H.R. 8289

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8289 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8289

To amend the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 to ensure expeditious 
processing of license applications, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 15, 2026

Mr. Meeks (for himself and Mr. Issa) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 to ensure expeditious 
processing of license applications, and for other purposes.

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 ``BIS Licensing Efficiency Act of 
2026''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:
(1) Section 1756(a)(2) of the Export Control Reform Act of 
2018 (50 U.S.C. 4815(a)(2)) requires the Secretary of Commerce 
to ensure that ``licensing decisions are made in an expeditious 
manner, with transparency to applicants on the status of 
license and other authorization processing and the reason for 
denying any license or request for authorization''.
(2) Section 1756(b) of the Export Control Reform Act of 
2018 (50 U.S.C. 4815(b)) expresses the sense of Congress that 
``the Secretary should make best efforts to ensure that an 
accurate, consistent, and timely evaluation and processing of 
licenses or other requests for authorization to export, 
reexport, or in-country transfer items controlled under this 
subchapter is generally accomplished within 30 days from the 
date of such license request''.
(3) Executive Order 12981 (61 Fed. Reg. 54079; relating to 
administration of export controls), which was codified in 
Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.), 
stipulates that ``all license applications submitted under the 
Act and the Regulations or any renewal of, or successor to, the 
Export Administration Act and the Regulations, shall be 
resolved or referred to the President no later than 90 calendar 
days''.
(4) The Export Administration Regulations (parts 730-774 of 
title 15, Code of Federal Regulations) stipulate that license 
applications should be ``resolved or referred to the President 
no later than 90 calendar days from the date of BIS's 
registration of the license application''.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) long license delays at the Bureau of Industry and 
Security of the Department of Commerce create uncertainty for 
United States exporters and domestic manufacturers and can lead 
to the loss of business to foreign companies, harming the 
United States economy;
(2) efficient and predictable processing of export licenses 
is critical to the competitiveness of United States technology 
companies and the stability of global supply chains;
(3) United States technology and economic leadership 
requires that the export controls system functions efficiently 
and that license decisions are made in an expeditious manner; 
and
(4) transparency regarding the efficiency and timeliness of 
license reviews is necessary for effective Congressional 
oversight of the export control system.

SEC. 4. LICENSING TIMELINE; LICENSING REVIEWS.

Section 1756 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 
4815) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (g);
(2) in subsection (g), as so redesignated, in the header, 
by striking ``report'' and inserting ``annual report on end use 
checks''; and
(3) by inserting after subsection (d) the following new 
subsections:
``(e) Licensing Timeline.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date on 
which an application for a license under this section is 
submitted, the Secretary should make a licensing decision and 
notify the applicant of such decision.
``(2) Delayed application.--If no licensing decision is 
made not later than 120 days after the date on which an 
application for a license under this section was submitted, the 
Secretary shall notify the applicant of the status of such 
application, the reason such a decision has not been made, and 
request any additional information necessary to make such a 
decision.
``(f) Licensing Reviews.--Licensing officers with relevant subject 
matter expertise shall play an essential role in conducting license 
reviews of all applications for a license under this section.''.

SEC. 5. QUARTERLY REPORT ON LICENSE PROCESSING.

Section 1756 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 
4815), as amended by section 1, is further amended by inserting after 
subsection (g) the following new subsection:
``(h) Quarterly Report on License Processing.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this subsection, and not less frequently than 
quarterly thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a report detailing the 
processing of license applications and other requests for 
authorization for the export, reexport, release, and in-country 
transfer of items controlled under this section.
``(2) Elements.--
``(A) Initial report.--The first report required by 
paragraph (1) shall include, with respect to the 
preceding one-year period, the following:
``(i) The total number of license 
applications submitted.
``(ii) On the date on which such report is 
submitted, the total number of license 
applications in the below statuses on the:
``(I) Received.
``(II) On hold (i.e., on hold 
without action).
``(III) Referred to another 
department or agency.
``(IV) Signed off by a Licensing 
Officer.
``(V) Countersigned.
``(VI) Validated.
``(iii) A breakdown of the total number of 
licenses approved, denied, and returned without 
action.
``(iv) The average and median processing 
time for all license applications, in calendar 
days from the date on which an application is 
first submitted to the date on which a decision 
on an application is communicated to the 
applicant.
``(v) The average and median processing 
time of license applications broken out by--
``(I) end-user country (for license 
applications with multiple end-user 
countries listed, such applications 
shall be included in the calculation of 
each country);
``(II) Export Control 
Classification Number (`ECCN') (for 
license applications with multiple 
ECCNs listed, such applications shall 
be included in the calculation of each 
ECCN); and
``(III) whether the license 
application was for an export, re-
export, deemed export, or in-country 
transfer.
``(vi) The total number of license 
applications referred to--
``(I) the Department of State;
``(II) the Department of Defense; 
or
``(III) the Department of Energy.
``(vii) The number of license applications 
that remained pending for not less than 90 
calendar days and a summary of the reasons for 
such delays, including interagency referral, 
pre-license check, or administrative backlog.
``(B) Subsequent reports.--Each subsequent report 
required by paragraph (1) shall include, with respect 
to the preceding quarter, the information described in 
subparagraph (A)(i) through (A)(vii).
``(3) 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''.

SEC. 6. AUDIT AND REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES.

(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall commence an audit of the license review process of the Bureau of 
Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce.
(b) Contents.--The audit required under subsection (a) should 
analyze whether licensing decisions under the Export Control Reform Act 
of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.) have been made in an expeditious 
manner in the preceding calendar year consistent with the procedures 
and timelines mandated by such Act and identify any bottlenecks that 
may impact the timing of licensing decisions.
(c) Report.--Not later than one year after the enactment of this 
Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
(1) submit a report with the findings from the audit 
required by subsection (a) to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and
(2) post the report on a publicly available website of the 
United States Government Accountability Office.
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