Sponsors (2)
The bill trades stronger legal certainty and lower long-tail liability for businesses against reduced ability for the government to pursue and penalize long-concealed or complex violations, including potential national-security and accountability gaps.
Government contractors and financial institutions will have greater legal certainty because civil or criminal enforcement actions generally must be brought within 10 years, reducing exposure to very old conduct and making it easier to manage legal and financial risk.
Exporters, defense contractors, and national security authorities may be less able to pursue complex export-control breaches discovered after 10 years, weakening deterrence of sophisticated evasion and potentially increasing national security risks.
Victims of wrongdoing and enforcement agencies may be unable to obtain penalties when violations were concealed and only uncovered after the 10-year limit, allowing some wrongdoers to avoid accountability.
Based on analysis of 1 section of legislative text.
Establishes a 10-year statute of limitations for civil and criminal enforcement of export-control violations under 50 U.S.C. § 4819.
Official title: Provide for a ten-year statute of limitations for export control violations under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018.
Introduced August 7, 2026 by Jon Husted · Last progress August 7, 2026
Establishes a 10-year statute of limitations for both civil and criminal enforcement of export-control violations under 50 U.S.C. § 4819. Civil enforcement actions (fines, penalties, forfeitures) must be started within 10 years of the violation (including by issuance of a charging letter); criminal prosecutions must be begun within 10 years after the last date of the underlying violation (indictment or information).