking itself by 
having the Federal Government control consumer bank accounts, 
and unilaterally establishing a Government-run credit reporting 
agency within the CFPB.
    I am particularly troubled by some of these extreme 
positions in light of Mr. Steele's statements disparaging 
Republicans. He has referred to Republicans as ``callous'' and 
``absolutely villainous'' and suggests that the Republicans 
only use the ``full force of their investigative and procedural 
power in service of the wealthy and White folks.'' These 
statements raise questions about the temperament, judgment, and 
willingness to work across the aisle.
    So let me close by saying; I disagree with President 
Biden's nominees on policy matters far more often than I agree 
with them; nevertheless, I have supported many nominees. And I 
will continue to do so, but there are limits to that support. I 
do look forward to hearing from our nominees today.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Toomey.
    Would all the nominees rise? Raise your right hand. Do you 
swear or affirm that the testimony that you are about to give 
is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so 
help you God? And, do you agree to appear and testify before 
any duly constituted committee of the Senate?
    Mr. Estevez. I do.
    Ms. Kendler. I do.
    Ms. Latortue. I do.
    Mr. Steele. I do.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you. Please be seated. Mr. Estevez, 
please begin your testimony. Thank you.

  STATEMENT OF ALAN F. ESTEVEZ, OF MARYLAND, NOMINATED TO BE 
     UNDER SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR INDUSTRY AND SECURITY

    Mr. Estevez. Thank you, Chairman Brown. Chairman Brown, 
Ranking Member Toomey, distinguished Members of the Committee, 
I am honored to appear before you today as the nominee to lead 
the Bureau of Industry and Security, or BIS, as the Under 
Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security.
    I want to thank President Biden and Secretary Raimondo for 
their confidence in nominating me to this critical national 
security position.
    I especially want to thank my wife, Susan Pearson, sitting 
here behind me today for all her support and love and, as I 
have stated in my previous confirmations, for her sage advice 
and counsel in all that I do. Needless to say, I would not be 
sitting before you today without her support and her sacrifice.
    This is a critical time for our Nation. The COVID-19 
pandemic has highlighted the fragility of our supply chain 
supporting U.S. industries and ordinary Americans across the 
country. Many of our foreign adversaries continue to act in an 
irresponsible manner, including through the diversion of dual 
use technologies to military uses, theft of intellectual 
property, human rights abuses, and anticompetitive, unfair, and 
coercive trade practices. These activities threaten our values 
and interests as well as those of our allies and partners.
    BIS has a key role in addressing these threats. 
Fortunately, Congress, with bipartisan passage of the Export 
Control Reform Act, or ECRA, in 2018 has given BIS important 
authorities to execute that mission.
    During my long career with the Department of Defense, I 
operated at the nexus of national security and technology. As a 
Senior Acquisition and Logistics Official, it was my job to 
ensure that U.S. Armed Forces were provided with the best 
weapon systems in the world to ensure their ability to defend 
the United States. I view the work of BIS from a similar 
perspective. Rather than providing the U.S. Military with 
technological overmatch against our adversaries, the mission is 
to ensure that our adversaries do not have access to the 
critical U.S. technologies that can harm our national security 
and foreign policy.
    If confirmed, I will lead the dedicated professional staff 
at BIS to ensure that our export controls prevent the transfer 
of sensitive U.S. technologies. I will work to ensure that we 
are appropriately using all the authorities provided under 
ECRA, and I will ensure that we execute our due diligence in 
identifying and imposing appropriate controls on those emerging 
and foundational technologies that need protection. I will also 
work with our enforcement arm to ensure that we monitor exports 
and aggressively detect violations of our export controls.
    I also believe that it is important to cooperate with our 
allies and partners to build strong export controls, especially 
in those areas where our current multilateral regimes do not 
currently provide adequate protections. In addition to export 
controls, I will support the Bureau's other important equities, 
including its continued efforts to address risks in the 
critical supply chains, reviewing transactions before the 
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and 
enforcing our antiboycott requirements. I will work with the 
BIS staff to ensure that they have the resources to accomplish 
this mission.
    Finally, I believe it is important for BIS to work 
constructively with Congress. If confirmed, I look forward to 
working with you and your staff as we meet these complex 
challenges facing BIS and our Nation.
    Thank you for the consideration of your nomination, and I 
look forward to your questions.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you, Mr. Estevez.
    Ms. Kendler, you are recognized for 5 minutes. Thank you.

STATEMENT OF THEA D. ROZMAN KENDLER, OF MARYLAND, NOMINATED TO 
               BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

    Ms. Kendler. Thank you. Chairman Brown, Ranking Member 
Toomey, Members of the Committee, I am honored to appear before 
you as President Biden's nominee for the position of Assistant 
Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration.
    I want to thank President--the President and Secretary 
Raimondo for the trust they have placed in me with this 
nomination. I am delighted at the prospect of returning to 
serve BIS and the Commerce Department in this critical role.
    It would not be possible for me to take on the role for 
which I am nominated without the love, support, and 
encouragement of my family: my children, Dava and Micah; my 
husband, Owen--today is our 18th wedding anniversary--and my 
father, Gil Rozman, who planted the seeds of my international 
public service career. My mother, Masha, is no longer with us, 
but I see her legacy in my children and strive in my work to 
honor her memory as a lawyer, a public servant, and a lifelong 
learner.
    I sit before you thanks to the good will and the generosity 
of the United States. My grandfather, Max Dwosh, who, at age 
99, is watching this hearing online, fled Poland on the eve of 
the Nazi invasion. The family he had to leave behind was 
murdered. My grandfather survived in Russia during the war, 
performing manual labor. At the war's end, after my mother was 
born, he and his young family left Russia and found a haven in 
the American Displaced Person Camps, refugee camps in Germany, 
before immigrating to the United States. My mother went on to a 
long career as a deputy attorney general for the great State of 
New Jersey.
    My public service is inspired by my gratitude to the people 
and the Government of the United States for making my family's 
survival and success possible. It would be an honor to serve my 
country in this new role, drawing on my passion for export 
controls and my experience in national security.
    I began working on export controls in September 2001, just 
after September 11th, in private practice, then for 10 years in 
the Chief Counsel's Office for BIS, and for the last 7 years in 
the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the 
Justice Department's National Security Division. As a national 
security prosecutor, my work has focused on dismantling 
procurement networks, thwarting intelligence threats, and 
deterring economic espionage and other theft of trade secret 
activities aimed at U.S. industry.
    With respect to matters that are in the public record, I am 
particularly proud of charging global telecommunications 
company, Huawei, with operating as a criminal enterprise, 
stealing trade secrets, and defrauding global financial 
institutions; charging and obtaining the extradition of an 
intelligence officer who sought to steal trade secrets from a 
leading U.S. aviation technology company in Ohio; and numerous 
other cases that held foreign procurement agents accountable 
for their illicit activities. I am extraordinarily fortunate 
for the opportunity to pursue this work and to do so with such 
dedicated and professional colleagues.
    I believe deeply in the mission of BIS to advance America's 
national security, foreign policy, and economic objectives 
through effective export controls and by maintaining and 
advancing our strategic technological edge. The United States 
can and should lead in export controls, drawing from the 
innovative spirit of our capitalist system and the decades we 
have spent forging relationships with our allies.
    In my 20-year career as an export controls lawyer, BIS's 
mission has never been more relevant, particularly as we 
compete against autocracies for 21st century leadership. Chief 
among these concerns is the need to address the challenges 
posed by efforts to seek U.S. technologies, to pursue foreign 
military modernization and other destabilizing activities while 
also striving to manage this competition responsibly. We must 
appropriately use all available tools to prevent technology 
transfers to end users and end uses that enable strategies and 
activities that harm our national security and foreign policy 
interests.
    I recognize that all of this important work is part of a 
whole-of-Government effort, and I also strongly support close 
collaboration with allies and partners to strengthen our export 
controls, which are more effective when developed and amplified 
through multilateral regimes and plurilateral agreements.
    Finally, it is important for BIS to work constructively 
with this Committee and the Congress as a whole. If confirmed, 
I look forward to working with you and your staff as we meet 
the complex challenges facing BIS.
    Thank you again for this opportunity to appear before you. 
I would be pleased to answer your questions.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you, Ms. Kendler, and happy 
anniversary.
    Ms. Kendler. Thank you.
    Chairman Brown. Ms. Latortue, welcome. You have five 
minutes. Thank you.

 STATEMENT OF ALEXIA MARIE GABRIELLE LATORTUE, OF THE DISTRICT 
    OF COLUMBIA, NOMINATED TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE 
                            TREASURY

    Ms. Latortue. Thank you. Chairman Brown, Ranking Member 
Toomey, distinguished Members of this Committee, it is an honor 
to appear before you today as the President's nominee to be 
Assistant Secretary for International Markets at the Department 
of Treasury. I am humbled and thankful for the trust President 
Biden, Vice President Harris, Secretary Yellen, and Deputy 
Secretary Adeyemo have placed in me.
    I used to bring students to the Dirksen Senate Office 
Building when I worked with the Close Up Foundation as a young 
adult. We spoke about the awesome responsibility of public 
service and of the work of this chamber. Many years later, I am 
proud to be back, and if confirmed, I am ready to work hard and 
to the best of my capabilities to advance the Treasury 
Department's ambitious goals, working hand in hand with 
Treasury colleagues and with all of you.
    The core mission of the Office of International Affairs at 
the Department of Treasury is well aligned with who I am as a 
professional and as a person. Doing my part to help shape a 
more safe, peaceful, and prosperous world has been a constant 
in my career. Growing up in Togo and Cote d'Ivoire, I saw 
poverty firsthand. It is also where I developed the conviction 
that everyone deserves the opportunity to fulfill their 
potential and to live a life of dignity. From a very young age, 
I knew I wanted to make a difference.
    Early in my career, I swapped theory for exhilarating work 
with communities and Government partners on the ground. I loved 
the operational work on projects funded by USAID and other 
donors. This included living for 3 years in Haiti and working 
across all continents. I have seen the best and the worst of 
development. It cultivated my passion for evidence, 
accountability, and transparency, which is integral to how I 
approach all of my positions.
    At the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, I 
shaped how development finance, combined with policy dialogue 
and technical assistance, can support countries' transition to 
well-functioning market economies. I pressed for greater 
engagement on climate, economic inclusion, and digitalization.
    My time in Federal service has been a highlight of my 
career. For nearly 4 years, I led the Treasury Department's 
international development policy work, covering infrastructure 
finance, debt, financial inclusion, and food security. Working 
closely with strategic allies, I negotiated financing and 
policy packages with the multilateral development banks. Today, 
I am with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a gem that 
punches above its weight to reduce poverty through economic 
growth and well-governed, low and low middle-income countries.
    I grew up imbued in the notion that public service is 
noble. I was expected to think beyond my self-interest to that 
of my community, country, and world. My maternal grandfather 
was a public servant representing Haiti, right here in 
Washington, DC, My father, Gerard Latortue, opted to leave 
Haiti overnight rather than endorse the punishing economic 
policies of a dictator. He ended up in Puerto Rico, where I was 
born years later, making a deal at a local university to teach 
economics if they taught him Spanish. I learned about 
courageous leadership and integrity from him. My maternal 
grandmother and mother, Marlene Latortue, lost their husband 
and father shortly after his release as a political prisoner in 
Haiti. From them, I learned about rebounding with grace and 
quiet strength.
    I would like to recognize my sister, Gaielle Latortue, and 
my brother-in-law, George Kabwe, who are here today. They are 
both international civil servants. My sister, Stephanie 
Latortue-Driza, a teacher in the D.C. public school system, is 
also here. I thank them for their love and support and for 
having made me the luckiest of aunts, blessed with my clever, 
kind, and open-minded nephews and niece, Lorenz, Galen, and 
Graciana.
    My nomination today is a testament to them and to the 
United States, a country of unparalleled opportunity. We are a 
country where my father's favorite saying rings full of 
possibility: ``We are beholden to the impossible.''
    The Department's work is important in the best of times. In 
these extremely challenging times, it is vital. I have seen 
firsthand how an engaged United States is able to deploy its 
evidence-based approach, values, and ideas to work effectively 
with allies, to tackle the most intractable issues that affect 
our world. Today, these issues include the economic recovery 
from the COVID-19 pandemic, rising poverty for the first time 
in 20 years, infrastructure, climate change, energy, food 
security, inequality, and promoting a level playing field for 
American firms and workers. Urgent need is needed--urgent work 
is needed to stop further reversals.
    If I am privileged enough to be confirmed, I commit to 
working closely with this Committee to help put the United 
States and our international partners on a solid economic 
footing for a future full of optimism and hope. It would be an 
honor to serve with Secretary Yellen, Deputy Secretary Adeyemo, 
and to once again work alongside the superb and committed 
public servants at the Treasury Department. Thank you.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you, Ms. Latortue.
    Mr. Steele, you are recognized for 5 minutes.

 STATEMENT OF GRAHAM S. STEELE, OF CALIFORNIA, NOMINATED TO BE 
              ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY

