[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 19, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H1203-H1204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            REVIEW OF INTERAGENCY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS

  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 6602) to amend the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 
relating to the review of the interagency dispute resolution process, 
as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6602

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. REVIEW OF INTERAGENCY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS.

       Section 1763(c) of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 
     (50 U.S.C. 4822(c)) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``In any case'' and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(1) In general.--In any case'';
       (2) by inserting ``countries subject to a comprehensive 
     United States arms embargo,'' after ``matters relating to'';
       (3) by striking ``may be decided'' and inserting ``shall be 
     decided'';
       (4) by adding at the end the following: ``The chair of the 
     Committee is authorized to decide any case or matter 
     described in the preceding sentence in which the Committee is 
     unable to decide the case or matter by majority vote.''; and
       (5) by further adding at the end the following:
       ``(2) Definition.--In paragraph (1), the term `country 
     subject to a comprehensive United States arms embargo' 
     means--
       ``(A) any country listed on table 1 to paragraph (d)(1) of 
     section 126.1 of title 22, Code of Federal Regulations (as 
     such section is in effect on the day before the date of the 
     enactment of this paragraph); and
       ``(B) the Russian Federation.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. McCormick) and the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. 
Wild) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the People's Republic of China, under the leadership of 
the Chinese Communist Party, is waging an all-out economic war against 
the United States. The CCP is using unfair and illegal means to try to 
dominate the market in dual-use technologies that are shaping the 
modern battlefield.
  Fortunately, the CCP still significantly relies on technologies from 
the United States, our allies, and our partners to develop advanced 
dual-use capabilities. For that reason, export controls are a critical 
tool for the United States to slow down and, in some cases, stop 
China's ability to develop certain capabilities.
  For this strategy to work, we have to deny Chinese licenses to use 
American technology. Unfortunately, based on data reviewed and released 
by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, those licenses are rarely 
denied by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, 
known as BIS.
  For instance, during a 6-month period spanning 2020 and 2021, BIS 
denied less than 2 percent of licenses and approved $100 billion worth 
of licenses to Huawei and SMIC. Both of those companies are considered 
CCP military companies by the Department of Defense and are CCP 
national champion technology firms.
  When deciding whether to approve or deny a license, BIS generally 
consults other agencies that make up the Operating Committee for Export 
Policy, the Departments of Defense, Energy, State, and Commerce.
  However, BIS is not required to follow those other agencies' advice. 
Sometimes, BIS actively ignores it. Statistics provided by BIS for 
fiscal years 2017 through 2019 show that there was a 60 percent 
increase of nonconsensus decisions by the operating committee during 
that time. In other words, over half the time, 60 percent of the time, 
they ignored everybody else's objections and went ahead and did 
whatever they wanted to, just one person's decision. That is not good.
  More than 10 percent of the time, it appears the operating committee 
chair, which is part of the BIS, took the position that only one other 
operating committee member supported--also not good.
  Since the Department of Commerce is both the chair and a member, this 
data raises concerns that Commerce may be abusing its position on the 
operating committee to override the considered objections of other 
agencies. Otherwise, why even be there?

                              {time}  1615

  This bill provides a commonsense solution to those dangers: When a 
license for China comes before the operating committee, the decision to 
approve or deny the license should be based on a majority vote by all 
of its members.
  Each agency brings a unique view to a license and should have a voice 
and a vote. It makes little sense for BIS to have sole discretionary 
and decisional authority on those consequential issues.
  In fact, when dealing with satellites and hot section jet engines, 
the operating committee already requires a majority vote. So my bill 
simply puts licenses to China on the same level as licenses for certain 
advanced technologies.
  Chairman Xi has ordered his military to have the capability to invade 
Taiwan by 2027. This is a country that produces 100 percent of the 
chips in AI that we consume here in America, I might add.
  It makes no sense for our Department of Defense to not have a vote on 
what capabilities may fall into the hands of the Chinese military.
  I thank my colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Committee for their 
unanimous, bipartisan support for this important national security 
reform bill during the committee markup back in December.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6602, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6602.
  In recent years, our use of export controls to safeguard our national 
security has expanded greatly. However, these efforts have not come 
with a commensurate increase in the budget of the Department of 
Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, or BIS, which is the U.S. 
Government entity leading export control efforts.
  The Biden administration has vastly expanded controls against Russia 
and Belarus since the horrific invasion of Ukraine and has imposed 
unprecedented unilateral controls against China in the semi-conductor 
space.

[[Page H1204]]

This has resulted in a large increase in the license review and 
enforcement burden at BIS, which now processes nearly 40,000 licenses 
per year.
  For our controls to be effective, I strongly believe that they need 
to be laser-focused on the highest priority cases where the national 
security concerns are most clear. At the moment, the Departments of 
State, Defense, Energy, or Commerce can individually block the approval 
or denial of a license by an interagency committee by escalating a 
decision if they don't agree with it.
  This legislation will allow the chair of the operating committee to 
decide cases where the agencies are divided 2-2, which should mitigate 
the number of escalations that we see and result in a more streamlined 
and effective process.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative McCormick and Chairman McCaul for 
working with the minority to address our concerns. I encourage my 
colleagues to join me in supporting this measure, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, to safeguard our national security in an ever-changing 
global landscape and to ensure that we are putting American workers and 
families first, our policies must be robust and effective, not 
counterproductive. If we want our export controls to work, we need to 
do a few things.
  First and foremost, we need to make sure that we are blocking the 
transactions that pose a clear threat to our national security. This 
requires focusing on key chokepoints and specific technologies and not 
having blanket rules that will inundate the Bureau of Industry and 
Security with a review of items that are not problematic.
  Second, we need to ensure that those controls are multilateral, so 
that the intended party isn't simply able to buy the same goods from 
other global suppliers or nations. Unilateral actions don't work, and 
they hurt American workers and families by ceding market share to 
foreign competitors resulting in job losses here at home.
  Third, we need to ensure that the license review process is fast, 
effective, and that BIS has the resources and tools necessary to 
effectively implement and enforce controls.
  So while I stand in support of Mr. McCormick's bill, I also urge the 
House to think seriously about increasing funding for BIS. I hope my 
colleagues will join me in supporting this bill, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I thank Chairman McCaul, Ranking Member 
Meeks, and my bipartisan colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Committee 
for supporting this bill before us today.
  The committee is made up of a five-member panel with representatives 
from the Departments of Commerce, Defense, State, and Energy, with the 
chair being the Bureau of Industry and Security representative who, per 
the governing statute, should act impartially when the Operating 
Committee for Export Policy convenes.
  Under current law, OCEP, which is the Operating Committee for Export 
Policy, may resolve these issues and disputes by a majority vote. 
However in practice, the chair typically issues a ruling without 
calling a vote and most often rules in favor of the Department of 
Commerce, which draws into question their adherence to the directive to 
be impartial.
  It is critical that we deny our adversaries the opportunity to access 
our American private sector innovation. Our innovation should not be 
giving a leg up to our enemies in competition.
  An increasingly aggressive Chinese Communist Party is posing a 
growing threat to American values and American interests around the 
world. In many cases, they are threatening us with our own technology.
  For that reason, we must ensure that our national security agencies 
have a real voice and vote in deciding what technologies can be 
exported to the People's Republic of China. We want to ensure that the 
BIS does not produce BS.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this bill, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. McCormick) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 6602, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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