WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is failing to stop our adversaries, China and Russia, from accessing sensitive and controlled technology. In 2021, BIS approved 88 percent of all license applications to transfer controlled technology to Chinese firms, including dangerous, blacklisted companies like Huawei.

U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced the Depriving Enemy Nations of Integral Authorizations and Licenses (DENIAL) Act of 2023 to require BIS to adopt a presumption of denial for any end user from China or Russia, and to notify Congress before approving a license to either country. Congress would then have the ability to block BIS from granting such a license. These changes will create additional safeguards to ensure sensitive technology does not flow to our adversaries.

“China routinely steals American intellectual property, and Russia has similarly proven itself untrustworthy,” Wicker said. “The DENIAL Act would strengthen the security of our nation’s cutting-edge technology by tailoring our export controls to the unique challenges posed by these two nations.”

“The BIS’s current rubber-stamp approval process is a threat to our national security. The DENIAL Act would tighten up export controls so that we can keep American technology out of our enemies’ hands,” Rubio said.