House to Vote on Several Export Control Bills
The House of Representatives plans to vote on several export control-related bills next week, including the Remote Access Security Act, which is designed to close a loophole that has allowed China to use cloud service providers to access advanced U.S. computing chips remotely.
Sponsors of the cloud measure, which the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved in May, said Chinese companies have exploited the loophole to develop artificial intelligence technology for China’s military (see 2405160062).
The full House also intends to take up the Economic Espionage Prevention Act, which would authorize sanctions on foreign adversaries that support Russia’s defense industrial base, violate U.S. export controls or steal U.S. intellectual property (see 2405160062). Sponsors said the bill, which the Foreign Affairs Committee endorsed in May, would help counter weapons proliferation that often involves American technology, including computing chips, and would allow greater flexibility to pursue actions against China and other foreign adversaries.
The House next week also is scheduled to consider:
- the Export Control Enforcement and Enhancement Act, which would allow the Defense, Energy and State departments to propose additions to the Commerce Department’s Entity List (see 2407100058)
- the Sanctions Lists Harmonization Act, which would require an agency that adds an entity to its export control or sanctions list to notify other agencies about its actions (see 2312130053)
- the Maintaining American Superiority by Improving Export Control Transparency Act, which would require regular reports to Congress on where licensed dual-use goods are being sent abroad (see 2312130053)
- the Export Control Reform Act, which would add protecting American trade secrets to the list of responsibilities of U.S. export control agencies (see 2312130053)
- the No Russian Tunnel to Crimea Act, which would impose sanctions on foreign persons who contribute to the construction of a tunnel from Russia to Crimea (see 2403210076).
The list of bills could be updated in the coming days. The expected floor action could help House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., meet a goal he outlined in July, in which he said he hopes to have a "significant package of China-related legislation" signed into law this year (see 2407080046). Currently missing from the list are restrictions on outbound investment to China, which Johnson had said were a possibility.