Export Control Reform Act of 2018
Latest action. Committee Agreed to Seek Consideration Under suspension of the rulesA House fast track for uncontroversial bills: 40 minutes of debate, no amendments, and a two-thirds vote to pass.Read the full definition (opens a new tab), by unanimous consentDoing business by universal agreement instead of votes. Most Senate floor action happens this way, which is why a single objecting senator has real power.Read the full definition (opens a new tab).
Export Control Reform Act of 2018
Export Controls Act of 2018
This bill grants the President authority to control: (1) the export, reexport, and transfer of items (commodities, software, or technology), whether by U.S. persons (including corporations) or by foreign persons, wherever located to protect national security; and (2) the activities of U.S. persons, wherever located, relating to specific nuclear explosive devices, missiles, chemical or biological weapons, whole plants for chemical weapons precursors, foreign maritime nuclear projects, and foreign intelligence services.
A license shall be required for the export, reexport, or transfer of items to a country if the Department of State has made specified determinations with respect to support for international terrorism.
The President shall establish and lead a regular ongoing interagency process to identify emerging critical technologies not identified in any list of items controlled for export.
Anti-Boycott Act of 2018
The President shall issue regulations prohibiting specified actions with respect to foreign boycotts against a country that is friendly to the United States and may impose civil penalties for violations of boycott prohibitions..
The President shall impose specified sanctions: (1) upon determining that a U.S. person knowingly exports, reexports, or transfers of any item on the Guidelines and Equipment and Technology Annex of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR); and (2) on a foreign person who engages in specified activity involving MTCR equipment or technology transfers, where such person has knowingly and materially contributed through the export from the United States of any item subject to U.S. jurisdiction involving the efforts by a foreign country, project, or entity to acquire chemical or biological weapons.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 15, 2018. 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 April 17, 2018: Committee Agreed to Seek Consideration Under Suspension of the Rules, by Unanimous Consent.
- 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 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 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?
ED ROYCE (R-CA) introduced it on February 15, 2018, and 4 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 3 Republicans.
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 February 15, 2018, 3129 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3068 days ago, on April 17, 2018.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 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