    Mr. Steele. Thank you, Chairman Brown, Ranking Member 
Toomey, and distinguished Members of the Committee. Thank you 
for the opportunity to appear before you today and for 
considering my nomination to be Assistant Secretary of the 
Treasury for Financial Institutions.
    I am honored to have been nominated for this position, and 
I am grateful to President Biden, Vice President Harris, 
Secretary Yellen, Deputy Secretary Adeyemo, and Under Secretary 
Liang for this opportunity.
    If the Committee Members will allow me, I would like to 
begin on a personal note by thanking the members of my family 
who are here today. First, I want to thank my partner, Moira. I 
would not be the person that I am today without her love, 
support, and moral clarity. She has taught me that partnership 
is about giving, taking, learning, teaching, growing, thriving, 
and changing together.
    I also want to acknowledge my mother, Debbi, who is here, 
as well as my late father, Fritz, who passed away in February 
of last year. They both instilled in me from a very young age a 
desire to always try to do the right thing, do the best that I 
possibly can, and to work for the public good.
    Last, but not least, I want to thank my sister, Lauren, who 
has always understood and supported me in the way that only a 
lifelong sibling really can.
    My career in public service began in the office of Chairman 
Brown in January of 2010. That opportunity and experience 
changed my life. It was an historic moment as the Banking 
Committee was in the process of drafting the most sweeping 
financial reforms of the last 80 years in the wake of the 
global financial crisis. I was fortunate to have the 
opportunity to work for Senator Brown, who, as the staff and 
Members of this Committee already know, is a brilliant, 
compassionate, and tireless advocate on behalf of working 
people. In that role, I helped Senator Brown oversee the 
passage and implementation of reforms to make our financial 
system safer and improve our economy, including the Senator's 
tireless effort to support Ohio families facing foreclosure and 
the fight to stay in their homes, and to help communities 
devastated by the housing crisis to recover.
    I spent the next 4 years as the Staff Director of the 
Subcommittee with jurisdiction over financial institutions and 
consumer protection, including 2 years during which Senator 
Toomey served as the Ranking Member. During that time, I worked 
closely with consumer and community groups to ensure that all 
Americans have equal access to safe and secure financial 
products, including mortgages, student loans, prepaid cards, 
and small dollar loans. I also collaborated with a bipartisan 
group of Committee Members, industry groups, regulators, and 
other stakeholders to ensure that the most systemic 
institutions are well regulated, community banks and credit 
unions are competing on a level playing field, and banking and 
insurance rules are appropriately tailored.
    When Senator Brown became the Ranking Member of the Banking 
Committee in 2015, I served as Chief Counsel to the Minority 
staff, a role I held until August of 2017.
    More recently, as a member of the staff of the Federal 
Reserve Bank of San Francisco and now in my role at Stanford 
Graduate School of Business, I have experienced from a close 
vantage point some of the most pressing financial challenges 
facing our Nation, including housing affordability, financial 
technology, and climate change.
    Finance has always been a personal issue for me, having had 
some of my friends, family, community, and even myself 
experience financial risks and challenges: the decades-long 
burden of student loans taken out to create an opportunity for 
a better future; home equity lines of credit tapped in the 
hopes of filling the gap between household income and expenses; 
credit card bills embedded with hidden tricks, traps, and fees; 
jobs lost and retirement nest eggs depleted by a crisis of 
someone else's making. I am acutely aware that the millions of 
people that use our financial system every day are, in the 
words of Secretary Yellen, ``more than just statistics.''
    I believe that this is another consequential historical 
moment, and that is why I can think of no greater honor than 
working with a talented, dedicated staff at the United States 
Department of the Treasury.
    If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed, I look forward to 
working closely with all the Members of this Committee to build 
a better postpandemic economy by helping to shape a stable and 
inclusive financial system that works for everyone.
    Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today, and I 
look forward to your questions.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you, Mr. Steele.
    I would like to pose questions to all four of you, to each 
of you, so please be as brief as you can in your answers, 
starting my left to right.
    Mr. Estevez, you have a distinguished record of service 
working on national security and technology issues. Tell us 
briefly, what are your priorities and vision for BIS?
    Mr. Estevez. Thank you for that, Senator. My priorities 
would be countering transfers of sensitive technologies to 
China, given China's malign behavior on a number of fronts, as 
well as to other adversarial Nations, continuing in 
strengthening our focus on identifying and imposing appropriate 
controls on emerging and foundational technologies, 
strengthening the resiliency of our supply chains, particularly 
in the semiconductor area, and working with our allies and 
friends to strengthen controls over critical technologies. I 
have a more extensive list, but in the interest of time I will 
stop there, Senator.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you. I appreciated our one-on-one 
conversation last week.
    Ms. Kendler, if confirmed, you will be charged with 
administering our export controls system, as you know. How 
would you use BIS authorities to address genocide and human 
rights violations and oppressive surveillance in China and 
elsewhere?
    Ms. Kendler. Thank you, Senator. I share your deep concern 
about the Uyghur people in Xinjiang. We cannot permit U.S. 
technology to be used in human rights abuses. If confirmed, I 
will use all of BIS's tools--the licensing process, the Entity 
List, the Military End User List, and so on--to scrutinize 
license applications involving the PRC. I would also work with 
partners, interagency, and with the multilateral regimes to 
amplify our export controls, but I would not hesitate to impose 
unilateral controls if necessary to keep United States 
technology out of the hands of human rights abusers. Thank you.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you.
    Ms. Latortue, you have an impressive record, 20 years of 
international development experience. What role does U.S. 
development assistance play in providing an alternative to 
China's Belt and Road Initiative? How do you advance U.S. 
leadership in development assistance?
    Ms. Latortue. Thank you, Chairman, for your very important 
question. The United States has a vital role in helping our 
partner countries in their sustainable development. The 
Americans have an offer of development that is qualitatively 
very different from that of China. It is transparent. It has 
high environmental, social, and governance standards embedded 
in it. It does not coerce or try to hide conditions for the 
assistance. And in addition to finance, the United States 
offers vital policy and institutional reform support to make 
sure that our development assistance has lasting impact in the 
countries that we support.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you.
    Mr. Steele, you worked on the Senate response to the 
financial crisis. You saw firsthand how the financial system 
works for Wall Street, not often enough for Main Street, in 
your work in Ohio and now your work in San Francisco. We see 
many of the same problems today. Big banks give CEOs huge 
bonuses, spend billions in stock buybacks instead of investing 
in workers and the real economy. Millions of families, as you 
know, face the threat of eviction or foreclosure, especially in 
communities of color and low-income areas. During the pandemic, 
as we know, it was community banks and credit unions, not mega 
banks, that increased lending and stepped up to make PPP loans 
to small businesses in their communities.
    My request and question is this: Explain what you will do 
as Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions to make sure 
the financial system serves working people who make this 
country work.
    Mr. Steele. Absolutely, Senator. Thank you for the 
question, and as I said in my opening statement, I have always 
known you to be a champion for working people. So largely, I 
would follow your lead. I would also follow the lead of 
President Biden, who has made clear that the lives of working 
people are important to him and that is a priority for his 
Administration, and Secretary Yellen has done the same.
    In my specific role, I would point to a few specific areas. 
One is that we know that financial crises themselves fall the 
hardest on working people, low-income communities, communities 
of color. Strong financial regulation can help protect those 
communities from crises happening and from the fallout when 
there is a crisis.
    Second, I would say that workers' wages are--do them no 
good if they are siphoned off by predatory financial products. 
So strong consumer protection is really important to protect 
workers' income and their hard-earned wages.
    You mentioned community banks and their performance during 
the PPP program and the importance of the role that they play. 
Were I fortunate enough to be confirmed, we have the CDFI fund 
that supports CDFIs and minority depository institutions. 
Congress has recently appropriated a good amount of money to 
that program. It is important that we invest in those community 
institutions that can, in turn, invest in urban and rural 
communities to make sure that the workers there are thriving.
    You also mentioned housing. I will say that we know that 
housing security and job security are closely related. Treasury 
administers a couple of programs that protect renters and that 
protect homeowners, and I would see to it that those programs 
are doing the job as they are intended and as promised.
    So should I be fortunate enough to be confirmed, I would 
look forward to working with you and all the Members of the 
Committee to ensure the financial system works well for working 
people.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you, Mr. Steele. Thank you to the 
four of you.
    Senator Toomey is recognized.
    Senator Toomey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Steele, the position to which you have nominated 
oversees Treasury's involvement in FSOC, as you know, which the 
Treasury Secretary chairs. In a 2020 article, you proposed 
``Under a comprehensive macroprudential approach to climate 
regulation, insurance companies and asset managers would be 
subject to Federal supervision and regulation by the Federal 
Reserve through designation as non-bank CIFIs by the FSOC on 
the basis that their mix of activities, in this case, their 
financing of climate change-driving industries, pose a threat 
to the financial stability of the United States.''
    As far as I can tell, even the current Administration has 
not advocated for CIFI designation as a means of climate 
regulation. Your position is particularly troubling because 
climate policy is not within the legal authority or expertise 
of the FSOC or the Fed. Moreover, climate models are ill suited 
to predicting financial risk due to their inherent 
uncertainties and complexities and the fact that climate models 
are designed to have a time horizon of decades or longer. Given 
the uncertainty of climate risks to financial institutions, it 
would be completely arbitrary for FSOC to designate any 
financial institution as systemically important on the basis of 
perceived climate risk.
    So, Mr. Steele, let me ask a question. We have extreme 
weather events every year in America; we always have, probably 
always will. Can you name any bank that has failed due to 
extreme weather events in the last 50 years in America?
    Mr. Steele. Thank you for the question, Senator. Not off 
the top of my head, I cannot.
    Senator Toomey. OK. So nobody has been able to name a bank 
that has failed, to my knowledge, in easily the last 50 years, 
probably longer than that, in the United States.
    Are you aware of any major American financial institution 
that is in danger of collapsing in the next 12 months or the 
next 24 months as a result of climate risk?
    Mr. Steele. Thank you for the question, Senator. And as you 
know and as you note, climate change and the intersection with 
the financial system has been a very important issue to me. And 
I come at it in a similar perspective to Secretary Yellen, who 
has noted that climate change is both an existential risk to 
our environment but also potentially to our economic system if 
it gets severe enough.
    And the way I think about this is similar to what Vice 
Chair Quarles at the Federal Reserve system has said, that it 
is incumbent upon financial regulators to understand all the 
risks presenting the institutions that they supervise and----
    Senator Toomey. I understand.
    Mr. Steele. OK.
    Senator Toomey. I have got very limited time here. I 
appreciate that, but look, here is the bottom line and the 
reason I bring this up. We can absolutely have a discussion 
about whether we need to take more aggressive action to deal 
with climate change. Abusing the powers of our financial 
regulators to do it is a bad way to do it, in my view. It 
should be done in the transparent fashion of legislation and 
implemented by people who have expertise in this. The financial 
system is not the way to try to do this.
    Mr. Estevez, Section 232 of our trade law is intended to be 
used to review whether imports ``threaten to impair'' U.S. 
national security. Now recently, an increasingly loose 
interpretation of this has been used by the Executive branch. 
For instance, as you know, the last Administration alleged the 
foreign steel imports are a national security threat.
    The facts tell a very different story. In 2017, the year 
before the 232 tariffs were put in place, over 66 percent of 
the steel we use in the United States was domestically 
produced. The rest was imported specialty steels that we need 
but we do not produce domestically, and the vast majority of 
that came from our close allies. It is obvious to me that 
importing steel that we do not make ourselves in modest 
quantities from nearby allied countries is not a threat to 
national security, and Defense Secretary James Mattis agreed.
    So, Mr. Estevez, you have served for many years in the 
Defense Department. Do you agree that products should actually 
have a genuine nexus to defense preparedness and military 
readiness in order for them to be eligible for a Section 232 
investigation?
    Mr. Estevez. Thank you for that question, Senator. Let me 
start off by saying 232 is an important tool.
    Senator Toomey. I have got to ask you to be as brief as 
possible because I am already running out of time.
    Mr. Estevez. You got it. Section 232 needs to be looked at 
in a hard national security lens, Senator. It should not be 
used willy nilly.
    Senator Toomey. Thank you. And do you believe that it is 
important that the U.S. and the E.U. meet the December 1 
deadline for resolving the trade disputes that will enable us 
to lift these tariffs?
    Mr. Estevez. I think it is very important that we work with 
our allies in doing that. I cannot speak to the deadline per 
se, but it is very important that we work completely these 
issues with our allies.
    Senator Toomey. I think the deadline is important as well. 
So thank you.
    Ms. Kendler, BIS is responsible for conducting the Section 
232 exclusion process for existing tariffs on steel and 
aluminum. Yet, the process has been fraught with problems from 
day one. Commerce's OIG investigated and found in January of 
this year that ``U.S. companies were denied exclusion requests 
based on incomplete and contradictory information, and the 
Section 232 exclusion request to review process lacked 
transparency.'' Another GAO investigation found BIS did not 
decide most of the requests within its established deadlines, 
leading to a backlog of 30,000 requests.
    Ms. Kendler, can you commit to increasing the transparency 
and improving the efficiency and timeliness of the exclusion 
process?
    Ms. Kendler. Yes, Senator. I believe in a fair, 
transparent, and efficient exclusion process.
    Senator Toomey. Thank you.
    And, Mr. Chairman, if you will indulge me for just an extra 
minute, I want to ask Mr. Estevez and Ms. Kendler the following 
question. In 2018, Congress enacted the Export Control Reform 
Act. One of its most important provisions is a mandate that BIS 
identify and control the export of emerging and foundational 
technologies. Will you both commit to prioritizing the 
implementation of this provision and keeping this Committee 
informed of your progress? Could you each answer separately?
    Mr. Estevez. Absolutely, Senator.
    Senator Toomey. Thank you.
    Ms. Kendler. Yes, Senator.
    Senator Toomey. And then, finally, my last question for Ms. 
Latortue: You have said that climate change is ``the defining 
issue of our time,'' and under your leadership the MCC has 
significantly reduced its funding for non- climate-related 
projects to less than half of MCC's grants over the last 5 
years. The MCC was created, however, to promote economic growth 
and to reduce poverty but not primarily to address climate 
change. So let me ask, as a general matter, do you agree that 
countries with higher standards of living tend to have better 
environments?
    Ms. Latortue. Senator, I believe that climate change, 
poverty reduction, and economic growth are intimately linked, 
and that is why partner countries ask for support that actually 
understands the connections between all three. Protecting our 
development dollars will require us to keep in mind the impacts 
of climate change across every sector of the economy.
    Senator Toomey. OK. I am out of time here. Let me just 
point out certainly they can be linked, but it is, I think, an 
objective fact that the most developed countries, the most 
prosperous countries in the world have the best environments 
because they can afford the luxury of maintaining a good 
environment. Economic growth leads to better environment. Thank 
you.
    Senator Toomey. Thank you, Senator Toomey.
    Senator Menendez of New Jersey is recognized.
    Senator Menendez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Estevez, the President as candidate promised that he 
would return the jurisdiction of the export licensing of semi-
automatic weapons from the Commerce Department back to the 
Department of State, from which President Trump took it. The 
President can do this by simple regulation without the need for 
legislative approval. But until that happens, the Department is 
providing no information to Congress as to what lethal weapons, 
including sniper rifles, assault rifles, and others, are being 
sold to what countries or foreign persons, in what quantities, 
and under what conditions. What is the status, to your 
knowledge, of the implementation of the President's promise?
    Mr. Estevez. Thank you for that, Senator Menendez. I cannot 
speak to the President's promise. You probably have access to 
the President more than I do. But I will say that it is 
important to aggressively use export controls to control gun 
exports, and I certainly am prepared to work with the Committee 
on the oversight of that.
    Senator Menendez. Well, if you take my word that that was 
the President's promise during his campaign, do you support 
that promise?
    Mr. Estevez. I will work with the Administration on that, 
Senator.
    Senator Menendez. So, meaning that if they in fact are 
going to----
    Mr. Estevez. If that is the direction that the President 
wants to go, I will certainly support that.
    Senator Menendez. Until the President's promise is 
implemented, will you commit to provide to the committees of 
jurisdiction over arms sales specific information about what 
semi-automatic weapons sales are being considered for export, 
including the foreign recipients, numbers of weapons, 
conditions, and end use monitoring measures, if confirmed?
    Mr. Estevez. Senator, since I am not in BIS, I cannot give 
you the details on what those rules exactly are. I do commit to 
working with you and your staff on----
    Senator Menendez. I am talking about information. I am not 
talking about some classified set of circumstances. Surely, the 
U.S. Government, who funds the Department that you are going to 
be part of and who funds the process of exporting weapons, 
should be able to know who you are exporting to.
    Mr. Estevez. Senator, I am certainly prepared to provide 
the Committee the information that is due this Committee 
regarding exports.
    Senator Menendez. Mr. Steele, our financial industry has a 
diversity problem, especially at the highest levels. The 
proportion of minorities in financial services drops by 75 
percent from entry level to the C-suites. At the highest level, 
90 percent of the C-suite is White. Women of color make up only 
2 percent of executives despite being 21 percent of the entry-
level workforce.
    It is not an optics problem that I am talking about. A lack 
of diversity leads to real issues in our financial system. In 
2019, the National Bureau of Economic Research found that Black 
mortgage borrowers were charged higher interest rates than 
White borrowers. That might sound familiar since between 2004 
and 2009, in the run-up to the financial crisis, Black and 
Latino borrowers with good credit scores were three times as 
likely as similarly situated White borrowers to have higher-
rate mortgages.
    So Secretary Yellen has previously testified here that if 
economists are mainly of one gender or race they are likely to 
miss things that matter. Do you believe the same holds true for 
bank executives?
    Mr. Steele. Well, absolutely, Senator, and thank you for 
the question. And I know you have been a leader on this issue 
on the Committee. I would say, absolutely, that lived 
experience is extremely important for people, policymakers in 
the public sector, for bankers in the private sector, for 
anyone in a decisionmaking and policymaking position. And that 
is particularly to my mind true in the financial services 
sector where, as you noted--you noted some of the history 
around discriminatory lending, but obviously, as you know, it 
goes even further back than that in the housing market, back to 
redlining and things like that.
    I absolutely think that----
    Senator Menendez. So does the lack of diversity at 
financial institutions mean they are more likely to miss things 
that matter?
    Mr. Steele. I think a lack of diversity, equity, and 
inclusion in any institution means that they are likely to miss 
important things.
    Senator Menendez. If you are confirmed then, what would you 
do to help diversify financial institutions?
    Mr. Steele. Well, I mean, I would say that this 
Administration has put a high priority on diversity, equity, 
inclusion, both within the agencies but also trying to work 
with the private sector. And so I would be happy to talk with 
you in your office if you have ideas about that. I am happy to 
engage with the private sector to hear what they are doing and 
talk with the folks at Treasury to hear----
    Senator Menendez. We would welcome that, and we have 
already had these discussions with Secretary Yellen and the 
Under Secretary, and I hope we can do so with you as well.
    Finally, in 2018, I led the effort to pass the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which passed Congress 
unanimously. One section of that bill requires the Treasury 
Secretary to promote antitrafficking policies at the 
international financial institutions, such as integrating 
antitrafficking interventions into projects requiring 
Government action against trafficking as a condition, a 
condition, of making loans. Ms. Latortue, will you commit to 
advancing antitrafficking efforts at the multilateral 
development banks and regularly brief my staff on your work 
there?
    Ms. Latortue. Thank you, Senator, and thank you for raising 
this very important Act, which is very important to our work in 
supporting the multilateral development banks. The United 
States has consistently put pressure on those development banks 
to comply with this Act, which of course, protects the most 
vulnerable and disadvantaged people, and I would be very 
pleased to continue to engage with you on their progress in 
this regard, Senator.
    Senator Menendez. Thank you.
    And, Mr. Chairman, one last brief question. We have to 
ensure that our financial regulators identify and interdict the 
proceeds of trafficking and help trafficking survivors repair 
their credit in cases where their identities were stolen and 
abused by their traffickers.
    So I want to ask you again, Ms. Latortue, and Mr. Steele in 
this case as well, will you commit to using the tools of the 
Treasury Department to address these issues?
    Ms. Latortue. Senator, yes. The Treasury Department has a 
range of tools across departments, and I look forward to 
working with my colleagues across all of the Treasury 
Department in this regard.
    Mr. Steele. I do, Senator.
    Senator Menendez. Thank you.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Menendez.
    Senator Tester is recognized remote from his office.
    Senator Tester. I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you all 
for being here today for the respective jobs that you were in 
line for.
    Look, I come from rural America. We have seen significant 
economic barriers in recent years, including a global pandemic, 
difficult growing seasons, and extreme weather events I believe 
due to climate change.
    And this has been asked about previously, but I want you to 
elaborate a little more. Disastrous trade policies, 
particularly from the previous Administration, retaliatory 
tariffs impacted businesses in communities of all sizes, not 
those just in rural America but everywhere, including ag 
producers.
    This is for Latortue, excuse me, Estevez, and Kendler. If 
you are confirmed to these positions, how would you work to 
move forward from Trump on trade and our international 
relationships overall?
    Mr. Estevez. I will start off with that, Senator. Thank you 
very much for the question. On trade, of course, you know, my 
position is on the export controls, on that side, other than 
Section 232. As I said to Senator Toomey, Section 232 should 
only be used for the strictest national security means. With 
regard to--I am sorry. I lost the rest of your question, 
Senator.
    Senator Tester. Well, just how are you going to work to 
move forward on trade? Trade is critically important to rural 
America. It is critically important for this country. And how 
do we reestablish those international relationships that have 
been screwed up by the last Administration?
    Mr. Estevez. Working with our international partners is 
critically important to me. It is something I have done in the 
past in my previous DoD roles, and I intend to get back to 
working with our allies and partners to ensure (a) on the 
export control side we are in sync and on the trade side we are 
in sync, and with the rest of my colleagues in Commerce.
    Senator Tester. OK. And the other two want to comment? 
Kendler or Latortue?
    Ms. Kendler. Thank you, Senator. I agree with Mr. Estevez. 
I would note that the Bureau of Industry and Security 
participates in numerous multilateral regimes and is also 
working on plurilateral agreements, and if confirmed, I 
anticipate supporting those activities and giving them much 
priority.
    I would also note that in terms of the supply chain it is 
very important that we work to shore up key sectors, like 
semiconductors industries and others, of course, to ensure, 
excuse me, to ensure resilient, diverse, and secure supply 
chains. Thank you.
    Ms. Latortue. Thank you very much, Senator Tester, and very 
much agree with the importance of your question. A core 
principle with respect to all of the work that we do on trade 
is ensuring a level playing field for all American workers and 
farmers, and that would be something that, if confirmed, I 
would very much prioritize as well as finding ways to expand 
markets for U.S. exports as well. And I would be very happy to 
continue to engage with you on these questions.
    Senator Tester. Thank you. And we will once you are 
confirmed.
    This is a question for Mr. Steele. Mr. Steele, small 
financial institutions are really the lifeblood of rural 
America, and when they go away it has significant impact on our 
communities. What are your views on tailoring regulation 
requirements to the size and the risk of an institution?
    Mr. Steele. Thank you very much for the question, Senator. 
And as we have talked about earlier with the Chairman of the 
Committee, we saw community institutions perform incredibly 
well during the COVID-19 pandemic. So they just once again 
withstood the stress tests to show the kind of value they 
provide for their communities.
    I think tailoring to the risk that an institution presents 
is incredibly important. I think it helps small institutions 
remain competitive. That is something that I worked on very 
hard during my years here on Capitol Hill, working on 
legislation with Senator Moran around annual privacy notices, 
Senator Johanns around insurance capital standards, Senator 
Portman with some issues around privately insured credit unions 
having access to the Federal Home Loan Bank System. So it is 
always something I have been very mindful of, that we need a 
vibrant community banking and credit union industry in this 
country to serve the needs of both urban and rural communities.
    Senator Tester. So it would be fair to say that you think 
the regulation should fit the risk?
    Mr. Steele. Absolutely. That seems to make a lot of sense 
to me.
    Senator Tester. Thank you.
    So this question is for any one of the four of you, and 
since I have got limited time the first one to jump in gets to 
answer it. Cybersecurity is a massive issue, and it is a 
massive issue in the financial system. It is a massive issue, 
militarily. It is a massive issue. OK?
    We need to do more to address cybersecurity threats. So if 
confirmed, how would you prioritize combating cybersecurity 
threats? Who wants to answer it?
    Mr. Steele. I guess I will take this one, Senator. I would 
just say particularly in our financial system safeguarding both 
the Government agencies that oversee the financial system from 
cyber threats and overseeing critical financial infrastructure 
from cyber attacks is, to my mind, one of the most important 
jobs that I would have were I to be fortunate enough to be 
confirmed.
    And a lot of our role, I think, is sort of a public-private 
partnership that involves convening, sharing best practices 
with the industry, but also working with our counterparts 
abroad. And I would seek to do that with all the Members of 
this Committee that have prioritized that as an issue.
    Senator Tester. Thank you all. And I apologize to Senator 
Tillis.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Tester.
    Senator Tillis is recognized remote from his office.
    Senator Tillis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Thank you all for being here. Congratulations on your 
nominations.
    Mr. Estevez, I was Chair of the intellectual property 
subcommittee in Judiciary, now Ranking Member, and for years we 
have had testimony the theft of the Chinese--led by the Chinese 
Communist Party, theft of intellectual property. And we saw 
them double down during the pandemic, trying to steal 
information on central diagnostics, treatments, and cures for 
COVID-19. Can you talk about your vision for how we can be best 
positioned to combat the growing threat of the Chinese 
Communist Party's coordinated efforts to steal our intellectual 
property, and how can we make sure that we preserve American 
innovation?
    Mr. Estevez. Thank you for that, Senator, and I note that 
during my time at the Department of Defense I also worked to 
protect intellectual property of the defense industrial base. 
China is certainly guilty of anticompetitive, coercive 
practices, including intellectual property theft. And I would, 
in my position, use the authorities given to the Commerce 
Department under the Export Control Reform Act to ensure that 
we are not providing technology to China that can be used to 
steal intellectual property and using CFIUS to protect the 
American businesses from Chinese intellectual property theft. I 
will stop there.
    Senator Tillis. Mr. Estevez, also, there was a question 
earlier about export controls. The concern that I have is that 
our European allies and partners do not necessarily share the 
same, or have the same, posture that we do with respect to 
China as an economic threat. Bilateral export controls are the 
best way to go, but given that we may have lukewarm response 
from some of our trading partners and allies, what is your view 
of using unilateral export controls? And, cite any specific 
examples if they are relevant.
    Mr. Estevez. Thank you for that. As you said, Senator, 
multilateral export controls are the most effective. If we do 
not use multilateral export controls it is like damming up half 
the river, as one of my predecessors said.
    With that said, if we need to use a unilateral export 
control to protect a particular technology that is American 
technology from being exported, we will do that in the national 
security look. We do have to balance the risks in doing that 
now. And the follow-up to that would be then to work with our 
allies to bring them--to show them the data around that and 
hopefully bring the multilateral regimes into compliance.
    Senator Tillis. Thank you.
    Ms. Kendler, you are charged with two unique prerogatives, 
protecting national security while also ensuring U.S. 
businesses remain globally competitive. Can you talk a bit 
about how you will execute on these missions and anything else 
you find relevant to ensuring the dual nature of your role? 
And, talk a little bit about your qualifications that put you 
in a good position to execute.
    Ms. Kendler. Thank you, Senator. In terms of my 
qualifications, I have been a national security prosecutor, and 
in that role I look at the theft of trade secrets, as you asked 
Mr. Estevez about, economic espionage, export controls crimes, 
many of which involve countering the threat posed by the 
People's Republic of China.
    In terms of national security threats, we have to also look 
at the complexities of inextricable economic links. And my 
priority would be working both to protect national security and 
to advance our technical edge, if confirmed. I think it is very 
important to aggressively use tools like export controls to 
hold Governments, companies, and individuals accountable for 
their attempts to access U.S. technology to conduct activities 
that undermine our national security interests and those of our 
allies.
    I very much, if confirmed, would like to work with you and 
this Committee to understand your ideas for strengthening the 
export controls regime. And I think we can do both. We can 
accomplish both goals at the same time; we can protect our 
national security and ensure our economic competitiveness. 
Thank you.
    Senator Tillis. Thank you.
    Mr. Steele, last month, you, I believe, posted a Tweet on 
August the 20th that said it would be a huge missed opportunity 
for President Biden to renominate Fed Chair Powell because he 
is a White male. Do you believe it was a huge missed 
opportunity for the President to nominate you as Treasury 
Assistant Secretary given that you are also a White male?
    Mr. Steele. Thank you for the question, Senator. And I 
think it was last year, not last month.
    Senator Tillis. Yes. I am sorry. You are right.
    Mr. Steele. No problem. I think what I was trying to say 
there was very consistent with the colloquy that I had with 
Senator Menendez earlier, which is that I am trying to make the 
point that representation and just inequitable representation 
in policymaking positions in both the public and private 
sectors is extremely important. And I was using that one 
position to make that rhetorical point, and I think that that 
was what I was sort of going for with that statement.
    Senator Tillis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Tillis.
    Senator Warren from Massachusetts is recognized for 5 
minutes.
    Senator Warren. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
    And congratulations to all of you on your nominations.
    The science is clear. Climate change is an existential 
threat to every living thing on this Earth. The climate crisis 
is bearing down on us with accelerating speed. We need bold 
action now.
    Mr. Steele, if confirmed, you will be in charge of the 
office at Treasury that oversees policy for financial 
institutions. From your standpoint, do the largest financial 
institutions directly contribute to the climate crisis?
    Mr. Steele. Thank you for the question, Senator, and I 
share your concerns about the existential crisis that is 
climate change. I would say it is difficult to know because 
there is no standardized reporting right now of financed 
emissions by financial institutions. And I would also say that 
a lot of the largest banks have made net zero commitments or 
commitments to reduce their emissions by 2030, but there is not 
a lot of ``there, there,'' not a lot of details about what they 
are going to do.
    What we do know based upon reports by groups like 
Rainforest Action Network, using publically available data, is 
that the 4 largest U.S. banks provided $976 billion in 
financing to the fossil fuel industry over the last 5 years. So 
it seems like there is some room for improvement.
    Senator Warren. In fact, let me just add to your numbers 
there. During the past 5 years, following the signing of the 
Paris Agreement, the world's biggest banks have put $3.8 
trillion into financing fossil fuel exploration, drilling, and 
trading.
    Now at the same time, some of these very same banks have 
been patting themselves on the back for announcing meaningless 
climate pledges. For example, JPMorgan Chase relies on 
accounting tricks to try to pretend that it has cut the overall 
greenhouse gas emissions associated with its lending. This so-
called ``corporate greenwashing'' lets giant banks get these 
great headlines without doing the serious work that we need to 
protect our environment.
    And in some areas of the financial system the climate 
change threats are becoming even clearer. Take cryptocurrency 
and Bitcoin mining. Proponents of these technologies have 
praised the innovations in this sector, but one of those 
innovations has been a brand new way to consume huge amounts of 
energy for no productive purpose.
    So, Mr. Steele, do banks' investments in fossil fuels put 
consumers, our financial system, and our economy at greater 
risk?
    Mr. Steele. Well, again, Senator, I believe that they do. 
There is one possible risk, which is physical risk, the damage 
caused by increased hurricanes, flooding, wildfires out in my 
home State of California, cold snaps that lead to a shutdown 
and reduced economic activity. There are the potential economic 
consequences of a sudden and disorderly transition in energy 
sources that could devastate communities that rely on 
particular industries, particularly energy-intensive 
industries. Finally, I would also say that even under the 
status quo there is a cost to climate-vulnerable populations 
right now. We know that fenceline and frontline communities are 
damaged by environmentally harmful practices.
    And I would say that all of those issues, those baseline 
economic issues, would be exacerbated if we also at the same 
time had a financial crisis occurring at the same time that we 
had an economic--a climate-induced economic crisis.
    Senator Warren. Well, you know, the Earth's climate is 
truly in crisis, but there is good news. We are not powerless 
here. The Administration has already taken important steps with 
President Biden's Executive order on climate-related financial 
risks. So, Mr. Steele, let me ask you what are some of the 
tools that our regulators have available right there at their 
disposal to mitigate these risks and to ensure that our system 
is protected from climate change?
    Mr. Steele. Well, Senator, as you noted, the President has 
tasked the Financial Stability Oversight Council with 
coordinating its constitutive agencies to report back on the 
work that they are doing through their organic laws that they 
have to ensure the safety and soundness of the banking system 
under the securities laws or the commodities laws. I know that 
some of them have been incorporating climate risk into the 
supervisory practices that they are doing.
    I know you have been a leader on this issue in framing the 
way that Dodd-Frank and some of the other financial reform laws 
could be used to address some of these risks and also, on that 
disclosure issue that I mentioned earlier, in proposing a way 
to standardize the climate risks from public companies. So were 
I to be confirmed, I would look forward to working with you and 
the other Members of the Committee on what that could look 
like, to address the risks of climate change.
    Senator Warren. That sounds really good, and I really do 
think you have identified several very important tools. But I 
also think it is important that we not just have a piecemeal 
approach here. Treasury has a major role to play in 
coordinating among the financial regulators and ensuring that 
we have a comprehensive approach to these risks.
    The time for climate action is now, and I know from your 
work that you take these issues seriously. I look forward to 
working with you on these issues when you are confirmed.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Warren.
    Senator Hagerty from Tennessee is recognized.
    Senator Hagerty. Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Toomey, 
thank you very much for holding this hearing today.
    And I want to thank our panel of nominees for your time and 
for your testimony here today. Each of you at the Commerce 
Department and Treasury Department represent very important 
positions, and I appreciate your presence here today.
    Mr. Estevez, I would like to start with you. You have been 
nominated to lead the Bureau of Industry and Security. It is a 
position that is one of the most important across the 
Government for our strategic competition with the Chinese 
Communist Party. The decisions that you make now can have 
generational impacts, and I am very concerned about the 
national security risks of doing business with CCP-controlled 
entities and national champions.
    And while the Trump administration imposed export controls 
to prevent telecom giant Huawei and its ilk from dominating the 
5G and internet of things arenas here in the U.S., they also 
did it to prevent these companies from accessing sensitive U.S. 
information. I am concerned that the Biden administration 
appears to be moving in a direction that would reverse this 
national security policy, such as his recent decision to grant 
licenses for the sale of auto chips to Huawei.
    So, Mr. Estevez, I would like to start with this question: 
Do you feel that Huawei and other CCP-backed national champions 
pose a national security threat and an economic security threat 
to the United States?
    Mr. Estevez. Senator, thank you for that question. In my 
past role at DoD, I read about Huawei almost every day in my 
morning read. And I would say that Huawei does present a 
national security threat to the United States, and it is my 
understanding that there has been no change in policy regarding 
Huawei. They remain on the Entity List, and they remain under 
scrutiny.
    Senator Hagerty. I appreciate that. As U.S. Ambassador to 
Japan in my previous position, I worked very hard with the 
Japanese Government to get them to, likewise, agree to block 
entities like Huawei from their system so that we could have a 
clean internet system and ability to communicate with our 
allies. Other countries like Australia, New Zealand have 
followed suit. I am hopeful that the U.K. will do the same.
    Mr. Estevez, will you commit to keeping Huawei on the 
Entity List under your tenure?
    Mr. Estevez. I see no reason that Huawei would come off the 
Entity List unless things change, Senator.
    Senator Hagerty. Mr. Estevez, there is a disturbing trend 
that is underway that I have been watching for those companies 
that are on the Entity List making an attempt to restructure 
themselves, to make themselves smaller in a way, to get 
themselves in a position that they could somehow circumvent the 
Entity List itself and get beyond what the designation 
originally intended. Are you aware of this sort of activity?
    Mr. Estevez. Again, Senator, you know, during my time at 
the Department of Defense, I represented the Department on 
CFIUS, and I watched lots of maneuvers by Chinese companies or 
shell companies or split-off companies to try to get around 
U.S. regulatory strictures. And if I am confirmed, I intend to 
keep a close eye on doing that, and we will review repeatedly 
to ensure that we are doing the right things to protect 
national security with regard to the PRC.
    Senator Hagerty. I am pleased to hear you say that. Again, 
I have seen these types of attempts as well. But the effort to 
restructure and ``structure around'' our designations I think 
is something that should be a top priority and a top concern 
should you be confirmed, and I appreciate that.
    I also would like to ask you if you could commit to taking 
a very close look at Huawei's recently spun-off smartphone 
brand called Honor. Based on open-source reporting, do you have 
any opinion on whether Huawei is using this spun-off brand to 
minimize or circumvent Huawei's own designation on the Entity 
List?
    Mr. Estevez. You know, as I just said, I have seen previous 
maneuvers by the Chinese. I, too, read the Washington Post 
article yesterday on Honor, and it is something I will have to 
look at when I get to the Department should I be confirmed. I 
do not have the information in front of me that would give me 
the full picture on that, if you understand.
    Senator Hagerty. I think you share the same concern that I 
do. I hope that you do. And I appreciate your taking a very 
hard look at that.
    And I would also just ask you in closing to commit to being 
as transparent as possible with this oversight committee as you 
progress in your role should you be confirmed, in terms of 
providing regular briefings to us as to how you are evaluating 
those companies that are on the Entity List and how you are 
protecting the United States from CCP-backed companies and 
entities that could threaten our national and economic 
security.
    Mr. Estevez. Senator, as I did in my past positions, I 
certainly believe in the oversight of Congress, and I am happy 
to work with committees to provide transparency to what we are 
doing.
    Senator Hagerty. Thank you, Mr. Estevez.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Hagerty.
    Senator Van Hollen of Maryland is recognized.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member 
Toomey.
    Congratulations to all of you on your nominations. You 
cover a set of very important responsibilities and portfolios. 
And I am not going to have time to address all the issues I 
would like to raise, so I am likely to submit some questions 
for the record.
    In the spirit of bipartisanship, I want to both associate 
myself with the question Senator Warren raised about climate 
risk and the one Senator Hagerty raised with respect to Huawei, 
an issue that we have had bipartisan cooperation and support on 
for some time.
    Ms. Latortue, congratulations on your nomination. In 
addition to serving on this Committee, I serve as the Chairman 
of the Africa Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee, and the first hearing we had in July focused on U.S. 
trade and investment in Africa and the immense opportunities 
for economic development and growth there, both for the people 
of Africa and also export opportunities for American workers 
and businesses.
    As you know, in the next 30 years, the population of the 
continent is expected to double, and one quarter of the world 
is projected to live in Africa by the year 2050. It is also the 
youngest continent in the world, with 60 percent of Africans 
under the age of 25.
    I know you have deep experience in the areas of 
international development and finance given your current role 
on the Millennium Challenge Corporation, where about two-thirds 
of your portfolio involved projects in Africa. So if you could 
just speak for a moment to lessons you have learned there and 
how they can translate into your current position because I 
would like to see us move from simply talking about greater 
investment opportunities in Africa to actually seeing them 
expand.
    Ms. Latortue. Thank you so much, Senator Van Hollen. I 
think you have made the case for shared prosperity very well 
and why the prosperity of the United States is so linked to the 
prosperity of our partners abroad.
    I have learned a lot of lessons at the Millennium Challenge 
Corporation. I will just cite perhaps three today, Senator. The 
first one is the importance of working hand in hand with our 
partners to identify priority needs and priority investments so 
that we can be ensure that they go forward well. So that 
partnership with the countries is really critical.
    The second lesson is that even in the development 
assistance space it is critical to have an eye to what the 
private sector can do. And so working to create the conditions, 
the enabling conditions for private sector investment, which is 
much more plentiful than international assistance will ever be, 
to come in, is a vital role.
    The third lesson I have learned at the MCC and throughout 
my career, frankly, is the importance of accountability and 
rigor. In the very important work of international development, 
it is very important to be clear about the purpose of what we 
are trying to do and to have clear measurements to understand 
whether or not we are achieving our goals and, if not, to 
course-correct as soon as possible. Thank you.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you. And I have some follow-up 
questions for the record, but since I have limited time I want 
to turn to Mr. Steele.
    And congratulations to you as well. I also chair the 
Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government on 
the Appropriations Committee, and part of that portfolio 
includes CDFIs, which in my view are a very important 
instrument of empowering local communities, providing lending 
where others will not lend.
    And as you know, as part of the December legislation we 
passed here, a bipartisan bill, we authorized $9 billion for 
the Emergency Capital Investment Program--that was part of the 
appropriations bill back then--which I hope will provide some 
long-term, patient capital that CDFIs desperately need to serve 
communities.
    With respect to programs like the Small Dollar Loan Program 
and the Capital Magnet Fund, what more do you think that we can 
do to make sure that CDFIs are truly the engine of opportunity 
that they can be? I mean, we are on the way, but there is still 
a lot of potential, I think.
    Mr. Steele. Absolutely, Senator. Thank you very much for 
the question. I could not agree with you more, that these 
institutions that serve low-income communities, both urban and 
rural, are essential to having a financial system that works 
for and serves everyone. And I think the pandemic only 
reinforced that point, that we need to be able to get capital 
and access out to everyone, from the top to the bottom. And 
those investments that Congress appropriated to the CDFI fund I 
think were absolutely critical and essential.
    And that access is not just investments in the institution. 
It is also access to safe, fair, and affordable products. And 
so I look forward to working with you to--if I am fortunate 
enough to be confirmed, to getting inside the Treasury building 
and talk to the great folks at the CDFI fund and in community 
development about what more we might do on that front around 
small dollar products and making the products themselves more 
affordable for working people.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you. Yes, we are following very 
closely the sort of disbursement and use of the emergency funds 
that were provided. I look forward to working with you on that.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Van Hollen.
    My understanding is that Senator Cortez Masto from Nevada 
is remote from her office.
    Senator Cortez Masto. And here.
    Chairman Brown. Welcome.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Can you hear me OK, Mr. Chairman?
    Chairman Brown. Yes, we can. Thank you, Senator Cortez 
Masto.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. Let me just say 
congratulations to all of the nominees. Welcome. Welcome to 
your families who are joining us either virtually or in person.
    Mr. Steele, let me start with you and Ms. Latortue. It is a 
privilege that the U.S. dollar is the world's reserve currency. 
And if confirmed to your positions, how will you ensure that 
the full faith and credit of the United States is protected? 
And, Mr. Steele, let me start with you.
    Mr. Steele. Absolutely, Senator. Thank you very much for 
the question. I think the stability of the financial system and 
the U.S.'s place internationally relies upon our ability to 
meet our commitments and the understanding of the entire world 
that we will make good on those commitments. And so I think it 
is essential that we raise the debt ceiling and ensure that the 
markets are well regulated, safe, and stable so that the world 
really does view us as a safe haven, views the Treasury markets 
as the safest, deepest, most liquid markets in the world, and 
the financial institutions that support them as well.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you.
    Ms. Latortue.
    Ms. Latortue. Thank you very much, Senator, and I would 
very much agree with the importance of your question and also 
with the answer of my fellow nominee. The U.S. dollar is the 
most trusted currency, and it is a matter of U.S. national 
security, U.S. national foreign policy, and our reputation that 
the U.S. always maintains and honors its commitments, and so 
like all the distinguished Members of this Committee, very much 
also following the conversation around the debt ceiling.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. Ms. Latortue, let me 
continue with you. You have written about the gender gap in 
access to financial services, and in 2016, you noted a 
persistent 7 percent gap between men and women who have a 
financial account despite an increase in first-time account 
holders. Can you discuss with the Committee why addressing 
financial inclusion is crucial to supporting U.S. economic 
prosperity and the prosperity of its trading partners around 
the globe?
    Ms. Latortue. Access to financial services, Senator, for 
both--to both individuals and firms is really critical to the 
economic prosperity, both here in the U.S. and abroad. As over 
half of the world's population, ensuring that women also have 
access to a range of financial services, savings very 
importantly, but of course, also credit, insurance, and other 
financial services is critical to their ability to create 
livelihoods for themselves, to be able to have the means to 
send their children to school, and to fully unlock the economic 
potential of half of the world's population and therefore the 
economies of the world.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you.
    And then, Mr. Steele, back to you regarding the child tax 
credit. In Nevada, we have made progress, really helping 
Nevadans be able to access banking services. In 2015, 8.9 
percent of Nevadans' households were unbanked. The latest pre-
COVID data find that 6.3 percent of Nevada's households are 
unbanked. And we are hoping that the expanded child tax credit 
and relief funds help more people get access to affordable 
banking service.
    But, Mr. Steele, my question is to you: How can we connect 
families receiving the child tax credit to banking services?
    Mr. Steele. Well, thank you very much for the question, 
Senator, and I think it ties back into some of the issues that 
I talked about with Senator Van Hollen, which is I think that 
the pandemic really showed the ways in which having a financial 
system to which everyone does not have equal access and is not 
equally included can hamper some of those recovery efforts and 
some other things like the expanded child tax credit. If you 
cannot get the money to people because they do not have an 
account in which you can put the money, then really it hampers 
the effectiveness of that program.
    And so, you know, we have--within Financial Institutions at 
the Treasury, there are a number of programs, including the 
investments in CDFIs and MDIs that Senator Van Hollen 
mentioned. But I would really be interested to get in--were I 
fortunate enough to be confirmed, to get inside the building, 
talk to the folks both in tax policy and within financial 
institutions about what they have seen, what their experiences 
are, what might be improved, but also to work with you and the 
other Members of the Committee on whatever--what other we could 
have learned from the pandemic.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. I look forward to that. 
Count us in, my team, in collaboration on that issue.
    Ms. Kendler, I want to talk a little bit about tourism 
around exports. In 2019, international visitors spent over $200 
million in the United States. This figure accounts for nearly 
10 percent of all U.S. exports. I think it is vital to 
recognize that tourism and travel is a key U.S. export industry 
and that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have severe impacts 
on travel, both domestically and internationally. And we have 
seen that clearly in the State of Nevada. So if confirmed, how 
will your office work to support travel and tourism as one of 
America's key export industries?
    Ms. Kendler. Thank you, Senator. I agree with your opinion 
about the travel and tourism industry. I am not sure that there 
is a role for the Bureau of Industry and Security to play 
there, but certainly I would like to learn more about this 
issue and consider your ideas to connect it to export controls, 
if confirmed. Thank you.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you very much.
    And I notice my time is up. Thank you, everyone. Again, 
congratulations on your nominations.
    Chairman Brown. Thank you, Senator Cortez Masto.
    My understanding is Senator Daines is close to returning. 
He would be recognized next. And Senator Ossoff from Georgia I 
believe might be on the line, remote from his office.
    [No audible response.]
    Chairman Brown. I think that I was mistaken.
    Thank you to the nominees today. Thank you for the vigorous 
participation of the Members of this Committee, for the good 
questions, for the answers. It was a useful discussion. I hope 
we can work together as a Committee to move forward quickly on 
the nomination of these four very qualified Americans to serve.
    For Senators who wish to submit questions for the hearing 
record, those questions are due at the close of business on 
Friday, September 24th. And the nominees, we would like to have 
your responses by noon on Tuesday, September 28th. Thank you 
again for your testimonies.
    With that, the hearing is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 11:28 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
    [Prepared statements, biographical sketches of nominees, 
and responses to written questions supplied for the record 
follow:]
              PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN SHERROD BROWN
    The Committee meets today to consider the nominations of: Alan 
Estevez to be Under Secretary for Industry and Secretary at the 
Department of Commerce; Thea Kendler to be Assistant Secretary for 
Export Control at the Department of Commerce; Alexia Latortue to be 
Assistant Secretary for International Markets at the Department of 
Treasury; and Graham Steele to be Assistant Secretary for Financial 
Institutions at the Department of Treasury.
    We welcome the nominees and their families. We thank you for your 
willingness to serve during this critical time in our Nation's history.
    To the nominees, during your opening statement, please feel free to 
introduce your families and those who have accompanied you here today 
to show support.
    The nominees before us today have the experience and preparation 
they need to take on these unique, important roles.
    If confirmed, each nominee would play a significant role in 
protecting U.S. interests at home and abroad.
    Mr. Estevez would lead the Bureau of Industry and Security at the 
Commerce Department. As Under Secretary for BIS, Mr. Estevez would play 
a pivotal role in helping advance our country's national security, 
foreign policy, and economic objectives by implementing an effective 
export control regime.
    As Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration, Ms. 
Kendler would be responsible for safeguarding our national security by 
overseeing BIS's export licensing system.
    As the Treasury Department's Assistant Secretary for International 
Markets, Ms. Latortue would be responsible for strengthening and 
promoting U.S. interests in global financial and investment markets.
    And, as Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the 
Treasury Department, Mr. Steele would be responsible for coordinating 
financial institution policy, community and economic development, and 
efforts to increase the resiliency of our financial system.
    All four nominees today have an impressive record of public 
service.
    Mr. Estevez spent 36 years at the Department of Defense in various 
roles. From 2013 to 2017, he served as Principal Deputy Under Secretary 
of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. Prior to that 
role, Mr. Estevez served as Assistant Secretary of Defense, focusing on 
logistics and material readiness.
    Earlier in his career, Mr. Estevez served as a Program Manager at 
the U.S. Army Strategic Logistics Agency.
    Welcome to the Committee, Mr. Estevez, and thank you for your many 
years of service to our country.
    Thea Kendler currently serves as a trial attorney in the Department 
of Justice's National Security Division, Counterintelligence and Export 
Control Section. At DOJ, Ms. Kendler investigates and prosecutes crimes 
related to export control and economic espionage.
    Prior to serving at the DOJ, Ms. Kendler served as Senior Counsel 
in the Commerce Department's Office of Chief Counsel for Industry and 
Security, providing legal advice on export controls regulations and 
enforcement.
    We are glad to have you here today, Ms. Kendler, and thank you for 
your public service.
    Alexia Latortue has more than 20 years of experience in 
international development and development finance. She is currently 
Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge 
Corporation--an independent U.S. Government agency working to eradicate 
global poverty.
    From 2013 to 2017, she served in the Obama administration as 
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Development 
Policy, where she worked on inclusive growth and poverty reduction 
through multilateral development banks.
    Ms. Latortue's experience includes serving at international 
financial institutions such as the World Bank and the European Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development.
    Welcome, Ms. Latortue, and thank you for your career of service. 
Glad to have you here today.
    Our final nominee today is Graham Steele.
    Mr. Steele spent more than 7 years in my personal Senate office and 
on the Banking and Housing Committee as a senior, trusted aide. From 
2015 to 2017, Mr. Steele served as Minority Chief Counsel for the 
Committee, where he crafted legislation and provided strategic advice 
and counsel on banking, housing, and national security issues.
    During that time, he worked on a broad set of issues with Chairman 
Crapo and Shelby's staff, as well as the other Republicans and 
Democrats on the Committee. He also worked with a diverse set of 
stakeholders, forging close relationships with civil rights groups, 
consumer advocates, and organizations like the bipartisan Ohio Bankers 
League--who have written in support of his nomination.
    Prior to serving as Chief Counsel, he served as my Staff Director 
of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee 
fighting to protect all Americans' finances.
    And he did vital work during and after the Financial Crisis of 
2008, as we worked to stabilize our financial system. In his work for 
my office, he traveled around Ohio in the years that followed, and 
talked with Ohioans who lost their homes and saw their communities 
devastated by Wall Street's great recession. I know he hasn't forgotten 
those Ohioans, and understands the far-reaching effects the financial 
system has on workers and their families all over the country.
    And I know he has worked closely over the years with many of my 
colleagues and their staff, on both sides of the aisle, to make our 
financial system work for everyone.
    Thank you, Mr. Steele, for your many years of service to this 
Committee, to the people of Ohio, and to our country--welcome back.
    We are grateful to the nominees for appearing here today.
    I look forward to your testimonies.
                                 ______
                                 
            PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR PATRICK J. TOOMEY
    Mr. Chairman, thank you. Mr. Estevez, Ms. Kendler, Ms. Latortue, 
and Mr. Steele, welcome. You've been nominated for important positions.
    Before turning to today's nominees, I'd like to register my 
disappointment that Democrats are still trying to ram through a 
reckless $3.5 trillion tax-and-spending bill, despite reservations from 
members of their own caucus. Given the profound impact of this bill, 
the Republicans on this Committee have requested that we hold hearings 
and a markup. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats have no plans to do that.
    I fear that's because the bill is going to include many flawed 
policies that will harm economic growth and jobs while invading the 
privacy of Americans. These include massively expanding the welfare 
State in an effort to make the middle class dependent on the Federal 
Government, raising taxes on U.S. employers, diminishing investment by 
increasing the capital gains tax rate, increasing the electric vehicle 
tax credit that benefits the wealthy and making this tax giveaway even 
bigger for union-made cars, and giving the IRS, an agency with a 
history of abuse, access to our bank account information.
    Those are just some of the destructive policies being advanced and 
I wish Democrats would allow them to get a full debate here at the 
Committee.
    Now, turning to today's nominees. Mr. Estevez and Ms. Kendler, you 
would serve in Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, known as 
BIS. BIS determines which U.S. goods are too sensitive to be shipped 
abroad.
    In the face of China's drive for dominance in key tech sectors, 
BIS's mission today is as important as ever. By setting U.S. export 
control policy on items used for both civilian and military purposes, 
BIS effectively has the power to reshape the supply chains of entire 
industries.
    That means BIS must craft export controls in a prudent, thoughtful, 
and effective manner that advances U.S. national security interests 
without unduly harming American domestic industry. This challenge is 
typified by
    BIS's efforts to impose congressionally mandated controls on 
``emerging and foundational technologies,'' which I would expect you to 
prioritize.
    BIS is also responsible for Section 232 investigations. This 
statute is intended to prevent the importation of goods to the U.S. 
that threaten national security. Unfortunately, it has recently been 
abused to protect favored domestic industries.
    Does anyone truly think a Volvo station wagon is a national 
security threat, as the last Administration claimed? Tariffs on 
imported goods are taxes paid by American consumers. These taxes weaken 
our economy, threaten American jobs, and erode our credibility with 
other Nations.
    You should urge the president to reverse the last Administration's 
mistakes by removing the current Section 232 tariffs harming our 
relationships with our allies, and stopping the abuse of Section 232.
    Now to the Treasury nominees. Ms. Latortue has been nominated to 
serve as Assistant Secretary for International Markets. This position's 
responsibilities include helping oversee U.S. assistance for developing 
countries.
    Ms. Latortue has considerable experience in this area. But I have 
questions about the priority she's placed on climate change at the 
Millennium Challenge Corporation, known as the MCC.
    According to the MCC's authorizing statute, its assistance is 
supposed to focus on ``achieving lasting economic growth and poverty 
reduction.'' The MCC should prioritize this mission, not other agendas. 
By doing so, it will help developing countries improve their 
environments, as the most prosperous Nations in the world are also the 
``greenest'' ones.
    Finally, Mr. Steele has been nominated to serve as Assistant 
Secretary for Financial Institutions. I appreciate his past service as 
a Committee staffer. But I'm troubled that his nomination is another 
example of President Biden campaigning as a centrist, but governing 
from the far Left.
    Mr. Steele has repeatedly advocated for using extra-legal measures 
to achieve extreme policies. Despite the absence of statutory 
authorization, he has proposed having bank regulators forbid financial 
institutions from making loans to perfectly legal, and economically 
necessary, enterprises in the energy space.
    He's advocated for an aggressively using the Financial Stability 
Oversight Council to designate financial firms as systemically 
important apparently in order to subject them to burdensome 
regulations--including climate regulations--even when it's doubtful 
that they present a systemic risk.
    He's also proposed that Federal agencies radically reinterpret or 
abuse their authorities to withhold FDIC deposit insurance from 
institutions offering products he deems too complex, politicize the Fed 
to pursue a progressive social agenda and to socialize banking by 
having the Federal Government control consumer bank accounts, and 
unilaterally establish a Government-run credit reporting agency within 
the CFPB.
    I'm particularly troubled by these extreme positions, in light of 
Mr. Steele's statements disparaging Republicans. He has referred to 
Republicans as ``callous'' and ``absolutely villainous,'' and suggested 
Republicans only use the ``full force of their investigative and 
procedural power in service of the wealthy and White folks.'' These 
statements raise questions about his temperament, judgment, and 
willingness to work across the aisle.
    Let me close by saying: I disagree with President Biden's nominees 
on policy matters far more often than I agree with them. Nonetheless, 
I've supported multiple nominees and will continue to do so. But there 
are limits to that support.
    I look forward to hearing from today's nominees.
                                 ______
                                 
