East Idaho Times

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senators Mike Crapo, Jim Risch (both R-Idaho), Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), and Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee) led 18 of their colleagues in urging 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 requests BIS leaders to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on the rule.

“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 (ITA) 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,” wrote the Senators.

“We are concerned that the Department issued the Rule in an attempt to intentionally harm the firearms industry,” continued the Senators. “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.”

Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), John Thune (R-South Dakota), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Todd Young (R-Indiana), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska) joined Crapo, Risch, Scott and Hagerty on the letter.

To read the full letter, click here.