Technology Security and Antiboycott Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform .
Technology Security and Antiboycott Act - Technology Security Act - Directs the President to control the transfer of items (any goods, technology, software, and services) by U.S. persons and by foreign persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction in order to: (1) prevent the transfer of items that would pose a risk to U.S. national security or foreign policy; (2) secure the cooperation of other governments and multilateral organizations to impose similar controls; (3) maintain U.S. leadership in science, engineering, technology, and manufacturing; (4) sustain the viability of commercial firms, academic institutions, and research establishments; (5) sustain the domestic defense industrial base; and (6) enforce the controls through regulations, compliance requirements, controlled item lists, and lists of foreign persons who threaten U.S. national security or foreign policy.
Requires a license for the transfer of items to a country if: (1) such country has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism; and (2) such items could make a significant contribution to such country's military potential, or could enhance its ability to support acts of international terrorism.
Requires congressional notification before any license may be issued.
Authorizes the President to establish a Transfer Policy Committee.
Sets forth criminal and civil penalties for violations of such control and license provisions.
Repeals the Export Administration Act of 1979.
Antiboycott Act - Directs the President to issue regulations prohibiting, with specified exceptions, any U.S. person from taking specified actions to support (or actions to evade such regulations) any foreign-imposed or -fostered boycott against a country that is friendly to the United States and is not itself the object of any form of U.S. boycott.
Sets forth civil penalties for violations of such regulations.
Directs the President to impose specified sanctions against a U.S. person that knowingly: (1) exports, transfers, or otherwise engages in the trade of controlled defense items or missiles or related technology; or (2) conspires to, or facilitates, such export, transfer, or trade.
Directs the President to impose procurement sanctions against a foreign person that knowingly and materially contributed to the efforts of a foreign country, project, or entity to use, develop, produce, or stockpile chemical or biological weapons through the export from: (1) the United States of any item that is subject to U.S. jurisdiction under this Act; or (2) any other country of any item that would be, if they were U.S. goods or technology, subject to such U.S. jurisdiction.
The summary continues for 2 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 26, 2011. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 20, 2011: Referred to the Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform .
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
HOWARD BERMAN (D-CA) introduced it on May 26, 2011, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 3 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 26, 2011, 5633 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5608 days ago, on June 20, 2011.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers