House Panel Whips BIS Mule

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Had they been invited, Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security would have faced a chilly reception Thursday from the Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.   Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL) kicked off the hearing,  criticizing the Bureau for permitting American technology to be used against U.S. interests.

"The Chinese Communist party is using American technology to build more precise, more lethal weapons to sink our carriers, to kill our troops. That is Jinping's plan," Mast said. "While Xi Jinping is ready for a fight, President Biden is that guy with a quivering lip that won't look the bully in the eye and say no."

Ranking Member Jason Crow (D-Colo) defended the Biden administration's approach, praising its work to create a coalition of 38 nations imposing stringent export controls on Russia and Belarus in response to Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine. He described it as the most significant and coordinated effort of its kind in history.

Crow also highlighted the U.S.'s efforts to counter China's rise, including listing hundreds of PRC-based entities for export control and securing the support of key allies such as Japan and the Netherlands

Nazak Nikakhtar, former Assistant Secretary for Industry and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Commerce, testified that stronger export controls and more transparency were needed. She argued that past U.S. policies, which had allowed significant technology and manufacturing capacity to move offshore, had strengthened China's hand and weakened the U.S.

“It’s ridiculous,” Ms. Nikakhtar said several times, as witnesses and panelists repeated the oft-cited 98 percent approval rate of BIS licensing.   Former BIS Chief Kevin Wolf explained the high percentage of approved export licenses was due to self-selection - applicants rarely submit applications they expect to be denied.

Mr. Wolf argued for expanded resources for the department. “The volume of activity being run through BIS and the significance of all the issues everybody laid out today warrants, well you know dramatically larger staff,  and so at least a doubling of their current budget and the resources and the people and the expertise to go along with it."

Mr. Mast proposed stricter controls on university research related to items on the commerce control list. “Why not take every single thing on the commerce control list right now and just tell the universities for foreign countries of concern we don't need to do a broadly foreign countries of concern no more fundamental research exception," Mast suggested. "Even if you intend to publish, you need to get a license from BIS before you do that, or whatever entity ends up handling export controls on dual-use items.”

Fellow Florida Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) announced his office was preparing legislation to reform BIS, although no text was made available.

Mr. Wolf,  Ms. Nikakhtar, and others submitted prepared testimony on the topic, which,  subcommittee members pointed out, few took the time to read prior to the hearing.  [Wolf], [Nikakhtar], 

Mast indicated his committee intends to hold more hearings on the topic, and in the future he may invite representatives of the Department of Commerce.

 

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