Ros-Lehtinen throws cold water on export control reform

The Obama administration has been working for a more than year to streamline the complex and costly system of U.S. export controls, but a key House committee chairwoman Thursday threw up obstacles to the plans.

The executive branch restricts the export of arms and so-called dual use items through a web of conflicting laws overseen by the State, Commerce, Treasury, Defense and Energy Departments.

Obama has proposed creating a single licensing agency, single list of restricted items, single set of policies and wants to put all the personnel involved on the same computer system.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said she is not convinced of the need for the changes.

“Ultimately, new legislative authorities would be required to implement the administration’s plan – a plan substantially at variance with the current statutory scheme for controlling defense articles under the Arms Export Control Act and dual-use items under the Export Administration Act, and requiring Committee review," she said.

“To date, a compelling case has not been made for the wholesale restructuring of our current system, especially one that would include the creation of a costly and perhaps unaccountable new federal bureaucracy,” she added.

The statements come as a blow to big business and defense exporters who are eager to see the system reformed.

The key for industry is the weeding of the export control lists, which contain outdated technologies.

Ros-Lehtinen offered a glimmer of hope there by saying she will introduce a bill to exempt generic parts and components from control.

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