                 PREPARED STATEMENT OF ALAN F. ESTEVEZ
      To Be Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security
                           September 21, 2021
    Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Toomey, and distinguished Members of 
the Committee, I am honored to appear before you as the nominee to lead 
the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) as the Under Secretary of 
Commerce for Industry and Security at the Department of Commerce.
    I want to thank President Biden and Secretary Raimondo for their 
confidence in nominating me to this critical national security 
position. I also want to thank my wife, Susan Pearson, who is with me 
here to today, for all her support and love, and as I have stated in my 
previous confirmations, for her sage advice and counsel, in all that I 
do. Needless to say, I would not be sitting here before you without her 
support--and sacrifice.
    This is a critical time for our Nation. The COVID-19 pandemic has 
highlighted the fragility of numerous supply chains supporting U.S. 
industries and ordinary Americans across the country. Many of our 
foreign adversaries continue to act in an irresponsible manner, 
including through the diversion of dual use technologies to military 
uses; theft of intellectual property; human rights abuses; and 
anticompetitive, unfair and coercive trade practices. All of these 
activities threaten our values and interests, as well as those of our 
allies and partners.
    BIS has a key role, within the context of a whole-of-Government 
approach, in addressing these threats. Fortunately, Congress, with the 
bipartisan passage of the Export Control Reform Act, or ECRA, in 2018, 
has given BIS important authorities to execute that mission.
    During my long career with the Department of Defense (DoD), I 
operated at the nexus of national security and technology, to include 
overseeing the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and DoD's 
laboratory infrastructure. I also represented the DoD on the Committee 
for Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), where I advocated 
for and helped produce robust responses to attempts to access critical 
technologies.
    As a senior acquisition and logistics official, it was my job to 
ensure that the U.S. Armed Forces were provided with the best weapon 
systems in the world to ensure their ability to defend the United 
States and deter and defeat our adversaries when needed. I view the 
work of BIS from a similar perspective, though rather than providing 
the U.S. military with technological overmatch against our adversaries, 
the mission is to ensure that they do not have access to critical U.S. 
technologies that can harm our national security and foreign policy 
interests.
    If confirmed, I will lead the dedicated professional staff at BIS 
to ensure that our export controls prevent the transfer of sensitive 
U.S. technologies. To do that, I will work to ensure that we are 
appropriately using all the authorities provided under ECRA. As part of 
that process, I will ensure that we execute our due diligence in 
identifying and imposing appropriate controls on those emerging and 
foundational technologies that need protection.
    I also believe it is important to cooperate with our allies and 
partners to build strong export controls, especially in those areas 
where our current multilateral regimes do not currently provide 
adequate protections. If confirmed, I will work with our enforcement 
arm, leveraging all-source intelligence, to ensure that we monitor 
exports and aggressively detect violations of our export controls and 
impose penalties where appropriate. In addition to export controls, I 
will support the Bureau's other important equities, including continued 
efforts to address risks in critical supply chains, reviewing 
transactions before CFIUS, and enforcing our antiboycott requirements. 
Furthermore, I will work with the BIS staff to ensure they have the 
resources to accomplish their mission.
    Finally, I believe it is important for BIS to work constructively 
with Congress. If confirmed, I look forward to working with you and 
your staff as we meet the complex challenges facing BIS and our Nation. 
Thank you for your consideration of my nomination, and I look forward 
to your questions.
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              PREPARED STATEMENT OF THEA D. ROZMAN KENDLER
                 To Be Assistant Secretary of Commerce
                           September 21, 2021
    Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Toomey, Members of the Committee, I 
am honored to appear before you as President Biden's nominee for the 
position of Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration. 
I want to thank the President and Secretary Raimondo for the trust they 
have placed in me with this nomination. I am delighted at the prospect 
of returning to serve the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the 
Commerce Department in this critical role.
    It would not be possible for me to take on the role for which I am 
nominated without the love, support, and encouragement of my family: my 
children Dava and Micah; my husband, Owen; and my father, Gil Rozman, 
who planted the seeds of my international public service career. My 
mother Masha is no longer with us, but I see her legacy in my children, 
and strive in my work to honor her memory as a lawyer, a public 
servant, and a lifelong learner.
    I sit here before you thanks to the good will and the generosity of 
the United States. My grandfather Max Dwosh, who at age 99 is watching 
this hearing online, fled Poland on the eve of the Nazi invasion. The 
family he had to leave behind was murdered. My grandfather survived in 
Russia during the war, performing manual labor. At the war's end, after 
my mother was born, he and his young family left Russia and found a 
haven in the American Displaced Person Camps in Germany before 
immigrating to the United States. My mother went on to a long career as 
a Deputy Attorney General for the great State of New Jersey. My public 
service is inspired by my gratitude to the people and the Government of 
the United States for making my family's survival and success possible.
    It would be an honor to serve my country in this new role, drawing 
on my passion for export controls and experience in national security.
    I began working on export controls in September 2001 in private 
practice, then for 10 years in the Chief Counsel's Office for BIS, and 
for the last 7 years, in the Counterintelligence and Export Control 
Section of the Justice Department's National Security Division.
    As a national security prosecutor, my work has focused on 
dismantling procurement networks, thwarting intelligence threats, and 
deterring economic espionage and other theft of trade secret activities 
aimed at U.S. industry. With respect to matters that are in the public 
record, I am particularly proud of: charging global telecommunications 
company Huawei with operating as a criminal enterprise, stealing trade 
secrets, and defrauding global financial institutions; charging and 
obtaining the extradition of an intelligence officer who sought to 
steal trade secrets from a leading U.S. aviation technology company in 
Ohio; and numerous other cases that held foreign procurement agents 
accountable for their illicit activities. I am extraordinarily 
fortunate for the opportunity to pursue this work, and to do so with 
such dedicated and professional colleagues.
    I believe deeply in the mission of BIS to advance America's 
national security, foreign policy, and economic objectives through 
effective export controls and by maintaining and advancing our 
strategic technological edge. The United States can and should lead in 
export controls, drawing from innovative spirit of our capitalist 
system and the decades we have spent forging relationships with our 
allies. In my 20-year career as an export controls lawyer, BIS's 
mission has never been more relevant, particularly as we compete 
against autocracies for 21st century leadership.
    Chief among these concerns is the need to address the challenges 
posed by efforts to seek U.S. technologies to pursue foreign military 
modernization and other destabilizing activities, while also striving 
to manage this competition responsibly. We must appropriately use all 
available tools to prevent technology transfers to end users and end 
uses that enable strategies and activities that harm our national 
security and foreign policy interests.
    I recognize that all of this important work is part of a whole-of-
Government effort, and I also strongly support close collaboration with 
allies and partners to strengthen our export controls, which are more 
effective when developed and amplified through multilateral regimes and 
plurilateral agreements.
    Finally, I believe it is important for BIS to work constructively 
with this Committee and the Congress as a whole to protect our national 
security and foreign policy interests. If confirmed, I look forward to 
working with you and your staff as we meet the complex challenges 
facing BIS.
    Thank you again for this opportunity to appear before you. I would 
be pleased to answer your questions.
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         PREPARED STATEMENT OF ALEXIA MARIE GABRIELLE LATORTUE
               To Be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
                           September 21, 2021
    Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Toomey, distinguished Members of the 
Committee, it is an honor to appear before you today as the President's 
nominee to be Assistant Secretary for International Markets at the 
Department of the Treasury. I am humbled and thankful for the trust 
President Biden, Vice President Harris, Secretary Yellen, and Deputy 
Secretary Adeyemo have placed in me.
    I used to bring students to the Dirksen Senate Office Building when 
I worked with the Close Up Foundation as a young adult. We spoke about 
the awesome responsibility of public service and of the work of this 
Chamber. Many years later, I am proud to be back and if confirmed, I am 
ready to work hard to the best of my capabilities to advance the 
Treasury Department's ambitious goals, working hand in hand with 
Treasury colleagues and all of you.
    The core mission of the Office of International Affairs at the 
Treasury Department is well aligned with who I am as a professional and 
as a person. Doing my part to help shape a more safe, peaceful, and 
prosperous world has been a constant in my career. Growing up in Togo 
and Cote d'Ivoire, I saw poverty first-hand. It is also where I 
developed the conviction that everyone deserves the opportunity to 
fulfill their potential and to live a life of dignity. From a very 
young age, I knew I wanted to make a difference.
    Early in my career, I swapped theory for exhilarating work with 
communities and Government partners on the ground. I loved the 
operational work on projects funded by USAID and other donors. This 
included living for 3 years in Haiti and working across all continents. 
I have seen the best and the worst of development. It cultivated my 
passion for evidence, accountability and transparency which is integral 
to how I approach all my positions. At the European Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development, I shaped how development finance, 
combined with policy dialogue and technical assistance, can support 
countries' transition to well-functioning market economies. I pressed 
for greater engagement on climate, economic inclusion, and 
digitalization.
    My time in Federal service has been a highlight of my career. For 
nearly 4 years, I led the Treasury Department's international 
development policy work, covering infrastructure finance, debt, 
financial inclusion, and food security. Working closely with strategic 
allies, I negotiated financing and policy packages for the multilateral 
development banks. Today, I am with the Millennium Challenge 
Corporation--a gem that punches above its weight to reduce poverty 
through economic growth in well-governed, low and low middle-income 
countries.
    I grew up imbued in the notion that public service is noble. I was 
expected to think beyond my self-interest to that of my community, 
country, and world. My maternal grandfather was a public servant, 
representing Haiti, including right here in Washington, DC. My father, 
Gerard Latortue, opted to leave Haiti overnight rather than endorse the 
punishing economic policies of a dictator. He ended up in Puerto Rico--
where I was born years later--making a deal at a local university to 
teach economics if they taught him Spanish. I learned about courageous 
leadership and integrity from him. My maternal grandmother and mother, 
Marlene Latortue, lost their husband and father shortly after his 
release as a political prisoner in Haiti. From them, I learned about 
rebounding with grace and quiet strength.
    I would like to recognize my sister, Gaielle Latortue and my 
brother-in-law, George Kabwe, who are here today. They are both 
international civil servants. My sister, Stephanie Latortue-Driza, a 
teacher in the D.C. public school system, is also here. I thank them 
for their love and support and for having made me the luckiest of 
aunts, blessed with my clever, kind, and open-minded nephews and niece, 
Lorenz, Galen, and Graciana. My nomination today is a testament to them 
and to the United States, a country of unparalleled opportunity. We are 
a country where my father's favorite saying rings full of possibility: 
``we are beholden to the impossible.''
    The Department's work is important in the best of times. In these 
extremely challenging times, it is vital. I have seen first-hand how an 
engaged United States is able to deploy its evidence-based approach, 
values, and ideas, to work effectively with allies to tackle the most 
intractable issues that affect our world. Today, these issues include 
the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, rising poverty for 
the first time in 20 years, infrastructure, climate change, energy, 
food security, inequality and promoting a level playing field for 
American firms and workers. Urgent work is needed to stop further 
reversals.
    If I am privileged enough to be confirmed, I commit to working 
closely with this Committee to help put the United States and our 
international partners on a solid economic footing for a future full of 
optimism and hope. It would be an honor to serve with Secretary Yellen, 
Deputy Secretary Adeyemo, and to, once again, work alongside the superb 
and committed public servants at the Treasury Department.
    Thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you today. I 
look forward to answering your questions.
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                 PREPARED STATEMENT OF GRAHAM S. STEELE
               To Be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
                           September 21, 2021
    Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Toomey, and distinguished Members of 
the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today 
and for considering my nomination to be Assistant Secretary of the 
Treasury for Financial Institutions. I am honored to have been 
nominated for this position and I am grateful to President Biden, Vice 
President Harris, Secretary Yellen, Deputy Secretary Adeyemo, and Under 
Secretary Liang for this opportunity.
    If the Committee Members will allow me, I would like to begin on a 
personal note by thanking the members of my family who are here today. 
First, I want to thank my partner, Moira. I would not be the person 
that I am today without her love, support, and moral clarity. She has 
taught me that partnership is about giving, taking, learning, teaching, 
growing, thriving, and changing together. I also want to acknowledge my 
mother, Debbie, who is here, as well my late father, Fritz, who passed 
away in February of last year. They both instilled in me from a very 
young age a desire to always try to do the right thing, do the best 
that I possibly can, and to work for the public good. Last, but not 
least, I want to thank my sister, Lauren, who has always understood and 
supported me in the way that only a lifelong sibling can.
    My career in public service began in the office of Chairman Brown 
in January of 2010. That opportunity and experience changed my life. It 
was an historic moment, as the Banking Committee was in the process of 
drafting the most sweeping financial reforms of the last 80 years in 
the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. I was fortunate to have the 
opportunity to work for Senator Brown who, as the Members and staff of 
this Committee already know, is a brilliant, compassionate, and 
tireless advocate on behalf of working people. In that role, I helped 
Senator Brown oversee the passage and implementation of reforms to make 
our financial system safer and improve our economy, including the 
Senator's tireless effort to support Ohio families facing foreclosure 
in their fight to stay in their homes and to help communities 
devastated by the housing crisis recover.
    I spent the next 4 years as the Staff Director of the Subcommittee 
with jurisdiction over financial institutions and consumer protection, 
including 2 years during which Senator Toomey served as the Ranking 
Member. During that time, I worked closely with consumer and community 
groups to ensure that all Americans have equal access to safe and 
secure financial products, including mortgages, student loans, prepaid 
cards, and small-dollar loans. I also collaborated with a bipartisan 
group of Committee Members, industry groups, regulators, and other 
stakeholders to ensure that the most systemic institutions are well 
regulated, community banks and credit unions are competing on a level 
playing field, and banking and insurance rules are appropriately 
tailored.
    When Senator Brown became the Ranking Member of the Banking 
Committee in 2015, I served as Chief Counsel to the Minority staff, a 
role I held until August of 2017. More recently, as a member of the 
staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and now in my role 
at Stanford Graduate School of Business, I have experienced from a 
close vantage point some of the most pressing financial challenges 
facing our Nation, including housing affordability, financial 
technology, and climate change.
    Finance has always been a personal issue for me, having had some of 
my friends, family, community, and even myself experienced financial 
risks and challenges. The decades-long burden of student loans taken 
out to create an opportunity for a better future. Home equity lines of 
credit tapped in the hopes of filling the gap between household income 
and expenses. Credit card bills embedded with hidden tricks, traps, and 
fees. Jobs lost and retirement nest eggs depleted by a crisis of 
someone else's making. I am acutely aware that the millions of people 
that use our financial system every day are, in the words of Secretary 
Yellen, ``more than just statistics.''
    I believe that this is another consequential historical moment and 
that is why I can think of no greater honor than working with the 
talented, dedicated staff at the United States Department of the 
Treasury. If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed, I would look 
forward to working closely with all the Members of this Committee to 
build a better postpandemic economy, by helping to shape a stable and 
inclusive financial system that works for everyone.
    Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today and I look 
forward to your questions.
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        RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF CHAIRMAN BROWN
                      FROM ALAN F. ESTEVEZ

