[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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