Lawmakers Press Biden to Request More Funding for BIS

The Bureau of Industry and Security should get a “significant” funding boost next year so its export control authorities can keep pace with emerging technologies and so its enforcement branch can continue increasing penalties on violators, the top Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee said this week.

The lawmakers, led by Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, chair of the committee, urged President Joe Biden to ask for a large increase in BIS export control funding when his administration submits its FY 2025 budget request. They called the agency a “critical component of our national security policy” and pointed to funding increases recently requested by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who in December compared the agency’s budget to a “cost of a few fighter jets” (see 2312040041, 2312070074 and 2401240061).

“An important step toward building a stronger, more responsive export control system is ensuring BIS has the resources it needs to achieve its critical mission,” the lawmakers said in a Feb. 6 letter to Biden. “With those efforts in mind, we encourage you to include robust funding for BIS in your FY25 budget request.”

The senators said BIS should be “continually” evaluating the resources and personnel it needs to “maintain an effective, efficient, and responsive export control regime,” and should also document what “technology improvements and capabilities are necessary to root out illegal procurement and export control evasion networks.” The agency also may need to hire more experts to evaluate critical and emerging technologies for potential controls and devote more resources to increasing export control cooperation with U.S. trade partners.

BIS may also need a better “analytic infrastructure,” which could allow it to “more quickly and effectively conduct the analysis needed to determine whether and when to apply controls," as well as "what the potential collateral consequences of those controls may be" and "how it can improve its capacity to assess the effectiveness of export controls over time,” the letter said.

The lawmakers said witnesses in past committee hearings have asked Congress to allocate more funding for the agency, including resources that could help it access “unbiased industry information and trade data." They also suggested more BIS penalties could improve the effectiveness of its existing controls, saying it has welcomed past “aggressive actions” to restrict sensitive tech exports.

“We stand ready to work with you to provide that funding through the appropriations process,” said the letter, which was also signed by Sens. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Mark Warner of Virginia. The administration's budget request is expected in March.

The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.