Q.1. Where have you excelled in past positions in attracting, 
hiring, and promoting people of color in positions in your 
organization/s? Where might there be room for improvement?
    What specific measures will you use to evaluate the success 
of the U.S. Department of Commerce in understanding and 
addressing the needs of Black, Indigenous, and people of color 
(BIPOC)? And, will you work with the Secretary and senior 
officials to keep Congress apprised, as appropriate, on the 
progress being made on these measures?
    What is your plan for creating an inclusive working 
environment for employees within your office?

A.1. I joined Deloitte Consulting as a national security 
strategy and logistics executive in June 2017 after completing 
a 36-year career with the Department of Defense. I served as 
the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, 
Technology & Logistics) from 2013 to 2017, and prior to my last 
appointment, I held several key positions within the Office of 
the Secretary of Defense.
    Throughout my career, I have committed myself to diversity, 
equity, and inclusion in the workplace. I support President 
Biden's ``Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and 
Accessibility in the Federal Workforce'' and ``National 
Security Memorandum on Revitalizing America's Foreign Policy 
and National Security Workforce, Institutions, and 
Partnerships'', and I share President Biden's and Secretary 
Raimondo's commitment to the values of equal opportunity, 
diversity, equity, and inclusion. If confirmed, I will work 
with our leadership team to actively advance equity, civil 
rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity for all employees 
and applicants, by implementing measures to root out systemic 
racism and strengthen civil rights programs while building 
trust within and outside of BIS.

Q.2. Since taking office, the Biden-Harris administration has 
demonstrated a keen awareness of the semiconductor shortage and 
willingness to use its authorities to address this problem, 
including through the 100 Day Supply Chain Report and summits 
at the White House. Ohio workers and companies have been 
particularly hard hit by this shortage. What steps will you 
take to address this problem? Are there any additional 
authorities Congress could provide to assist the 
Administration's ongoing efforts?

A.2. I believe it is critical for the United States to have 
diverse, resilient and secure supply chains in critical areas 
like semiconductors, and that a vibrant domestic semiconductor 
manufacturing capability is an important component of overall 
U.S. competitiveness.
    If confirmed, I will support the Commerce Department's work 
on the President's Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force to 
tackle near-term bottlenecks in the semiconductor industry and 
to strengthen U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing.
    In addition, I understand that, on September 24, 2021, a 
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ``Notice of Request for 
Public Comments on Risks in the Semiconductor Supply Chain'' 
was published in the Federal Register. According to the Notice, 
``[w]ith the goal of accelerating information flow across the 
various segments of the supply chain, identifying data gaps and 
bottlenecks in the supply chain, and potential inconsistent 
demand signals, the Department is seeking responses from 
interested parties (including domestic and foreign 
semiconductor design firms, semiconductor manufacturers, 
materials and equipment suppliers, as well as semiconductor 
intermediate and end-users) to the questions set forth in this 
notice.'' If confirmed, I look forward to supporting any 
appropriate efforts that may follow from this Notice.

Q.3. As you work to address the immediate supply and demand 
issues related to semiconductors, can you provide a status 
update on the report required under Section 9004 of the FY21 
NDAA?

A.3. I take seriously the requirements of the FY21 National 
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and believe in implementing 
the laws passed by Congress. If confirmed, I commit to 
consulting with the staff at BIS and the interagency to 
ascertain the status of the report required under Section 9004 
of the FY21 NDAA.
                                ------                                


        RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR TOOMEY
                      FROM ALAN F. ESTEVEZ

Q.1. Congressional Oversight--Please provide your philosophy on 
how the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the Department 
of Commerce (Commerce) will approach and respond to 
Congressional information requests (both for documentary 
information and oral testimony), if you are confirmed.

