I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9241 
To provide for the transfer of export control authorities from the Department 
of Commerce to the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 28, 2022 
Mr. BANKS (for himself, Mr. WITTMAN, and Mr. STEUBE) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 
in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Appropriations, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide for the transfer of export control authorities 
from the Department of Commerce to the Department 
of Defense, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prioritizing National 
Security in Export Controls Act of 2022’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) In 2018 Congress on an overwhelming bi-
partisan basis passed the Export Control Reform 
Act of 2018 requiring the Department of Commerce 
to tighten restrictions on transfers of emerging and 
foundational technologies to high risk countries, es-
pecially China, but there has been little progress 
ever since. 
(2) The Department of Commerce has shown 
itself inept to reconcile its mission to protect United 
States national security with its objective of pro-
moting United States exports to high-risk countries, 
especially China. 
(3) By August 2022, a Department of Com-
merce-led process that reviews United States tech-
nology exports to China has approved almost all re-
quests and has overseen an increase in sales of some 
particularly important technologies. 
(4) There are only 70 Chinese entities on the 
Department of Commerce’s current entity list, de-
spite that tens of thousands of Chinese entities may 
meet the United States criteria for military end-user 
export restrictions. 
(5) The Bureau of Industry and Security, re-
sponsible for enforcing export control under the De-
partment of Commerce, has not taken a single ac-
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tion since the passing of the Export Control Reform 
Act of 2018 to restrict foundational technology from 
being transferred to China. 
(6) In May 2022, the Bureau of Industry and 
Security dropped foundational technology as a cri-
terion, culminating its defiance of Congress. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that export control author-
ity should be taken away from the Bureau of Industry and 
Security of the Department of Commerce since the Bu-
reau has manifestly been unable to resolve the conflict of 
interest between promoting trade and protecting United 
States national security through enforcing restrictions on 
technology transfer to high-risk countries, especially 
China. 
SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF EXPORT CONTROL AUTHORITIES 
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TO 
THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. 
(a) TRANSFER
OF EXPORT CONTROL AUTHORI-
TIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provi-
sion of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 or 
any other provision of law, all authorities provided 
to the Department of Commerce, including the Bu-
reau of Industry and Security, regarding implemen-
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tation and enforcement of matters relating to export 
control shall be transferred to and carried out by the 
Defense Technology and Security Administration of 
the Department of Defense. 
(2) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Com-
merce and the Secretary of Defense shall take such 
actions, including the promulgation of regulations, 
as may be necessary to implement or otherwise carry 
out this subsection. 
(b) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS.—Twenty percent of the 
unobligated balances, as of the date of the enactment of 
this Act, of amounts made available for ‘‘DEPARTMENT OF 
COMMERCE—BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY—OP-
ERATIONS AND ADMINISTRATION’’ account for fiscal year 
2022 shall be transferred to and merged with amounts 
otherwise made available to the Defense Technology and 
Security Administration for such fiscal year to carry out 
subsection (a). 
(c) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER OF CERTAIN SENIOR 
EXECUTIVE SERVICE POSITIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, beginning on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, no individual employed in a Senior 
Executive Service position related to export control 
in Department of Commerce, including the Bureau 
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of Industry and Security, may be permitted to trans-
fer from such position to a position in the Defense 
Technology and Security Administration of the De-
partment of Defense. 
(2) SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE POSITION DE-
FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘Senior Execu-
tive Service position’’ has the meaning given that 
term in section 3132(a)(2) of title 5, United States 
Code. 
Æ 
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