[May 18, 2012] Manzullo Praises House Passage of Amendment Expediting Sales of American-Made Satellites Tweet May 18, 2012 (Congressional Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) -- Washington, May 17 - U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo (R-IL) today joined his colleagues in unanimously approving an amendment to the 2012 Defense Authorization bill that would lift excessive export controls from the U.S. manufacturers of commercial satellites and components so they can sell more of their products overseas and create more American jobs while still protecting national security. Passage of the overall bill is expected tomorrow. The amendment is similar to bipartisan legislation Manzullo co-authored with Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) that would restore the President's ability to determine what export restrictions should apply to commercial satellites and related components. The Safeguarding United States Satellite Leadership and Security Act of 2011 (H.R. 3288) would also prohibit any such exports to China, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Sudan, or Cuba. "Before 1998, the U.S. share of global satellite manufacturing was 75 percent. But over the past 13 years, it has averaged 44 percent because of Congress' overreaction in shifting commercial satellite export licensing decisions to the highly restrictive munitions list. That action provided a competitive advantage to foreign satellite makers at the expense of American manufacturers and American workers," said Manzullo, who Chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. "The amendment the House approved today - while not perfect - provides a balance that will bolster both our national and economic security and give our satellite manufacturers an opportunity to sell again on a level playing field. I will continue to work on the bill as it heads to the Senate and eventually to conference committee because it will help create American jobs." In 1998, in the wake of revelations that two American companies provided unlicensed technical assistance to China's space launch program, Congress mandated that all U.S. satellites and components be licensed as weapons under the United States Munitions List (USML) by the Department of State, severely hampering exports of American-made commercial satellites even to our closest allies. This action was intended to safeguard U.S. satellite technology from reaching China and deny them the ability to launch foreign commercial satellites; in 1998, all foreign commercial satellites had U.S. components, which allowed the U.S. to forbid their launch by Chinese rockets. Now, however, this Congressional action is causing unintended consequences that completely undermine this goal. U.S. satellite and satellite-component manufacturers are currently in danger of having their products "designed-out" of foreign satellite systems. This harms U.S. international competitiveness because current U.S. satellite export control policy provides a perverse incentive to encourage the launch of "U.S.-free" satellites outside of the U.S. to avoid the hassle of dealing with the USML. There are several other nations that manufacture commercial satellites and they all do not have similar export restraints. Manzullo voted against the 1998 amendment that moved commercial satellites to the restrictive Munitions List and he has been a leader in Congress in the effort to modernize U.S. export controls to improve national security while allowing American manufacturers to sell more of their products overseas and create jobs. Manzullo formed the Export Controls Working Group in 2007 and was instrumental in convincing the Bush Administration to clarify federal requirements for exporting civil aircraft parts and components (Section 17(c) of the Export Administration Act), an action that increased U.S. aerospace exports by billions of dollars annually. For his work, Manzullo was awarded the coveted Wings of Liberty Award from the Aerospace Industries Association. Following Manzullo's initiative on 17(c), the Obama Administration has engaged in a comprehensive export control reform effort (http://export.gov/ecr/index.asp). Read this original document at: http://manzullo.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=296000 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]