A.1. I deeply respect the oversight role of the Senate Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Congress as a 
whole and take the statutory requirements of the Export Control 
Reform Act (ECRA) of 2018 seriously. My understanding is that 
information submitted or obtained in connection with export 
license applications is subject to Section 1761(h) of ECRA, and 
that requests for information protected from disclosure by 
1761(h) of ECRA are honored when appropriately submitted by 
either the Chair or Ranking Member of a committee or 
subcommittee of appropriate jurisdiction. If confirmed, I will 
work diligently to comply, consistent with the constitutional 
and statutory obligations of the Executive branch, with 
appropriately submitted requests by Members of Congress for 
information that is protected from disclosure under Section 
1761(h) of ECRA.

Q.2. If confirmed, do you intend to respond to information 
requests differently depending on who is making the 
Congressional information request (whether it's the chair of 
the Congressional committee, the Ranking Member, or another 
member of Congress)? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If your 
answer is ``yes,'' please explain.

A.2. I deeply respect the oversight role of the Senate Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Congress as a 
whole and will respond to requests for information, consistent 
with the constitutional and statutory obligations of the 
Executive branch. It is my understanding that information 
submitted or obtained in connection with export license 
applications is subject to Section 1761(h) of ECRA, and that 
requests for information protected from disclosure by 1761(h) 
of ECRA are honored when appropriately submitted by the Chair 
or Ranking Member of a committee or subcommittee of appropriate 
jurisdiction.

Q.3. Will you commit that, if confirmed, you will respond in a 
timely manner and fully comply with all information requests 
from me? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If your answer is 
``no,'' please explain.

A.3. If confirmed, I will work diligently to respond, 
consistent with the constitutional and statutory obligations of 
the Executive branch, with requests for information from 
Congress.

Q.4. Will you commit that, if confirmed, you will make yourself 
and any other BIS employee expeditiously available to provide 
oral testimony (including but not limited to briefings, 
hearings, and transcribed interviews) to the Committee on any 
matter within its jurisdiction, upon the request of either the 
Chairman or Ranking Member? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If 
your answer is ``no,'' please explain why.

A.4. If confirmed, I will work diligently to respond, 
consistent with the constitutional and statutory obligations of 
the Executive branch, with requests for information from 
Congress.

Q.5. Commerce Acting Under Secretary for Industry and Secretary 
Jeremy Pelter said in a recent hearing before the U.S.-China 
Economic Security Review Commission that Congress can request 
access to certain BIS information about export license 
applications and rejections. Will you commit to timely and 
comprehensive responses to Congressional requests for this 
information? \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \1\ The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 
Hearing on ``U.S.-China Relations in 2021: Emerging Risks'', September 
8, 2021, https://www.uscc.gov/hearings/us-china-relations-2021-
emerging-risks.

A.5. I deeply respect the oversight role of the Senate Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Congress as a 
whole and will respond to requests for information, consistent 
with the constitutional and statutory obligations of the 
Executive branch. It is my understanding that information 
submitted or obtained in connection with export license 
applications is subject to Section 1761(h) of ECRA, and that 
requests for information protected from disclosure by 1761(h) 
of ECRA are honored when appropriately submitted by the Chair 
or Ranking Member of a committee or subcommittee of appropriate 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
jurisdiction.

Q.6. China--In shaping export control policy, BIS's mission is 
central to the United States' high-tech rivalry with China. Do 
you agree that China's technological, military, and economic 
rise poses one of the greatest current challenges to the safety 
and well-being of the United States?

A.6. Yes. The Government of the People's Republic of China 
(PRC) poses one of our most difficult challenges related to 
U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives, including 
our ability to maintain U.S. technological leadership in 
critical areas.

Q.7. Please detail your understanding of the national security 
threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including 
your assessment of the CCP's military modernization ambitions, 
intellectual property theft campaign, and coercion targeting 
United States allies and partners.

A.7. Many of our foreign adversaries, such as the People's 
Republic of China (PRC) Government, continue to act in an 
irresponsible manner, including through the diversion of dual 
use technologies to military uses; theft of intellectual 
property; human rights abuses; and anticompetitive, unfair and 
coercive trade practices. All of these activities threaten our 
values and interests, as well as those of our allies and 
partners.

Q.8. At your September 21, 2021, nomination hearing, you said: 
``I see no reason that Huawei would come off the Entity List, 
unless things change.'' Please clarify what conditions you 
believe would need to change for BIS to consider removing 
Huawei from the Entity List?

A.8. I believe that Huawei poses a national security threat to 
the United States. Huawei's involvement in alleged sanctions 
violations, ties to China's military, human rights abuses, and 
theft of intellectual property are deeply concerning. Based on 
publicly available information that I know today, I do not see 
a reason to remove Huawei from the Entity List. Furthermore, I 
understand based on public information that the Biden 
administration has not changed its policy regarding 
restrictions on exports to Huawei and that Huawei continues to 
be on the Entity List. If confirmed, I will ensure that BIS 
adheres to the regulatory requirements for removing any party 
from the Entity List, as well as the FY20 National Defense 
Authorization Act (NDAA) that contains additional conditions on 
the removal of Huawei from the Entity List.

Q.9. If a company requests a license or a waiver to export an 
item to Huawei:
    What factors would you weigh in considering such a request?
    What would make you more likely to grant the request?
    What would make you less likely to grant that request?

A.9. My understanding is that the Bureau of Industry and 
Security (BIS) works with its interagency partners to 
consistently apply the licensing policies articulated in the 
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to restrict Huawei's 
access to technology or software for activities that could harm 
U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. All export 
license applications to Huawei are reviewed by the Departments 
of Commerce, Defense, State, and Energy. It is my understanding 
that the licensing policy for exports to Huawei and its listed 
affiliates for items capable of supporting systems, equipment 
or devices at only below the 5G level (e.g., 4G, 3G) are 
reviewed on a case by case basis. All others are reviewed under 
a presumption of denial.

Q.10. A BIS interim final rule, entitled ``Release of 
`Technology' to Certain Entities on the Entity List in the 
Context of Standards Organizations'', issued last year 
authorizes the release of certain technology to Huawei and its 
affiliates on the Entity List without a license if such release 
is made for the purpose of contributing to the revision or 
development of a ``standard'' in a ``standards organization.'' 
\2\ According to reports, Nokia recently opted to suspend its 
activity with the O-Ran Alliance standards organization out of 
concern that some participants were added to the Entity List. 
\3\ This example highlights the lingering confusion over 
whether U.S. companies' participation in technical standards 
development activity is being chilled and, because of that, 
whether U.S. and multinational companies are at risk of losing 
ground in setting global standards to Chinese companies and 
other competitors. If confirmed, how will you address this 
ambiguity and facilitate clarification of navigating 
participation in international standards organizations that 
include entities on the Entity List?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \2\ Federal Register, ``Release of `Technology' to Certain 
Entities on the Entity List in the Context of Standards 
Organizations'', June 18, 2020, https://www.federalregister.gov/
documents/2020/06/18/2020-13093/release-of-technology-to-certain-
entities-on-the-entity-list-in-the-context-of-standards.
     \3\ Matt Kapko, ``Nokia Freezes O-RAN Alliance Work Over Chinese 
Meddling Worries'', SDX Central, Aug. 30, 2021, https://
www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/nokia-freezes-o-ran-alliance-work-
over-chinese-meddling-worries/2021/08/.

A.10. I believe it is important to our national security that 
U.S. companies (and those located in allied countries) 
participate in standards organizations to help develop the 
standards that guide the interoperability and functionality of 
many types of technologies, including those related to the open 
radio access network technologies represented by the O-RAN 
Alliance. The Department of Commerce continually evaluates its 
export controls to protect U.S. national security and foreign 
policy interests, including technology leadership in 
international standards development. For example, the 
Department previously exempted releases to Huawei of technology 
subject to EAR99 or controlled on the Commerce Control List 
only for antiterrorism reasons through standards organization 
and if released for the purpose of contributing to the revision 
or development of a standard. As noted in the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB)'s Unified Regulatory Agenda, the 
Commerce Department is preparing a revision to the Export 
Administration Regulations (EAR) to clarify the applicability 
of the EAR to releases of technology for standards setting or 
development in standards organizations. Finally, it is my 
understanding based on public information that no penalties 
have been imposed upon parties in connection with standards 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
development.

Q.11. Emerging and Foundational Technologies--The Export 
Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA) mandates BIS to identify and 
control emerging and foundational technologies. Please describe 
how you will go about implementing this provision. Will you 
commit to prioritizing the expeditious implementation of this 
provision?

A.11. If confirmed, I will prioritize identifying and 
implementing appropriate controls on exports of emerging and 
foundational technologies, consistent with the Export Control 
Reform Act (ECRA) of 2018. In addition, I will work to identify 
such technologies based on the criteria provided in Section 
1758(a)(2)(B) of ECRA, which requires that the interagency 
effort take into account: (i) the development of emerging and 
foundational technologies in foreign countries, (ii) the effect 
export controls imposed on emerging and foundational 
technologies may have on the development of such technologies 
in the United States, and (iii) the effectiveness of export 
controls on limiting the proliferation of emerging and 
foundational technologies to foreign countries.

Q.12. In your preparation for this nomination, have you found 
an explanation for why, in the 3 years since ECRA was passed, 
the only action taken regarding foundational technologies is a 
request for public comment released on August 27, 2020? \4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \4\ Federal Register, ``Identification and Review of Controls for 
Certain Foundational Technologies'', August 27, 2020, https://
www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/08/27/2020-18910/identification-
and-review-of-controls-for-certain-foundational-technologies.

A.12. If confirmed, I will prioritize identifying and 
implementing appropriate controls on exports of emerging and 
foundational technologies, consistent with the Export Control 
Reform Act (ECRA) of 2018. I have not been serving in the 
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) since the enactment of 
ECRA and therefore do not have all the information necessary to 
make the most accurate and complete judgment about BIS's 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
progress to date in this area.

Q.13. What steps would you take to ensure the process to 
identify and control emerging and foundational technologies is 
as efficient and timely as possible?

A.13. If confirmed, I will prioritize identifying and 
implementing appropriate controls on exports of emerging and 
foundational technologies, consistent with the Export Control 
Reform Act (ECRA) of 2018. I will work to identify such 
technologies based on the criteria provided in Section 
1758(a)(2)(B) of ECRA, which requires that the interagency 
effort take into account: (i) the development of emerging and 
foundational technologies in foreign countries, (ii) the effect 
export controls imposed on emerging and foundational 
technologies may have on the development of such technologies 
in the United States, and (iii) the effectiveness of export 
controls on limiting the proliferation of emerging and 
foundational technologies to foreign countries. I will make 
every effort to implement this mandate from ECRA appropriately 
and in a timely manner.

Q.14. Please list what factors you will take into consideration 
when considering applying controls on foundational technologies 
for which the United States is not the only potential source.

A.14. The issue of foreign availability is one example of an 
important consideration in the process for identifying and 
implementing appropriate controls on foundational technologies. 
Because such technologies are already in production, there are 
often developers and producers of such technologies in foreign 
countries, thereby making new unilateral controls less 
effective. Additionally, foundational technology candidates can 
be former multilaterally controlled items that have been 
decontrolled, many times because of widespread foreign 
availability outside of regime members. As a result, changes in 
controls for foundational technologies should be carefully 
calibrated.

Q.15. Will you commit to submitting to Congress, in a 
classified environment, quarterly summaries of technology 
control decisions and the process behind them? If not, by what 
metric, in your view, should Congress assess BIS' progress in 
implementing ECRA going forward?

A.15. If confirmed, I will work diligently to respond, 
consistent with the constitutional and statutory obligations of 
the Executive branch, to requests for information and briefings 
from Congress.

Q.16. Developing export controls on foundational and emerging 
technologies requires significant subject matter expertise in 
order to craft appropriate and impactful regulations.
    Based on your understanding, does BIS have the necessary 
technical expertise to carry out this function?
    If it does not, how would you address this issue?

A.16. At this time and based on my understanding from publicly 
available information, I currently have no reason to doubt that 
BIS has the necessary technical expertise to identify and 
implement appropriate controls on emerging and foundational 
technologies. However, I think it is also important that BIS 
identify any other experts in the U.S. Government focused on 
certain technologies to contribute to this important review. If 
confirmed, I will rely upon BIS's expert staff and those in 
other agencies to enhance my technical knowledge and support my 
decision making with regard to identifying and implementing 
appropriate controls on emerging and foundational technologies.

Q.17. Section 232 Investigations--The previous administration 
failed to publicly release several of their Section 232 
investigation reports, despite being statutorily mandated to do 
so. The Biden administration agreed to comply with the law and 
release the overdue reports in Spring-Summer 2021. Do you agree 
that, in a Section 232 investigation, the Executive branch 
should be obligated to publicly release its Congressionally 
mandated 232 report prior to the imposition of remedies?

A.17. If confirmed, I will comply with the requirements of 
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, 
regarding the public release of Section 232 investigation 
reports.

Q.18. Do you believe carbon emissions are a threat to national 
security?

A.18. The Defense Department has identified climate change as a 
critical national security threat. Carbon emissions, being one 
of the leading causes of climate change, are therefore an 
ongoing threat to our national security.

Q.19. Section 232 tariffs on imported goods are taxes paid by 
American consumers. These taxes weaken our economy, threaten 
American jobs, and erode our credibility with other Nations. 
The previous administration's Section 232 tariffs on steel and 
aluminum, which were imposed under the false pretense of 
national security, have directly and negatively impacted my 
constituents. They have greatly increased costs for American 
importers and consumers. Do you agree that the U.S. should 
remove our existing Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum?

A.19. Section 232 investigations are initiated to determine the 
effects of imports of any articles on U.S. national security. 
Like any tool, Section 232 should be used carefully and based 
on the criteria in the statute. My understanding based on 
publicly available information is that the Biden administration 
is currently reviewing Section 232 measures and product and 
country exclusions and is working with the European Union (EU) 
to cooperatively address global excess capacity in steel and 
aluminum and to hold countries, such as China, accountable for 
their trade-distorting policies.

Q.20. Export Controls--Export controls are generally most 
effective when implemented in a multilateral fashion with a 
small group of allied Nations, thereby preventing the very 
technology being controlled by the United States from being 
available from foreign sources.
    Will you commit to working with our allies, particularly 
Governments with semiconductor suppliers, and proceeding in a 
multilateral manner, to the extent possible, as an important 
way to advance U.S. foreign policy and national security goals?
    In particular, will you commit to working with U.S. allies 
to convince them to agree to impose similar controls on 
specific end users and end uses so that such controls are 
imposed not only by the United States on U.S. exporters?

A.20. I agree with the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) of 2018 
Statement of Policy, Section 1752(5), which states that 
``[e]xport controls should be coordinated with the multilateral 
export control regimes. Export controls that are multilateral 
are most effective, and should be tailored to focus on those 
core technologies and other items that are capable of being 
used to pose a serious national security threat to the United 
States and its allies.'' Furthermore, when the multilateral 
regimes cannot achieve U.S. export control objectives, BIS 
should work on a plurilateral basis with likeminded countries. 
I also support the working group on export controls that is 
part of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC). In 
addition, BIS should continue bilateral discussions with allied 
countries, especially those supplier countries of certain 
technologies of concern, to coordinate on common controls and 
policies.
    If confirmed, I will work to share information and reach an 
understanding with our allies on coordinating license review 
policy for various types of technologies and seek to have them 
take into account BIS's restricted party lists when evaluating 
whether to approve a license. I believe that engagement with 
allies is critical to the long-term success of our efforts to 
address national security and foreign policy concerns related 
to adversaries like the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Q.21. Tight unilateral controls on items for which the United 
States may be the only source, have the strong potential of 
driving research and development (R&D), and ultimately 
production, offshore. In the past, very restrictive U.S. 
controls contributed to robust foreign competition in sectors 
like machine tools, commercial use of space, and commercial 
thermal imaging. Under what circumstances would you consider 
applying a unilateral control on a good or technology? Please 
describe the criteria you would use in your analysis when 
considering the application of a unilateral control.

A.21. I agree with Section 1752(6) of the Export Control Reform 
Act (ECRA) of 2018, which states that ``[e]xport controls 
applied unilaterally to items widely available from foreign 
sources generally are less effective in preventing end-users 
from acquiring those items. Application of unilateral export 
controls should be limited for purposes of protecting specific 
United States national security and foreign policy interests.'' 
Unilateral controls should be directly tied to important 
national security or foreign policy concerns and used when 
effective multilateral or plurilateral controls cannot be 
achieved.

Q.22. By setting U.S. export control policy on items used for 
both civilian and military purposes, BIS effectively has the 
power to reshape the supply chains of entire industries and, in 
some circumstances, impose significant burdens on the economy. 
Not only is industry significantly impacted by export controls, 
it is often at the forefront of cutting edge research and 
technologies. Will you commit to consulting industry 
stakeholders and maintaining an open channel of dialogue with 
the business community?

A.22. Yes.

Q.23. Will you commit to a process that, except in 
extraordinary circumstances, provides industry and other 
stakeholders with reasonable opportunities to comment, and 
provides stakeholders with adequate notice and time to comply?

A.23. Yes.

Q.24. U.S. goods have been exported through third countries for 
eventual use in embargoed States like Iran. Iran has long 
sought to acquire sensitive military hardware from the United 
States through the use of front companies and other schemes 
meant to avoid detection. If confirmed, what steps will you 
undertake to stop the flow of unauthorized U.S. goods to Iran 
and other terror-supporting countries such as North Korea and 
Syria?

A.24. If confirmed, I will use all the tools available at BIS 
to prevent the transfer of sensitive U.S. technologies to State 
Sponsors of Terrorism and other countries and entities of 
concern that threaten U.S. national security and foreign policy 
interests, and to leverage all-source intelligence and 
collaboration with other relevant agencies to detect and deter 
efforts to circumvent export control restrictions.

Q.25. Semiconductors--If Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce 
Semiconductors for America Act (CHIPS Act) funds are 
appropriated during this Congress, what role should BIS play in 
the administration of this new $52 billion intended to ensure 
the resilience of the U.S. supply chain of semiconductors?

