BIS Licensing Efficiency Act of 2026

[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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