MAINTAINING AMERICAN SUPERIORITY BY IMPROVING EXPORT CONTROL TRANSPARENCY ACT

On 2025-05-05, Representative Johnny Olszewski, Jr. (D-MD-2) delivered a floor speech titled "MAINTAINING AMERICAN SUPERIORITY BY IMPROVING EXPORT CONTROL TRANSPARENCY ACT" in the House.

MAINTAINING AMERICAN SUPERIORITY BY IMPROVING EXPORT CONTROL TRANSPARENCY ACT

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 74 (Monday, May 5, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 74 (Monday, May 5, 2025)] [House] [Pages H1834-H1836] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] MAINTAINING AMERICAN SUPERIORITY BY IMPROVING EXPORT CONTROL TRANSPARENCY ACT Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1316) to amend the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 relating to licensing transparency, as amended. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 1316 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Maintaining American Superiority by Improving Export Control Transparency Act''. SEC. 2. LICENSING TRANSPARENCY. Section 1756 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4815) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(e) Report.-- ``(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, and not less frequently than annually thereafter, the Secretary, shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on end-use checks related to, as well as license applications and other requests for authorization for the export, reexport, release, and in- country transfer of items controlled under this part to covered entities. ``(2) Elements.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall include, with respect to the preceding one year-period, the following: ``(A) For each license application or other request for authorization, the name of the entity submitting the application, a brief description of the item (including the Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) and reason for control, if applicable), the name of the end-user, the end- user's location, a value estimate, decision with respect to the license application or authorization, and the date of submission. ``(B) The date, location, and result of any end-use checks, to ensure compliance with United States export controls. ``(C) Aggregate statistics on all license applications and other requests for authorization as described in subparagraph (A). [[Page H1835]] ``(3) Confidentiality of information.--The information required to be provided in the reports required by this subsection (other than the information required by paragraph (2)(C)) shall be exempt from public disclosure pursuant to section 1761(h)(1). ``(4) Protecting enforcement information.--In preparing and submitting a report under subsection (e), the Secretary shall ensure that information that may jeopardize an ongoing investigation shall not be included in the contents of the report. ``(5) Definitions.--In this subsection-- ``(A) the term `appropriate congressional committees' means-- ``(i) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and ``(ii) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and ``(B) the term `covered entity' means any entity that-- ``(i) is located in a country listed in Country Group D:5 under Supplement No. 1 to part 740 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations; and ``(ii) is included on-- ``(I) the list maintained and set forth in Supplement No. 4 to part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations; or ``(II) the list maintained and set forth in Supplement No. 7 to part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations.''. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mast) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Olszewski) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida. General Leave Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which 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 Florida? There was no objection. Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Maintaining American Superiority by Improving Export Control Transparency Act. I wish my colleague could have picked a shorter name for it, but that is my friend, Mr. Jackson. He does good legislation, sometimes a little long- winded on the names. Export controls are a critical tool for protecting American national security. Foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party are working tirelessly to steal and exploit U.S. technology. We have known this. The CCP is using its military-civil fusion strategy to fuel China's military buildup and commit human rights atrocities, just like we spoke about on Uyghur genocide. No American servicemember should have to face a foreign adversary armed with U.S. technology, and no act of genocide should be enabled by American innovation. As important as export controls are to protecting American lives and values, they are only as strong as their administration and enforcement. Every U.S. export control ultimately requires the government to decide on whether to approve or deny a license for the item in question. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, or the BIS, is the lead agency for administering and enforcing U.S. export controls. As export controls have become more vital to our national security, the importance of congressional oversight has only increased. The licensing data for how BIS is administering export controls can be difficult for Congress to gain access to for oversight purposes. Last Congress, the Foreign Affairs Committee worked persistently to uncover that BIS was routinely approving export control licenses for even the worst actors, such as Huawei and SMIC. Last Congress, the Foreign Affairs Committee worked to expose this in hearing after hearing without much help from the Biden administration. Huawei and SMIC are two of the CCP's national champions and play a critical role in supporting China's military buildup and human rights abuses. It is essential that Congress has visibility into how many licenses are being approved for the worst actors on export control blacklists, known as the Entity List. This bill will improve transparency and ensure Congress is able to conduct regular oversight of how BIS is handling licenses and how effectively our export controls are being enforced. I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Jackson), and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Jacobs) for introducing this important legislation. The Foreign Affairs Committee marked up this legislation last Congress, and it passed the committee and the House floor with strong bipartisan support. I expect it will receive the same support today. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Maintaining American Superiority by Improving Export Control Transparency Act, and I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1316. Over the past 6 years, export controls have become a crucial tool for our national security and foreign policy to respond to the challenges posed by Russia, China, Iran, and others. Our use of export controls have become more and more frequent and more complicated, as we have started to apply novel controls in critical technology areas such as semiconductors and AI. While this change in U.S. export control policy has taken place, congressional consultation and oversight has not kept up. The bill in front of us today by Representative Jackson is an important step toward remedying this problem by calling for the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, BIS, to conduct greater transparency around license application, information, and conduct checks for problematic companies in arms-embargoed nations. This bill will also enable Congress to conduct better oversight to ensure that BIS licensing and enforcement processes are working properly and efficiently. This bill will ensure that the Foreign Affairs Committee is getting the information it needs on export control policy and implementation, while protecting business proprietary information and allowing BIS to effectively execute its core national security mandate. However, as we add to the list of things we are asking BIS to do, it is also important that we equip BIS with the resources and staffing to meet those requirements. This administration claims that it will prioritize export controls, yet it has frozen 10 percent of BIS' budget. That is not keeping America safe. BIS desperately needs to revamp its outdated and inefficient IT system, which has not been updated in over 15 years. The number of license applications BIS receives per year has more than doubled in that span to over 40,000 per year. I worry that without a better IT system, reasonable requests for information like this bill will further tax BIS' limited resources. Representative Crow and Ranking Member Meeks are working on a bill to fund IT modernization for BIS. I hope that as we pass good bills like this one by Mr. Jackson and Ms. Jacobs, we will also properly equip BIS so that it can effectively carry out its work. I encourage my colleagues to join in supporting this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Jackson), the sponsor of this long-titled legislation. Mr. JACKSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today, we are bringing a very important piece of legislation to the floor, the Maintaining American Superiority by Improving Export Control Transparency Act, a key piece of legislation to ensure our country stays ahead of our adversaries. Businesses and universities in the United States work constantly to innovate, improve, and invent the best technologies and systems in this world. This is what keeps America on the leading edge. Our Nation's determination and commitment to achieving t

Referenced legislation: HR1316, HR1316