Representative Urges Final Satellite Report so Congress Can Act to Lift Export Controls

Congressman Don Manzullo (R-IL) is urging the Departments of Defense and State to expedite the final risk assessment of U.S. space export control policy required by Section 1248 of the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, so Congress can move to lift export restrictions and allow more sales of non-sensitive satellites overseas. Manzullo states that the department’s May 2011 Interim Report not only concluded that transferring commercial communications satellites from the USML to the CCL would not pose an “unacceptable security risk,” but recommended that action.

Manzullo is the lead Republican sponsor of HR 3288, “The Safeguarding United States Satellite Leadership and Security Act of 2011,” which would lift certain export controls from the U.S. manufacturers of commercial satellites and components so they can sell more of their products overseas.