A.25. I believe it is critical for the United States to have 
diverse, resilient and secure supply chains in critical areas 
like semiconductors, and that a vibrant domestic semiconductor 
manufacturing capability is an important component of overall 
U.S. competitiveness. If confirmed, I will appropriately use 
the tools and authorities available at BIS to assist in the 
review of risks in the U.S. semiconductor supply chain to help 
protect U.S. resilience in this critical industry. Furthermore, 
I will work as appropriate with BIS staff and across the 
Commerce Department to help implement any investments 
authorized by Congress to shore up our domestic supply chain.

Q.26. Anti-Boycott Compliance--Through the Office of Anti-
Boycott Compliance, BIS leads the enforcement of antiboycott 
laws to counter malign foreign boycott campaigns. If confirmed, 
do you commit to fully enforcing U.S. antiboycott laws and to 
discouraging foreign counterparts from participating in the 
boycott of Israel?

A.26. The antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration 
Regulations (EAR), 15 CFR Part 760 (2021), prohibit, among 
other activities, a United States person, acting in the 
interstate or foreign commerce of the United States and with 
intent to further or support an unsanctioned foreign boycott, 
from refusing to do business with or in a boycotted country or 
with a resident or national of a boycotted country pursuant to 
a request or requirement of a boycotting country. See Section 
760.2(a) of the EAR.
    My understanding is that the Bureau of Industry and 
Security (BIS) Office of Antiboycott Compliance (OAC) is 
committed to vigorous investigation and robust enforcement of 
the antiboycott provisions of the EAR. To that end, OAC 
analyzes any activities, including alleged refusals to do 
business, that might implicate these provisions. If confirmed, 
I will ensure that OAC closely monitors for any report of 
potential or actual boycott activity that might constitute a 
violation of the antiboycott provisions of the EAR and, when 
the facts and circumstances warrant, initiates appropriate 
action to hold violators accountable.

Q.27. Answering Questions for the Record--Please describe with 
particularity the process by which you answered these questions 
for the record, including identifying who assisted you in 
answering these questions along with a brief description of 
their assistance.

A.27. I was an active participant in drafting the responses to 
these questions, with assistance from staff of the Commerce 
Department and the interagency as appropriate.
                                ------                                


               RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF
             SENATOR MENENDEZ FROM ALAN F. ESTEVEZ

Q.1. Mr. Estevez, the President, as a candidate, promised that 
he would return the jurisdiction of the export licensing of 
semiautomatic weapons from the Commerce Department back to the 
Department of State, from which the Trump administration took 
it. This the President can do by simple regulation, without the 
need for legislative approval. Until that happens, however, the 
Department is providing no information to the Congress as to 
what lethal weapons, including sniper rifles and assault 
rifles, are being sold to what countries, foreign person, in 
what quantities and under what conditions, if any.
    Do you agree that the President made a campaign promise as 
a candidate to return the export control jurisdiction over 
semiautomatic weapons, including assault rifles and sniper 
rifles, to the Department of State?
    Has a decision been made by the President, personally, 
regarding the fulfillment of his campaign promise? If not, will 
the final decision be put to the President to decide? If not, 
why not, and who made the decision to not put the issue before 
the President?
    Why has the Department of Commerce not alerted the 
Congress, and the SFRC specifically, to pending exports of 
semiautomatic weapons, including assault rifles and sniper 
rifles? Will the Department of Commerce do so? And when?
    How many semiautomatic weapons, including assault rifles 
and sniper rifles, has the Department of Commerce authorized 
for export, to what countries, in what amounts, since the 
export jurisdiction of such weapons was transferred from the 
Department of State?

A.1. On January 23, 2020, the Department of Commerce published 
a final rule (in conjunction with a Department of State final 
rule) to revise Categories I (firearms, close assault weapons 
and combat shotguns), II (guns and armaments), and III 
(ammunition/ordnance) of the U.S. Munitions List (USML) and to 
transfer items that no longer warrant control on the USML to 
the Commerce Control List (CCL). Those changes went into effect 
on March 9, 2020, with the exception of moving jurisdiction 
from State to Commerce over certain software and technology 
related to 3D-printed gun files. At the conclusion of 
litigation, as of late May of this year, the Commerce 
Department now has regulatory jurisdiction over that type of 
technology or software, which is subject to export license 
requirements even if it is made publicly available on the 
Internet.
    I understand that in this transfer of jurisdiction, no 
firearms were decontrolled. Under the January 2020 Commerce 
rule which is in effect, Commerce's regulations generally 
require an export license for the firearms over which export 
jurisdiction was transferred, as well as technology for the 
development, production, operation, installation, maintenance, 
repair, or overhaul of those firearms. The Departments of 
Defense and State review license applications to export these 
firearms and related technology and software. They and Commerce 
carefully consider the national security, regional security, 
and foreign policy, including human rights, implications of all 
proposed exports subject to the Export Administration 
Regulations (EAR). Furthermore, Commerce regulations would 
specifically require a license for the internet posting of 
software or technology ready for insertion into additive 
manufacturing equipment or other tools to produce a complete 
firearm or firearm frame or receiver.
    In addition to these frontend restrictions, Commerce's 125 
Export Enforcement agents are Federal law enforcement officers 
whose sole mission is to ensure that U.S.-origin technology is 
not diverted to activities that would be contrary to U.S. law, 
or to national security or foreign policy interests.
    My understanding is that this transfer of jurisdiction 
began under the Obama administration with the dual goals of 
allowing the State Department to focus its resources on the 
export of defense articles that provide a significant critical 
military or intelligence advantage gathering benefit and to 
provide regulatory relief for certain low level items that do 
not warrant State Department control. Those firearms with a 
with a critical military or intelligence advantage or, in the 
case of weapons, have an inherently military function 
significant military applicability remained under State 
Department licensing jurisdiction. The second goal of this 
process was to provide regulatory relief to industry and ease 
the ability to service existing defense products that were 
previously exported.
                                ------                                


        RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR SCOTT
                      FROM ALAN F. ESTEVEZ

Q.1. In 2018, Congress included in the FY19 NDAA an update to 
our export control laws giving the Department of Commerce the 
ability to facilitate trade and commerce, while also 
prioritizing national security oversight.
    Our world is changing. And some of our global competitors 
have begun imposing their presence on the world stage and 
finding ways around U.S. sanctions.
    The last Administration understood that fact, which is why 
they imposed controls on companies like Huawei, including using 
the Foreign Direct Rule.
    Do you agree that using the Foreign Direct Product Rule on 
Huawei was effective in stemming its access to critical 
technology and preventing the spread of its 5G equipment in 
partner countries?
    Understanding the vital need to facilitate trade that 
benefits the entire U.S. economy, what quantitative and 
qualitative benchmarks will you set within BIS to address the 
total breakdown between China's private sector and the Chinese 
Communist Party and its military through Military-Civil Fusion?
    If confirmed, will you commit to voluntarily and regularly 
providing this Committee with data and information pertaining 
to the successes and challenges--including through licensing 
decisions, emerging and foundational technology controls, and 
Entity List designations--of maintaining such a vital balance 
in implementing BIS statutory export control functions?

A.1. My understanding is that the Bureau of Industry and 
Security (BIS) works with its interagency partners to 
consistently apply the licensing policies articulated in the 
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to restrict Huawei's 
access to technology or software for activities that could harm 
U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. All export 
license applications to Huawei are reviewed by the Departments 
of Commerce, Defense, State, and Energy. The licensing policy 
for exports to Huawei and its listed affiliates for items 
capable of supporting systems, equipment or devices at only 
below the 5G level (e.g., 4G, 3G) are reviewed on a case by 
case basis. All others are reviewed under a presumption of 
denial.
    It is also my understanding that in August of 2020, BIS 
extended the scope of the Foreign Direct Product Rule with 
respect to Huawei entities to require a license for reexports 
and transfers of foreign-produced items that are either (i) the 
direct product of certain U.S. or foreign software or 
technology subject to BIS jurisdiction or (ii) produced from 
equipment that itself is the direct product of certain U.S.-
origin technology or software. In effect, this has imposed a 
license requirement for many foreign-made items for 
transactions involving Huawei. I believe the FDPR is an 
important tool in protecting our national security and foreign 
policy interests. If confirmed, I will work diligently to 
ensure that companies fully comply with the FDPR and all other 
obligations under the EAR.
    I am deeply concerned about the People's Republic of 
China's (PRC) efforts to seek U.S. technologies to further its 
military modernization, such as through diverting items from 
civilian to military applications (i.e., its military-civil 
fusion strategy), creating illicit procurement networks, and 
stealing intellectual property, among other destabilizing 
activities. If confirmed, I appropriately use the authorities 
of BIS under the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) of 2018 to 
protect our national security and foreign policy interests 
while strengthening our technological innovation and 
leadership.
    Lastly, I deeply respect the oversight role of the Senate 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Congress 
as a whole and will respond to requests for information, 
consistent with the constitutional and statutory obligations of 
the Executive branch. It is my understanding that information 
submitted or obtained in connection with export license 
applications is subject to Section 1761(h) of ECRA, and that 
requests for information protected from disclosure by 1761(h) 
of ECRA are honored when appropriately submitted by the Chair 
or Ranking Member of a committee or subcommittee of appropriate 
jurisdiction.
                                ------                                


        RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF CHAIRMAN BROWN
                  FROM THEA D. ROZMAN KENDLER

Q.1. Where have you excelled in past positions in attracting, 
hiring, and promoting people of color in positions in your 
organization/s? Where might there be room for improvement?
    What specific measures will you use to evaluate the success 
of the U.S. Department of Commerce in understanding and 
addressing the needs of Black, Indigenous, and people of color 
(BIPOC)? And, will you work with the Secretary and senior 
officials to keep Congress apprised, as appropriate, on the 
progress being made on these measures?
    What is your plan for creating an inclusive working 
environment for employees within your office?

A.1. I began working on export controls in September 2001 in 
private legal practice, then for 10 years in the Chief 
Counsel's Office for the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), 
and for the last 7 years, in the Counterintelligence and Export 
Control Section of the Justice Department's National Security 
Division. Throughout my career, I have committed myself to 
diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.
    I support President Biden's ``Executive Order on Diversity, 
Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce'' 
and ``National Security Memorandum on Revitalizing America's 
Foreign Policy and National Security Workforce, Institutions, 
and Partnerships'', and I share President Biden's and Secretary 
Raimondo's commitment to the values of equal opportunity, 
diversity, equity, and inclusion. If confirmed, I will work 
with our leadership team to actively advance equity, civil 
rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity for all employees 
and applicants, by implementing measures to root out systemic 
racism and strengthen civil rights programs while building 
trust within and outside of BIS.
                                ------                                


        RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR TOOMEY
                  FROM THEA D. ROZMAN KENDLER

Q.1. Congressional Oversight--Please provide your philosophy on 
how the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Export 
Administration at the Department of Commerce (Commerce) will 
approach and respond to Congressional information requests 
(both for documentary information and oral testimony), if you 
are confirmed.

A.1. I respect the oversight role of the Senate Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Congress as a 
whole, and take the statutory requirements of the Export 
Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA) seriously. My understanding 
is that information submitted or obtained in connection with 
export license applications is subject to Section 1761(h) of 
ECRA, and that requests for information protected from 
disclosure by 1761(h) of ECRA are honored when appropriately 
submitted by either the Chair or Ranking Member of a committee 
or subcommittee of appropriate jurisdiction. If confirmed, I 
will work diligently to expeditiously comply with appropriately 
submitted requests by Members of Congress consistent with the 
constitutional and statutory obligations of the Executive 
branch.

Q.2. If confirmed, do you intend to respond to information 
requests differently depending on who is making the 
Congressional information request (whether it's the chair of 
the Congressional committee, the Ranking Member, or another 
member of Congress)? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If your 
answer is ``yes,'' please explain.

.A.2. I deeply respect the oversight role of the Senate 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Congress 
as a whole and will respond to requests for information, 
consistent with the constitutional and statutory obligations of 
the Executive branch. It is my understanding that information 
submitted or obtained in connection with export license 
applications is subject to Section 1761(h) of Export Control 
Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA), and that requests for information 
protected from disclosure by 1761(h) of ECRA are honored when 
appropriately submitted by the Chair or Ranking Member of a 
committee or subcommittee of appropriate jurisdiction.

Q.3. Will you commit that, if confirmed, you will respond in a 
timely manner and fully comply with all information requests 
from me? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If your answer is 
``no,'' please explain.

A.3. If confirmed, I will work diligently to respond, 
consistent with the constitutional and statutory obligations of 
the Executive branch, to requests for information from 
Congress.

Q.4. Will you commit that, if confirmed, you will make yourself 
and any other Office of the Assistant Secretary for Export 
Administration employee expeditiously available to provide oral 
testimony (including but not limited to briefings, hearings, 
and transcribed interviews) to the Committee on any matter 
within its jurisdiction, upon the request of either the 
Chairman or Ranking Member? Please answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' If 
your answer is ``no,'' please explain why.

A.4. If confirmed, I will work diligently to respond, 
consistent with the constitutional and statutory obligations of 
the Executive branch, to requests for information from Congress

Q.5. Commerce Acting Under Secretary for Industry and Secretary 
Jeremy Pelter said in a recent hearing before the U.S.-China 
Economic Security Review Commission that Congress can request 
access to certain BIS information about export license 
applications and rejections. Will you commit to timely and 
comprehensive responses to Congressional requests for this 
information? \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \1\ The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 
Hearing on ``U.S.-China Relations in 2021: Emerging Risks'', September 
8, 2021, https://www.uscc.gov/hearings/us-china-relations-2021-
emerging-risks.

A.5. I respect the oversight role of the Senate Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Congress as a 
whole and will respond to requests for information, consistent 
with the constitutional and statutory obligations of the 
Executive branch. It is my understanding that information 
submitted or obtained in connection with export license 
applications is subject to Section 1761(h) of the Export 
Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA), and that requests for 
information protected from disclosure by 1761(h) of ECRA are 
honored when appropriately submitted by the Chair or Ranking 
Member of a committee or subcommittee of appropriate 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
jurisdiction.

Q.6. China--In shaping export control policy, BIS's mission is 
central to the United States' high-tech rivalry with China. Do 
you agree that China's technological, military, and economic 
rise poses one of the greatest current challenges to the safety 
and well-being of the United States?

A.6. Yes. The Government of the People's Republic of China 
(PRC) poses one of the most difficult challenges for U.S. 
national security and foreign policy objectives, including our 
ability to maintain U.S. technological leadership in critical 
areas.

Q.7. Please detail your understanding of the national security 
threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including 
your assessment of the CCP's military modernization ambitions, 
intellectual property theft campaign, and coercion targeting 
United States allies and partners.

A.7. Many of our foreign adversaries, such as the Government of 
the People's Republic of China (PRC), act in an irresponsible 
manner, including through: diversion of dual use technologies 
to military uses; theft of intellectual property; human rights 
abuses; and anticompetitive, unfair and coercive trade 
practices. These activities threaten our national security, 
foreign policy, and economic security, as well as that of our 
allies and partners.

Q.8. If a company requests a license or a waiver to export an 
item to Huawei:
    What factors would you weigh in considering such a request?
    What would make you more likely to grant the request?
    What would make you less likely to grant that request?

A.8. My understanding is that the Bureau of Industry and 
Security (BIS) works with its interagency partners to 
consistently apply the licensing policies articulated in the 
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to restrict Huawei's 
access to technology or software for activities that could harm 
U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. All export 
license applications for exports to Huawei are reviewed by the 
Departments of Commerce, Defense, State, and Energy. Based on 
publicly available information, It is my understand that the 
policy for license applications involving exports to Huawei and 
its listed affiliates for items capable of supporting systems, 
equipment, or devices below the 5G level (e.g., 4G and 3G) are 
reviewed by the interagency on a case by case basis. All other 
license applications are reviewed under a presumption of 
denial.

Q.9. A BIS interim final rule, entitled ``Release of 
`Technology' to Certain Entities on the Entity List in the 
Context of Standards Organizations'', issued last year 
authorizes the release of certain technology to Huawei and its 
affiliates on the Entity List without a license if such release 
is made for the purpose of contributing to the revision or 
development of a ``standard'' in a ``standards organization.'' 
\2\ According to reports, Nokia recently opted to suspend its 
activity with the O-Ran Alliance standards organization out of 
concern that some participants were added to the Entity List. 
\3\ This example highlights the lingering confusion over 
whether U.S. companies' participation in technical standards 
development activity is being chilled and, because of that, 
whether U.S. and multinational companies are at risk of losing 
ground in setting global standards to Chinese companies and 
other competitors. If confirmed, how will you address this 
ambiguity and facilitate clarification of navigating 
participation in international standards organizations that 
include entities on the Entity List?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \2\ Federal Register, ``Release of `Technology' to Certain 
Entities on the Entity List in the Context of Standards 
Organizations'', June 18, 2020, https://www.federalregister.gov/
documents/2020/06/18/2020-13093/release-of-technology-to-certain-
entities-on-the-entity-list-in-the-context-of-standards.
     \3\ Matt Kapko, ``Nokia Freezes O-RAN Alliance Work Over Chinese 
Meddling Worries'', SDX Central, Aug. 30, 2021, https://
www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/nokia-freezes-o-ran-alliance-work-
over-chinese-meddling-worries/2021/08/.

