A group of bipartisan lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday aimed...
A group of bipartisan lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday aimed at relaxing International Traffic in Arms Regulation rules for satellite components. HR-3288 was introduced by House Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Howard Berman, D-Calif., and co-sponsored by three more Democrats and…
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four Republicans. The bill would give the Executive Office of the President back the authority to remove commercial satellites and components from a munitions list closely regulated by the State Department. Sales of items on the munitions list require difficult-to-obtain licenses that many in the satellite industry say have hurt U.S. satellite production. If passed, U.S. satellites and their components would still be ineligible for transfer to China, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria and North Korea. “It is time we undo the damage this restriction has unintentionally created for U.S. business, U.S. competitiveness, and U.S. national security,” Berman said. The Satellite Industry Association supported the legislation. “Congress has the opportunity to dramatically improve the competitiveness of the U.S. satellite and space industries and ensure an innovative and thriving U.S. space industrial base,” said President Patricia Cooper. She said SIA supports the bill’s goal of “updating an outmoded and overly-restrictive regulation instituted more than a decade ago, which has adversely affected the U.S. space industrial base."