Murray, Bond Host Aerospace Caucus Luncheon, Support an Overhaul of the Export Control System

Press Release

On Wednesday, U.S. Senator's Patty Murray (D-WA) and Kit Bond (R-MO) hosted the second Aerospace Caucus Luncheon to serve as a forum to share ideas and promote consensus on the best policies to maintain and expand the American aerospace industry. Senator Murray expressed strong support for improving the existing export control system, and highlighted Washington state ties to the aerospace industry and trade.

"Washington state is the most trade dependent state in the country and our workers and businesses rely heavily on the aerospace industry," said Senator Patty Murray. "I have spoken with so many aerospace workers who have lost their jobs over the last four years, and I have heard directly from small business owners across the state about how export controls severely limit their business opportunities. The current system is too restrictive and has contributed to a significant loss of sales to foreign based companies, which is exactly why the U.S. needs to take smart steps to help our companies be better positioned to export their products and create jobs here at home."

Following Senator Murray's remarks, National Security Adviser General James Jones announced the creation of a new and independent licensing agency that will unite all export activities under a board of directors reporting directly to the president, as a part of the Obama administration's efforts to overhaul the current export control system. Under the current system, licenses are jointly issued to companies that want to export items for commercial and military purposes by the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce.

"The Administration supports the creation of an independent entity, governed by a Board of Directors comprised of the Cabinet officials of the current departments with export control responsibilities, which reports to the President," said General Jones at the luncheon. "We hope to have a fundamentally new system, a system defined by flexibility, transparency, and predictability, and which improves the ability of exporters to comply and for the government to enforce. We are identifying practices, business processes, and definitions, with the aim of making changes that will harmonize how we do business and remove inherent discrepancies and contradictions between the current systems"

Source