A.9. I believe it is important to our national security that 
U.S. companies (and those in allied countries) participate in 
standards organizations to help develop the standards that 
guide the interoperability and functionality of many types of 
technologies, including those related to the open radio access 
network technologies represented by the O-RAN Alliance. The 
Department of Commerce continually evaluates its export 
controls to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy 
interests, including technology leadership in international 
standards development. For example, I understand the Department 
previously exempted releases--through standards organizations 
and for the purpose of contributing to the revision or 
development of a standard--to Huawei of low-level of technology 
designated as to EAR99 or listed on the Commerce Control List 
for Anti-Terrorism (AT) reasons only. As noted in the Office of 
Management and Budget's (OMB)'s public Unified Regulatory 
Agenda, the Commerce Department is preparing a revision to the 
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to clarify the 
applicability of the EAR to releases of technology for 
standards-setting or development in standards organizations. It 
is my understanding based on public information that no export 
enforcement penalties have been imposed upon parties in 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
connection with standards development.

Q.10. Emerging and Foundational Technologies--The Export 
Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA) mandates BIS to identify and 
control emerging and foundational technologies. Please describe 
how you will go about implementing this provision. Will you 
commit to prioritizing the expeditious implementation of this 
provision?

A.10. If confirmed, I will prioritize identifying and 
implementing appropriate controls on exports of emerging and 
foundational technologies, consistent with the Export Control 
Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA). In addition, I will work to identify 
such technologies based on the criteria provided in Section 
1758(a)(2)(B) of ECRA, which requires that the interagency 
effort take into account: (i) the development of emerging and 
foundational technologies in foreign countries, (ii) the effect 
export controls imposed on emerging and foundational 
technologies may have on the development of such technologies 
in the United States, and (iii) the effectiveness of export 
controls on limiting the proliferation of emerging and 
foundational technologies to foreign countries.

Q.11. In your preparation for this nomination, have you found 
an explanation for why, in the 3 years since ECRA was passed, 
the only action taken regarding foundational technologies is a 
request for public comment released on August 27, 2020? \4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \4\ Federal Register, ``Identification and Review of Controls for 
Certain Foundational Technologies'', August 27, 2020, https://
www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/08/27/2020-18910/identification-
and-review-of-controls-for-certain-foundational-technologies.

A.11. If confirmed, I will prioritize identifying and 
implementing appropriate controls on exports of emerging and 
foundational technologies, consistent with the Export Control 
Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA). As I have not been served in the 
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) since the enactment of 
ECRA, I do not have all the information necessary to make an 
accurate and complete judgment about BIS's progress to date in 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
this area.

Q.12. What steps would you take to ensure the process to 
identify and control emerging and foundational technologies is 
as efficient and timely as possible?

A.12. If confirmed, I will prioritize identifying and 
implementing appropriate controls on exports of emerging and 
foundational technologies, consistent with the Export Control 
Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA). I will work to identify such 
technologies based on the criteria provided in Section 
1758(a)(2)(B) of ECRA, which requires that the interagency 
effort take into account: (i) the development of emerging and 
foundational technologies in foreign countries, (ii) the effect 
export controls imposed on emerging and foundational 
technologies may have on the development of such technologies 
in the United States, and (iii) the effectiveness of export 
controls on limiting the proliferation of emerging and 
foundational technologies to foreign countries. I will make 
every effort to implement this mandate from ECRA appropriately 
and in a timely manner.

Q.13. Please list what factors you will take into consideration 
when considering applying controls on foundational technologies 
for which the United States is not the only potential source.

A.13. Foreign availability is one example of an important 
consideration in the process of identifying and implementing 
appropriate controls on foundational technologies. Because such 
technologies are already in production, there are often 
developers and producers of such technologies in foreign 
countries. Accordingly, new unilateral controls would be less 
effective. Candidates for identification as foundational 
technology may be technologies subject to multilateral controls 
that since have been decontrolled, often because of widespread 
foreign availability from nonregime members. As a result, I 
believe changes in controls for foundational technologies 
should be carefully calibrated.

Q.14. Will you commit to submitting to Congress, in a 
classified environment, quarterly summaries of technology 
control decisions and the process behind them? If not, by what 
metric, in your view, should Congress assess BIS' progress in 
implementing ECRA going forward?

A.14. If confirmed, I will work diligently to respond, 
consistent with the constitutional and statutory obligations of 
the Executive branch, to requests for information and briefings 
from Congress.

Q.15. Developing export controls on foundational and emerging 
technologies requires significant subject matter expertise in 
order to craft appropriate and impactful regulations.
    Based on your understanding, does BIS have the necessary 
technical expertise to carry out this function?
    If it does not, how would you address this issue?

A.15. At this time and based on my understanding from publicly 
available information, I have no reason to doubt that BIS has 
the necessary technical expertise to identify and implement 
appropriate controls on emerging and foundational technologies. 
I think it is also important, however, that BIS identify other 
experts in the U.S. Government who have expertise of relevance 
to emerging and foundational technologies who may be able to 
contribute to this important review. If confirmed, I will rely 
upon BIS's expert staff and those in other agencies to enhance 
my technical knowledge and support my decision-making with 
regard to identifying and implementing appropriate controls on 
emerging and foundational technologies.

Q.16. Section 232 Investigations--The previous administration 
interpreted the term ``national security'' in the Section 232 
statute very broadly, understanding this guidance to explicitly 
include goods ``beyond those necessary to satisfy national 
defense requirements'' in its scope. As the Assistant Secretary 
for Export Administration, would you recommend adopting an 
expansive definition of ``national security'' under Section 
232, or do you think that Section 232 investigations should be 
limited to investigating goods with clear applications in 
military equipment, energy resources, and/or critical 
infrastructure?

A.16. Section 232 investigations are initiated to determine the 
effects of imports of any articles on U.S. national security. 
Like any tool, Section 232 should be used carefully and based 
on the criteria in the statute.

Q.17. Do you believe carbon emissions are a threat to national 
security?

A.17. The Defense Department has identified climate change as a 
critical national security threat. Carbon emissions, being one 
of the leading causes of climate change, are therefore an 
ongoing threat to our national security.

Q.18. Section 232 tariffs on imported goods are taxes paid by 
American consumers. These taxes weaken our economy, threaten 
American jobs, and erode our credibility with other Nations. 
The previous administration's Section 232 tariffs on steel and 
aluminum, which were imposed under the false pretense of 
national security, have directly and negatively impacted my 
constituents. They have greatly increased costs for American 
importers and consumers. Do you agree that the U.S. should 
remove our existing Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum?

A.18. Section 232 investigations are initiated to determine the 
effects of imports of any articles on U.S. national security. 
Like any tool, Section 232 should be used carefully. My 
understanding based on publicly available information is that 
the Biden administration is currently reviewing Section 232 
measures and product and country exclusions. In addition, I 
understand the Administration is working with the European 
Union (EU) to cooperatively address global excess capacity in 
steel and aluminum and to hold countries, such as the People's 
Republic of China (PRC), accountable for their trade-distorting 
policies.

Q.19. Export Controls--You have prosecuted a number of cases 
involving Iran sanctions violations, including the case of 
Huawei.
    Do you believe U.S. sanctions are strong enough to dissuade 
individuals and companies, like Huawei, from engaging in export 
violations to sanctioned countries?
    Does the United States need stronger enforcement tools or 
penalties?

A.19. I understand that BIS continually assesses technologies, 
end uses, and end users to identify items that may be misused 
to engage in activities contrary to U.S. national security and 
foreign policy interests. I believe BIS and its interagency 
partners strive to enhance the effectiveness of U.S. export 
controls and sanctions regimes by conducting extensive outreach 
with industry, academia, and other partners to raise awareness 
of export control requirements and best practices for 
compliance. In my opinion, I believe an informed exporting 
community is critical to the effectiveness of our export 
controls. We must work with them to identify potential risks. 
Moreover, I believe it is critical to work with our allies to 
amplify our export controls and sanctions regime efforts.

Q.20. Export controls are generally most effective when 
implemented in a multilateral fashion with a small group of 
allied Nations, thereby preventing the very technology being 
controlled by the United States from being available from 
foreign sources.
    Will you commit to working with our allies, particularly 
Governments with semiconductor suppliers, and proceeding in a 
multilateral manner, to the extent possible, as an important 
way to advance U.S. foreign policy and national security goals?
    In particular, will you commit to working with U.S. allies 
to convince them to agree to impose similar controls on 
specific end users and end uses so that such controls are 
imposed not only by the United States on U.S. exporters?

A.20. I agree with the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA) 
Statement of Policy, set forth in Section 1752(5), which 
states:
    Export controls should be coordinated with the multilateral 
export control regimes. Export controls that are multilateral 
are most effective, and should be tailored to focus on those 
core technologies and other items that are capable of being 
used to pose a serious national security threat to the United 
States and its allies.
    Furthermore, when multilateral regimes cannot achieve U.S. 
export control objectives, BIS should work on a plurilateral 
basis with likeminded countries. I also support the working 
group on export controls that is part of the U.S.-EU Trade and 
Technology Council (TTC). In addition, BIS should continue 
bilateral discussions with allied countries, especially those 
supplier countries of certain technologies of concern, to 
coordinate on common controls and policies.
    If confirmed, I will work to share information and reach an 
understanding with our allies on coordinating license review 
policy for various types of technologies, and will seek to have 
them take into account BIS's lists of parties of concern when 
evaluating whether to approve a license. I believe that 
engagement with allies is critical to the long-term success of 
our efforts to address national security and foreign policy 
concerns related to adversaries like the People's Republic of 
China (PRC).

Q.21. Tight unilateral controls on items for which the United 
States may be the only source, have the strong potential of 
driving research and development (R&D), and ultimately 
production, offshore. In the past, very restrictive U.S. 
controls contributed to robust foreign competition in sectors 
like machine tools, commercial use of space, and commercial 
thermal imaging. Under what circumstances would you consider 
applying a unilateral control on a good or technology? Please 
describe the criteria you would use in your analysis when 
considering the application of a unilateral control.

A.21. I agree with Section 1752(6) of the Export Control Reform 
Act of 2018(ECRA), which states:
    Export controls applied unilaterally to items widely 
available from foreign sources generally are less effective in 
preventing end-users from acquiring those items. Application of 
unilateral export controls should be limited for purposes of 
protecting specific United States national security and foreign 
policy interests.
    Unilateral controls should be directly tied to important 
national security or foreign policy concerns and used when 
effective multilateral or plurilateral controls cannot be 
achieved.

Q.22. By setting U.S. export control policy on items used for 
both civilian and military purposes, BIS effectively has the 
power to reshape the supply chains of entire industries and, in 
some circumstances, impose significant burdens on the economy. 
Not only is industry significantly impacted by export controls, 
it is often at the forefront of cutting edge research and 
technologies. Will you commit to consulting industry 
stakeholders and maintaining an open channel of dialogue with 
the business community?

A.22. Yes.

Q.23. Will you commit to a process that, except in 
extraordinary circumstances, provides industry and other 
stakeholders with reasonable opportunities to comment, and 
provides stakeholders with adequate notice and time to comply?

A.23. Yes.

Q.24. U.S. goods have been exported through third countries for 
eventual use in embargoed States like Iran. Iran has long 
sought to acquire sensitive military hardware from the United 
States through the use of front companies and other schemes 
meant to avoid detection. If confirmed, what steps will you 
undertake to stop the flow of unauthorized U.S. goods to Iran 
and other terror-supporting countries such as North Korea and 
Syria?

A.24. If confirmed, I will use all the tools available to BIS 
to prevent the transfer of sensitive U.S. technologies to State 
Sponsors of Terrorism and other countries and entities of 
concern that threaten U.S. national security and foreign policy 
interests. I will also leverage all sources of intelligence and 
collaboration within BIS and with interagency partners to 
detect and deter efforts to circumvent export control 
restrictions.

Q.25. Semiconductors--If Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce 
Semiconductors for America Act (CHIPS Act) funds are 
appropriated during this Congress, what role should BIS play in 
the administration of this new $52 billion intended to ensure 
the resilience of the U.S. supply chain of semiconductors?

A.25. I believe it is critical for the United States to have 
diverse, resilient and secure supply chains in critical areas 
like semiconductors and that a vibrant domestic semiconductor 
manufacturing capability is an important component of overall 
U.S. competitiveness. If confirmed, I will appropriately use 
the tools and authorities available at BIS to assist in the 
review of risks in the U.S. semiconductor supply chain to help 
protect U.S. resilience in this critical industry. Furthermore, 
I will work as appropriate with BIS staff and across the 
Commerce Department to help implement any investments 
authorized by Congress to shore up our domestic supply chain.

Q.26. Answering Questions for the Record--Please describe with 
particularity the process by which you answered these questions 
for the record, including identifying who assisted you in 
answering these questions along with a brief description of 
their assistance.

A.26. I actively participated in drafting the responses to 
these questions, with assistance from Commerce Department staff 
and the interagency as appropriate.
                                ------                                


        RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR SINEMA
                  FROM THEA D. ROZMAN KENDLER

Q.1. I am working hard to increase domestic semiconductor 
manufacturing in Arizona, both to create jobs and to address 
global supply shortages that continue to make it difficult to 
get products to consumers in a timely fashion. If confirmed, 
what role do you envision export control policy will play in 
resolving lingering supply chain disruptions for semiconductor 
manufacturing?
    How can export control policy support domestic 
manufacturing of semiconductors and address supply chain 
disruptions, all while resolving outstanding national security 
concerns?

A.1. I believe it is critical for the United States to have 
diverse, resilient and secure supply chains in critical areas 
like semiconductors and that a vibrant domestic semiconductor 
manufacturing capability is an important component of overall 
U.S. competitiveness. If confirmed, I will appropriately use 
the tools and authorities available at BIS to protect our 
cutting-edge semiconductor technology, which is crucial to U.S. 
national and economic security.
    Additionally, if confirmed, I will support the Commerce 
Department's work on the President's Supply Chain Disruptions 
Task Force to tackle near-term bottlenecks in the semiconductor 
industry and to strengthen U.S. leadership in semiconductor 
manufacturing.
    I understand that, on September 24, 2021, a Bureau of 
Industry and Security (BIS) ``Notice of Request for Public 
Comments on Risks in the Semiconductor Supply Chain'' was 
published in the Federal Register. According to the Notice:
    With the goal of accelerating information flow across the 
various segments of the supply chain, identifying data gaps and 
bottlenecks in the supply chain, and potential inconsistent 
demand signals, the Department is seeking responses from 
interested parties (including domestic and foreign 
semiconductor design firms, semiconductor manufacturers, 
materials and equipment suppliers, as well as semiconductor 
intermediate and end-users) to the questions set forth in this 
notice.
    If confirmed, I look forward to reviewing public responses 
to this Notice and supporting any appropriate efforts that may 
follow.
                                ------                                


        RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR SCOTT
                  FROM THEA D. ROZMAN KENDLER

Q.1. In 2018, Congress included in the FY19 NDAA an update to 
our export control laws giving the Department of Commerce the 
ability to facilitate trade and commerce, while also 
prioritizing national security oversight.
    Our world is changing. And some of our global competitors 
have begun imposing their presence on the world stage and 
finding ways around U.S. sanctions.
    The last Administration understood that fact, which is why 
they imposed controls on companies like Huawei, including using 
the Foreign Direct Rule.
    Do you agree that using the Foreign Direct Product Rule on 
Huawei was effective in stemming its access to critical 
technology and preventing the spread of its 5G equipment in 
partner countries?
    Understanding the vital need to facilitate trade that 
benefits the entire U.S. economy, what quantitative and 
qualitative benchmarks will you set within BIS to address the 
total breakdown between China's private sector and the Chinese 
Communist Party and its military through Military-Civil Fusion?
    If confirmed, will you commit to voluntarily and regularly 
providing this Committee with data and information pertaining 
to the successes and challenges--including through licensing 
decisions, emerging and foundational technology controls, and 
Entity List designations--of maintaining such a vital balance 
in implementing BIS statutory export control functions?

A.1. My understanding is that the Bureau of Industry and 
Security (BIS) works with its interagency partners to 
consistently apply the licensing policies articulated in the 
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to restrict Huawei's 
access to technology or software for activities that could harm 
U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. All export 
license applications to Huawei are reviewed by the Departments 
of Commerce, Defense, State, and Energy. I understand the 
policy for license applications involving exports to Huawei and 
its listed affiliates for items capable of supporting systems, 
equipment or devices below the 5G level (e.g., 4G and 3G) are 
reviewed on a case-by-case basis. All others are reviewed under 
a presumption of denial.
    It is also my understanding that in August 2020, BIS 
extended the scope of the Foreign Direct Product Rule (FDPR) 
with respect to Huawei affiliates to require a license for 
reexports and transfers of foreign-produced items that are 
either (i) the direct product of certain U.S. or foreign 
software or technology subject to BIS jurisdiction or (ii) 
produced from equipment that itself is the direct product of 
certain U.S.-origin technology or software. In effect, this has 
imposed a license requirement for many foreign-made items for 
transactions involving Huawei. Based on publicly available 
information, I believe the FDPR is an important tool in 
protecting our national security and foreign policy interests. 
If confirmed, I will work diligently to ensure that companies 
fully comply with all other obligations under the EAR, 
including the FDPR.
    I am deeply concerned about the People's Republic of 
China's (PRC) Government's efforts to seek U.S. technologies to 
further its military modernization, such as through diverting 
items from civilian to military applications (i.e., its 
military-civil fusion strategy), creating illicit procurement 
networks, and stealing intellectual property, among other 
destabilizing activities. If confirmed, I will appropriately 
use the authorities of BIS under the Export Control Reform Act 
of 2018 (ECRA) to protect our national security and foreign 
policy interests while strengthening our technological 
innovation and leadership.
    I respect the oversight role of the Senate Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Congress as a 
whole, and will respond to requests for information, consistent 
with the constitutional and statutory obligations of the 
Executive branch. It is my understanding that information 
submitted or obtained in connection with export license 
applications is subject to Section 1761(h) of ECRA and that 
requests for information protected from disclosure by 1761(h) 
of ECRA are honored when appropriately submitted by the Chair 
or Ranking Member of a committee or subcommittee of appropriate 
jurisdiction.

                              [all]