Mike Thompson: “Foreign availability, one might say, was in the 1979 act, but foreign availability has been greatly expanded in this…”

“Foreign availability, one might say, was in the 1979 act, but foreign availability has been greatly expanded in this act. In the 1979 act, foreign availability was allowed to be considered as one of several factors in determining whether or not to issue a license. That is perfectly appropriate. In the current legislation, foreign availability is set up as a total distinct category of items, whereby if there is foreign availability, it is totally decontrolled as determined by the Department of Commerce. That is a major difference. Obviously, the proponents of this bill are going to prevail on the notion that this is a good idea, but let's not deceive ourselves into thinking we are just continuing on the 1979 policy. We are greatly expanding the 1979 policy on foreign availability.”