Res Communis

House Report: Intelligence Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2010

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The House of representatives has released its report on the Intelligence Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2010. This report includes mention ITAR and how it relates to commercial imagery:

Section 341. Report on International Traffic in Arms Regulations
The executive branch and industry have repeatedly identified the
International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) as an impediment
to technology development. ITAR was intended to protect sensitive
technologies and information from being transferred to nations
deemed a potential security risk. Government and industry assert
that the State Department has managed ITAR in such a way so as
to encourage non-U.S. companies to develop a collaborative research
and development environment that has allowed the indigenous production of banned technologies, which defeats the premise of ITAR and causes a significant loss of market share in key industries for U.S. corporations.

This section requires the DNI to report to the congressional intelligence
committees and to the congressional foreign affairs committees
regarding the threat to national security posed by foreign government
attempts to acquire sensitive technology and the effectiveness of ITAR in mitigating that threat.

The Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, which passed the House in June 2009, would give the President Authority to reform certain aspects of ITAR’s management. The Committee expects that the report required by this section will help the President and Congress better evaluate the merits of such a decision.

Commercial imagery providers have suggested that the U.S. Government has imposed on them significant legal restrictions. These
providers are concerned that U.S. restrictions on the sale of commercial imagery are beginning to inhibit their growth and their
competitiveness in foreign markets, especially as foreign imagery
satellites improve and foreign reliance on U.S. systems diminishes.
The Committee expects the report called for by this section to help
Congress better understand the implications of these restrictions.