US lawmakers introduce bill to update ancient export control IT systems
(2025/08/12)
- Reference: 1755022329
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/08/12/bis_it_infra_update/
- Source link:
The US government agency in charge of keeping advanced technology out of the hands of America's enemies desperately needs an IT modernization to accomplish its mission. So a group of elected officials is trying (again) to get the funds it needs to do so.
On Friday, Colorado Democratic Congressman Jason Crow, New Jersey Republican Tom Kean, and two other Democrats introduced the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) IT Modernization [1]Act in the House of Representatives. The bill would give the BIS $25 million for each of the fiscal years 2026 through 2029 to get its IT house in order by scaling up the use of data, analytics, decision-making software, supply chain illumination tools, AI adoption, and the addition of new data sharing interfaces.
The bill would also call for BIS, alongside other agencies, to map the commercial ties linking the industrial bases of China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and other "countries of concern."
[2]
For those unfamiliar with the BIS, it's an agency within the Commerce Department responsible for maintaining export control compliance for technologies that the government restricts due to national security concerns. It also maintains the [3]Entity List , which imposes extra license requirements - often with a presumption of denial - on certain foreign parties. Controlled technology includes dual-use military tech and advanced semiconductors.
[4]
[5]
Unfortunately, the BIS has long relied on manual, laborious processes to identify violators, maintain restrictions, and add entity list entries due to outdated technology. This isn't a new issue, either - it's been known for at least a year based on the BIS' own [6]cry for help published in July 2024.
According to the Bureau's own review of its technology, techs designed the system used to review information back in 2006 and haven't updated it much since then.
[7]
"The state of the foundational systems that were not designed to communicate seamlessly with one another, coupled with the need for human verification of the accuracy of the underlying data once extracted, have required a substantial commitment of staff time to execute in a manner that ensures an accurate product," the BIS said last year.
Things haven't improved since then, with the Trump administration proposing to [8]cut the Bureau's budget earlier this year in what was described by Democrats as a gift to China and Russia. That position has since changed, with the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee [9]proposing a 59 percent increase in BIS funding for FY 2026, giving the agency a paltry $303 million to work with next year.
[10]Nvidia security boss pledges 'no backdoors'
[11]US tightens export controls on quantum kit and chips for China, Iran, Russia
[12]Gone in 40 days: US drops ban on export of chip design tools to China
[13]Trump's trade war with China to cost AMD $1.5B in lost rev
An additional $100 million spread out over four years might not be that much, but at least it would prevent the BIS from having to pick its own pocket to buy new IT equipment.
"Strengthening our export controls and sanctions enforcement abilities are critical to safeguarding national security and our nation's future," Kean said of the potential law. "This bill is a crucial step toward ensuring that the BIS has the capabilities it needs to respond to the current threats faced by the United States and our allies."
Of course, there's always the possibility that this bill won't go anywhere. Crow and Kean [14]introduced the same proposal last year, and it never made it out of committee.
[15]
According to Kean's office, the last bill's failure wasn't due to a lack of interest in helping the BIS modernize its tech. A spokesperson for the New Jersey Republican told us there's still bipartisan support for the measure, and committees responsible for advancing the measure have signaled their interest in advancing the measure as well.
There's no telling when the bill might be heard by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which is now in possession of the bill but currently has no bill markup sessions on its calendar. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4920
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aJu5bxQsUo37S8glt1vU8wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/26/us_entity_list_subsidiaries/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aJu5bxQsUo37S8glt1vU8wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aJu5bxQsUo37S8glt1vU8wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/03/bis_manual_processes_china_regulation/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aJu5bxQsUo37S8glt1vU8wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/27/proposed_bis_buget_cuts/
[9] https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-appropriations.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/fy26-commerce%2C-justice%2C-science%2C-and-related-agencies-bill-summary-subcommittee.pdf
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/06/ai_chips_to_china_charges/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/06/us_rolls_out_new_export/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/03/us_eda_export_ban_lifted/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/07/us_export_controls_on_instinct/
[14] https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/9247/cosponsors
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aJu5bxQsUo37S8glt1vU8wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
On Friday, Colorado Democratic Congressman Jason Crow, New Jersey Republican Tom Kean, and two other Democrats introduced the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) IT Modernization [1]Act in the House of Representatives. The bill would give the BIS $25 million for each of the fiscal years 2026 through 2029 to get its IT house in order by scaling up the use of data, analytics, decision-making software, supply chain illumination tools, AI adoption, and the addition of new data sharing interfaces.
