Export Control Enforcement and Enhancement Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7151) to amend the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 to provide for expedited consideration of proposals for additions to, removals from, or other modifications with respect to entities on the Entity List, and for other purposes, as amended.

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.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 7151, the Export Control Enforcement and Enhancement Act.

The People's Republic of China is bent on supplanting the U.S. economically and militarily. To do so, it seeks to turn our strengths against us, using American ingenuity to fuel its own dangerous and nefarious ambitions.

The U.S. export control regime is an important tool that helps us guard against China's outright theft of the achievements of America's brilliant entrepreneurs, inventors, and thinkers. Export controls are also a powerful tool against adversaries like Iran and Russia, adversaries that rely on access to ill-gotten foreign technology to support their violent and destabilizing agendas.

China, Iran, and Russia have formed a new axis of evil to attack our national security interests and help each other circumvent U.S. export controls. They have created a massive network designed to maintain the flow of controlled Western technologies to dictatorships like Russia, Iran, and North Korea, with China at the center.

To disrupt and destroy this web of evasion, vigilantly updating and enforcing our export controls is more important today, Mr. Speaker, than ever before.

However, America is losing the fight to keep our most sensitive technologies out of enemy hands.

Advanced American tech is being used to advance China's hypersonic weapons program. It was found in the spy balloon that China sent over the continental U.S. last year, including directly over my home in St. Louis, Missouri, that collected data on our most sensitive military installations. It is turning up in Iranian drones and Russian military equipment.

In short, wherever our national security interests are at greatest risk, whether in People's Liberation Army

laboratories or the military facilities of Iran and its proxies, our adversaries are exploiting vulnerabilities in our export control regime and using American products to gain an advantage.

The current export control regime is simply too slow and cumbersome to prevent Chinese and other companies from accessing sensitive technologies that can be used to give our adversaries a military edge.

My legislation on the floor today will give the Departments of State, Defense, and Energy greater ability to propose changes to the entity list, a roster of foreign companies, research institutions, and individuals who pose a serious national security risk to the United States and who are prohibited from purchasing sensitive American products.

Mr. Speaker, State, Defense, and Energy have deep expertise in the current threat landscape, and we should use that expertise to make sure that the entity list is comprehensive and accurate, and the bill makes sure that their recommendations are acted on rather than languishing in red tape by setting a 30-day clock to address proposed changes.

These reforms, Mr. Speaker, will make our export control regime agile and airtight, and they will give the United States the tools to fight back when our adversaries try to cheat the system.

I thank Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Meeks for working with me on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge each of my colleagues to support this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. In closing, we must act decisively to ensure that our export controls are robust, effective, timely, and adaptive to the threats that we face in today's world.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bipartisan piece of legislation, H.R. 7151, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 7151, as amended. Export controls are more than just a bureaucratic tool. They are a key component of our national security strategy. By ensuring that sensitive American technology does not fall into the wrong hands, we protect not only our own interests but also those of our allies around the world.

Under the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security has played a crucial role in this effort. BIS has imposed unprecedented controls against China in the semiconductor and advanced computing sectors as well as crippling controls on Russia and Belarus, in partnership with almost 40 other nations. It has also added nearly 1,000 entities from Russia, China, Iran, and more than 30 other countries to the entity list, effectively blocking their access to U.S. technology that could be used against us.

However, as we expand the use of the entity list, it becomes increasingly important that Congress oversees this process to ensure it remains rigorous, transparent, and inclusive. This bill does exactly that.

However, this bill is about more than just process. It is about safeguarding the future. By ensuring that the End-User Review Committee operates fairly and efficiently, we strengthen our ability to respond to emerging threats in a rapidly changing world.

I thank Congresswoman Wagner, Chairman McCaul, and Ranking Member Meeks for their leadership and bipartisan cooperation on this bill.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, this bill is a vital step in protecting our national security by ensuring that our export controls are both robust and fair. It strengthens our ability to prevent sensitive technology from falling into the wrong hands while maintaining the rigorous oversight necessary to keep our processes fair, transparent, and effective.

By passing this measure, we affirm our commitment to safeguarding American innovation and staying ahead of emerging threats.

Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me and support this important bill, I yield back the balance of my time.