S. 5380 explained · 119th Congress · Pending in Congress
A bill to provide for a ten-year statute of limitations for export control violations under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018.
Cosponsors: 1 (1 D, 0 R) · per Congress.gov, 2026-10-14
Introduced: 2026-08-07
Latest action (2026-08-07): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
What S. 5380 does, in plain terms
This bill extends from 5 to 10 years the statute of limitations for civil and criminal violations of U.S. export control laws. The bill also specifies that the commencement of an action, suit, or proceeding includes the issuance of a charging letter. (A charging letter is a formal notification by the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security that a company or individual is under investigation for an apparent violation of export administration laws or regulations.)
Official summary by the Congressional Research Service, via Congress.gov.
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S. 5380 has not been graded yet. New measures with an official summary are graded daily under the published rubric.
The Framers
“Founders’ Verdict”
Confidence 0.50
Archived SI output (machine-generated)No editorial review recorded. This historical SI verdict was machine-generated by software and predates the review desk; check it against the official bill text.
Synthesis
The bill is constitutional under the Commerce Clause and Necessary and Proper Clause, but only if the ten-year statute of limitations is applied uniformly without arbitrary exceptions, does not delegate excessive discretion to the executive, and is demonstrably necessary and proportional to the regulation of foreign commerce, respecting due process and the Tenth Amendment.
The Congress is vested with the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, and to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution that power under Article I, Section 8, Clause 18. Export controls are a legitimate exercise of the foreign commerce power, and establishing a statute of limitations for their enforcement is a procedural incident of that power. The Constitution does not prescribe any fixed limitation period for federal offenses, leaving the matter to legislative discretion. A ten-year limit is not inherently unreasonable and d…
The Congress possesses authority to regulate commerce with foreign nations under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, which may extend to export controls and attendant procedural rules such as statutes of limitations. However, the Tenth Amendment reserves to the States or the people all powers not delegated to the United States, and a ten-year statute of limitations for export control violations raises concerns under the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause, as such a lengthy period may burden the accused with stale evidence and impair the right to a speedy trial implicitly protected by the Sixth A…
The Constitution vests in Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3), which includes the authority to enact export controls and prescribe penalties for their violation. However, the imposition of a statute of limitations must be consistent with the principle of separation of powers and the proper role of the judiciary. A ten-year limitation is not inherently unreasonable, but it must be applied uniformly and without arbitrary exceptions that would undermine the rule of law. The bill's constitutionality depends on whether it respects the enumer…
This bill establishes a ten-year statute of limitations for export control violations under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018. The Constitution vests in Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3), and export controls are a core component of that power. The necessary and proper clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18) grants Congress the authority to enact laws that are appropriate and plainly adapted to carrying out its enumerated powers, including setting procedural rules such as statutes of limitations for enforcement actions. In McCullo…
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