On target: Resolution introduced to overturn Biden ban on small business exports of arms, ammo, parts

Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee and 80 fellow members of the House introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn a Biden Administration rule on firearm exports.

The Biden rule is a complicated set of regulations that impacts thousands of small businesses in America. Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty leads the effort in the Senate, which has 33 co-sponsors.

The resolution to deny the Administration’s attack on small businesses comes after the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security enacted a 90-day pause on licensing firearms and ammunition exports, a pause that lasted more than 200 days.

Back in October, B.I.S. locked down new export licenses involving certain firearms, ammunition, and related components, and it ended the export approvals for non-governmental end buyers in some countries where the Administration thinks crime is too high or where firearms sometimes end up in the hands of criminals. This meant the government can now sell arms to other governments, but firearms makers cannot sell their wares to private citizens in other countries.

During the lockdown, the Department has been crafting changes in the Export Administration Regulations it says will advance national security and U.S. foreign policy interests.

While Americans buy a significant number of their personal firearms from companies that make them overseas, the new regulations make it nearly impossible for small gunmakers to engage in legal commerce and sell their wares to legitimate overseas buyers. This ends up hurting their ability to hire and train workers, and be profitable in their chosen line of work.

The final rule is at this link and is in its 90-day comment period that ends July 1.

The new rule has an extensive checklist for evaluating all licenses, including the nature of end user, the destination of exports (foreign policy/national security risk factors), nature of item being exported, human rights considerations, and instances of past diversion.

Some of the decisions about whether an export license may be granted will be based on reports from non-governmental organizations, many of which are political in nature. They include:

•   State Department Human Rights Country Reports
•   Global Terrorism Index
•   Corruption Perceptions Index
•   Government Defence Integrity Index
•   Amnesty International Reports
•   Human Rights Watch Report
•   Fragile State Index
•   Global Organized Crime Index
•   Small Arms Light Weapons Tracker
•   U.N. Global Study on Firearms Trafficking
•   Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries (Majors List)

The countries currently include: Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Vietnam, and Yemen.

“The Biden administration is out of control. It’s clear President Biden has ordered the Commerce Department to attack small businesses and firearm exporters. This is completely contradictory to the Department’s statutory duty ‘to create the conditions for economic growth and opportunity for all communities.’ Congress has the power and the duty to hold the Biden administration accountable for its egregious attacks against gun owners and American businesses. This Congressional Review Act will put a stop to BIS’ overreaching rule,” Green said.

Licenses, which were previously good for four years, are now approved yearly and on a case-by-case basis, which leaves manufacturers at the mercy of anti-gun bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., Green noted.

“Left unchecked, the Biden administration will go after thousands of other responsible, law-abiding businesses across the country. Congress is fully within its Constitutional purview to overturn the Biden administration’s interim final rule. The time for action is now,” Green said.

“In effect, this is an attempt to permanently extend the current “pause” on such export licenses and will rescind approximately 2,000 active export licenses for certain firearms. In addition to being an unlawful, unjustified exercise of regulatory authority, this will have a substantial, negative impact on these American manufacturers, their suppliers, and the jobs they support,” Hagerty said.

“This rule by the Biden Administration damages the firearm industry, which harms Tennessee manufacturers,” Hagerty said. “This politically motivated effort unlawfully circumvents the legislative process and destroys American exports, jobs, and small businesses that support the firearm and ammunition industry. I’m pleased to introduce this CRA to overturn the Biden Administration’s version of Operation Choke Point.” Operation Choke Point was an initiative of the Obama Administration to investigate banks that lent to firearms makers. Gun and ammunition dealers that were operating legally found their bank accounts were terminated without explanation.

House Cosponsors: Michael McCaul (R-TX), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Richard Hudson (R-NC), Michael Guest (R-MS), Roger Williams (R-TX), Sam Graves (R-MO), Mike Bost (R-IL), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), David Kustoff (R-TN), Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), Bob Good (R-VA), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Chip Roy (R-TX), Michael Cloud (R-TX), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Ben Cline (R-VA), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Andy Harris (R-MD), Clay Higgins (R-LA), Mary Miller (R-IL), Barry Moore (R-AL), Troy Nehls (R-TX), Tom Tiffany (R-WI), Warren Davidson (R-OH), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Russ Fulcher (R-ID), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Greg Murphy (R-NC), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Blake Moore (R-UT), Bill Posey (R-FL), Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Russell Fry (R-SC), Rudy Yakym (R-IN), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Aaron Bean (R-FL), Pete Sessions (R-TX), William Timmons (R-SC), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Randy Weber (R-TX), Adrian Smith (R-NE), Tracey Mann (R-KS), Carol Miller (R-WV), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Kevin Hern (R-OK), Chuck Edwards (R-NC), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Greg Steube (R-FL), Cory Mills (R-FL), Pat Fallon (R-TX), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Mike Ezell (R-MS), Nick Langworthy (R-NY), John Rutherford (R-FL), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Scott Franklin (R-FL), Trent Kelly (R-MS), Keith Self (R-TX), Andy Barr (R-KY), Jerry Carl (R-AL), James Baird (R-IN), Laurel Lee (R-FL), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Brian Babin (R-TX), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), Brad Finstad (R-MN), Scott Perry (R-PA), Joe Wilson (R-SC)

Senate Cosponsors: John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steven Daines (R-MT), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), James Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Roger Wicker (R-MS)