Reps. Crow, Kean Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Prevent Critical U.S. Technology from Being Used by Adversaries

WASHINGTON — Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO-06), and Congressman Tom Kean, Jr., introduced the BIS IT Modernization Act, a new bipartisan bill to prevent commercially-made dual-use U.S. technologies from becoming available to foreign adversaries like Russia and the People’s Republic of China.

Currently exports of American technology are regulated by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Their bipartisan bill pushes much-needed government reforms to the department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), including long-overdue IT systems upgrades that will allow the federal government to utilize new tools to better track the flow of key dual-use technologies–used both commercially and in weapons systems– to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.

"Protecting the U.S. from foreign threats is not a partisan issue. Our bipartisan bill helps keep us safe by making it harder for critical U.S. technologies, like chips and advanced computer software, from falling into the hands of America’s adversaries,” said Congressman Crow.

“As America’s adversaries, like China and Russia, become more brazen and aggressive, it is more important than ever to strengthen our export controls and sanctions enforcement to protect our national security,” said Congressman Kean. “The bipartisan BIS IT Modernization Act is a critical step to ensure the Bureau of Industry and Security has the modern tools it needs to keep American technology out of the hands of those who seek to use it against us and our allies.”

Congressman Crow has worked in Congress to protect America’s national security and respond to the growing threat from foreign adversaries around the world. Crow helped pass the CHIPS and Science Act to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing and alleviate supply chain issues, supported bipartisan legislation to close the foreign adversaries lobbying loophole, and introduced his bill to create the Office of Global Competition Analysis to track emerging technologies around the world.

Read the full text of the legislation here.

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