The bill would also call for BIS, alongside other agencies, to map the commercial ties linking the industrial bases of China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and other "countries of concern."
[2]
For those unfamiliar with the BIS, it's an agency within the Commerce Department responsible for maintaining export control compliance for technologies that the government restricts due to national security concerns. It also maintains the [3]Entity List , which imposes extra license requirements - often with a presumption of denial - on certain foreign parties. Controlled technology includes dual-use military tech and advanced semiconductors.
[4]
[5]
Unfortunately, the BIS has long relied on manual, laborious processes to identify violators, maintain restrictions, and add entity list entries due to outdated technology. This isn't a new issue, either - it's been known for at least a year based on the BIS' own [6]cry for help published in July 2024.
According to the Bureau's own review of its technology, techs designed the system used to review information back in 2006 and haven't updated it much since then.
[7]
"The state of the foundational systems that were not designed to communicate seamlessly with one another, coupled with the need for human verification of the accuracy of the underlying data once extracted, have required a substantial commitment of staff time to execute in a manner that ensures an accurate product," the BIS said last year.
Things haven't improved since then, with the Trump administration proposing to [8]cut the Bureau's budget earlier this year in what was described by Democrats as a gift to China and Russia. That position has since changed, with the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee [9]proposing a 59 percent increase in BIS funding for FY 2026, giving the agency a paltry $303 million to work with next year.
[10]Nvidia security boss pledges 'no backdoors'
[11]US tightens export controls on quantum kit and chips for China, Iran, Russia
[12]Gone in 40 days: US drops ban on export of chip design tools to China
[13]Trump's trade war with China to cost AMD $1.5B in lost rev
An additional $100 million spread out over four years might not be that much, but at least it would prevent the BIS from having to pick its own pocket to buy new IT equipment.
"Strengthening our export controls and sanctions enforcement abilities are critical to safeguarding national security and our nation's future," Kean said of the potential law. "This bill is a crucial step toward ensuring that the BIS has the capabilities it needs to respond to the current threats faced by the United States and our allies."
Of course, there's always the possibility that this bill won't go anywhere. Crow and Kean [14]introduced the same proposal last year, and it never made it out of committee.
[15]
According to Kean's office, the last bill's failure wasn't due to a lack of interest in helping the BIS modernize its tech. A spokesperson for the New Jersey Republican told us there's still bipartisan support for the measure, and committees responsible for advancing the measure have signaled their interest in advancing the measure as well.
There's no telling when the bill might be heard by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which is now in possession of the bill but currently has no bill markup sessions on its calendar. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4920
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aJu5bxQsUo37S8glt1vU8wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/26/us_entity_list_subsidiaries/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aJu5bxQsUo37S8glt1vU8wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aJu5bxQsUo37S8glt1vU8wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/03/bis_manual_processes_china_regulation/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aJu5bxQsUo37S8glt1vU8wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/27/proposed_bis_buget_cuts/
[9] https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-appropriations.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/fy26-commerce%2C-justice%2C-science%2C-and-related-agencies-bill-summary-subcommittee.pdf
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/06/ai_chips_to_china_charges/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/06/us_rolls_out_new_export/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/03/us_eda_export_ban_lifted/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/07/us_export_controls_on_instinct/
[14] https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/9247/cosponsors
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aJu5bxQsUo37S8glt1vU8wAAAM4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Yeah but, can’t they just, you know, use AI to detect and punish all those transgressors? Didn’t the federal guvmint get a great deal from the man selling AI flavoured snake oil?