Palmetto State News

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and fellow Banking Committee Republican Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) led 21 of their colleagues in calling on Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to withdraw the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) interim final rule that restricts the issuance and limits the lifespan of export licenses for firearms, ammunition, and certain accessories to overseas markets. The letter also calls for BIS leaders to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on the rule.

Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), JD Vance (R-Ohio), and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) joined Scott and Hagerty on the letter.

In the letter, the senators write, “The Department’s actions over the past year — including the controversial and unusual export pause on October 27, 2023, this unprecedented rulemaking, and the Department’s International Trade Administration decision to curtail the promotion of firearms exports — collectively serve as yet another example of the Biden administration using the administrative state to target legal U.S. industries and advance progressive policies without meaningful consideration of the impact on U.S. commercial, economic, national security, and foreign policy interests.”

The letter continues, “We are concerned that the Department issued the Rule in an attempt to intentionally harm the firearms industry. As you know, many of these businesses rely on the export of firearms, related components, ammunition, and related assistance activities for such products to meet their bottom lines. We therefore call upon you to withdraw this deeply misguided rule and its associated license revocations. Additionally, we request that BIS Undersecretary Alan Estevez and Assistant Secretary Thea Kendler be available to testify before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.”

This letter builds upon Senator Scott’s oversight efforts regarding Biden administration policies affecting lawful firearms industries. In October 2023, Scott and Hagerty demanded answers from Secretary Raimondo about BIS’ firearm export practices after learning about plans to transfer firearms export licenses to a new division called "Office of Embargoes and Human Rights."

In November 2023, Senator Scott joined Senator Ted Budd in a letter with 44 other senators raising concerns over BIS' decision announced in October to pause for 90 days issuing export licenses for firearms-related products to most overseas markets. The letter highlighted potential impacts on “U.S. commercial and economic interests,” estimating a direct cost of at least $89 million due to this pause with potential annual costs reaching $238 million if made permanent.