HR-8289 — BIS Licensing Efficiency Act of 2026

YourVoice.Now Summary

Transparency & Accountability

Sets a 90-day target for export license decisions and requires quarterly reports to Congress on the backlog.

Transparency & Accountability

Reporting requirements — Commerce must report license processing statistics to Congress every quarter
Applicant notice — Exporters must be told the status and reason once a decision passes 120 days
Oversight audit — GAO must audit the license review process and post the report publicly

The details

Companies that export controlled technology need a license from the Commerce Department. Those decisions are meant to take about 90 days but often run longer. A 90-day target would be written into the statute, though as a "should" rather than a hard deadline. If no decision arrives within 120 days, the department would have to tell the applicant where the application stands, why it has stalled, and what else it needs. Most of the bill is about visibility. Commerce would file a quarterly report to Congress with application counts, approvals, denials, and average and median processing times. Those times would be broken out by destination country, product category, and transaction type. The report would also list how many applications sat 90 days or longer and why. The GAO would audit the review process and post its findings publicly.

Congressional Summary

BIS Licensing Efficiency Act of 2026This bill establishes a timeline for the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to make decisions on applications for export licenses and establishes certain reporting requirements.Specifically, the bill directs BIS to make a decision on whether to approve an application for an export license and notify the applicant of the decision within 90 days of receiving the application.If no licensing decision is made within 120 days of submission of the application, BIS must notify the applicant of the status of the application, the reason a decision has not been made, and request any additional information necessary to make a decision.BIS must submit quarterly reports to specified congressional committees on the processing of license applications and other requests for authorization for the export, reexport, release, and in-country transfer of controlled items.The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to audit and report to specified congressional committees on the license review process of BIS.

Legislative Subjects

Congressional oversightGovernment information and archivesGovernment studies and investigationsLicensing and registrationsTrade restrictions

Details

Congress: 119th
Chamber: House
Status: summarized
Action: Introduced in House
Action Date: 2026-04-15
Date Added: 2026-07-28
Source: Congress.gov →

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