[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5404 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5404

To direct the Attorney General to prepare a report on the Department of 
  Justice activities related to countering Chinese national security 
                    threats, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 12, 2023

Mr. Fitzgerald (for himself, Mr. Buck, Ms. Stefanik, Mr. Waltz, and Mr. 
   Lamborn) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Attorney General to prepare a report on the Department of 
  Justice activities related to countering Chinese national security 
                    threats, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Countering Chinese Espionage 
Reporting Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Chinese Communist Party poses pervasive and growing 
        threats to United States domestic national security.
            (2) On November 1, 2018, the Department of Justice launched 
        a new initiative, referred to as the ``China Initiative'', to 
        address some of the most critical threats to United States 
        domestic national security posed by the Chinese regime.
            (3) The China Initiative has sought to identify and 
        prosecute Chinese trade-secret theft and economic espionage and 
        to protect American critical infrastructure and supply chains 
        from covert influence.
            (4) The Chinese Communist Party's aggression is a pervasive 
        and growing problem, as approximately 80 percent of all Federal 
        economic espionage prosecutions involve alleged conduct that 
        would benefit the Chinese Communist Party, and about 60 percent 
        of all United States trade-secret theft cases have a nexus to 
        the Chinese Communist Party.
            (5) According to the Commission on the Theft of American 
        Intellectual Property, the Chinese Communist Party's theft of 
        United States intellectual property is estimated to cost the 
        United States economy between $225,000,000,000 to 
        $600,000,000,000 annually.
            (6) The Department of Justice has identified academia as 
        one of the sectors of the United States economy that are most 
        vulnerable to trade-secret theft and economic espionage by the 
        Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party exploits 
        the American tradition of openness and the free flow of ideas 
        for its own benefit.
            (7) The widespread and dangerous threats posed by the 
        Chinese Communist Party has been underscored by the most 
        senior-level United States Government officials.
            (8) On November 1, 2018, the former Assistant Attorney for 
        the Department of Justice's National Security Division stated, 
        ``China wants the fruits of America's brainpower to harvest the 
        seeds of its planned economic dominance. Preventing this from 
        happening will take all of us, here at the Justice Department, 
        across the U.S. Government, and within the private sector''.
            (9) On June 24, 2020, the former National Security Advisor 
        of the White House stated that the Chinese Communist Party ``is 
        seeking leverage over individual Americans'' and ``collecting 
        your most intimate data--your words, your actions, your 
        purchases, your whereabouts, your health records, your social 
        media posts, your texts, and mapping your network of friends, 
        family, and acquaintances''.
            (10) On July 7, 2020, the Director of the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation warned that ``[t]he greatest long-term threat to 
        our nation's information and intellectual property, and to our 
        economic vitality, is the counterintelligence and economic 
        espionage threat from China''.
            (11) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
        added that ``[w]e've now reached the point where the FBI is 
        opening a new China-related counterintelligence case about 
        every 10 hours. Of the nearly 5,000 active FBI 
        counterintelligence cases currently underway across the 
        country, almost half are related to China''.
            (12) On July 16, 2020, the former Attorney General of the 
        Department of Justice stated that ``[t]he ultimate ambition of 
        China's rulers isn't to trade with the United States. It is to 
        raid the United States''.
            (13) On July 23, 2020, the former Secretary of the 
        Department of State stated that ``[w]e [the United States] must 
        admit a hard truth that should guide us in the years and 
        decades to come, that if we want a free 21st century, and not 
        the Chinese century of which Xi Jingping dreams, the old 
        paradigm of blind engagement with China simply won't get it 
        done. We must not continue it and we must not return it''.
            (14) Actions by the Biden administration have raised 
        serious concerns about its commitment to confront the national 
        security threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
            (15) In July 2021, the Biden administration's Department of 
        Justice moved to dismiss charges against several suspected 
        Chinese researchers accused of concealing ties to the Chinese 
        military.
            (16) On February 23, 2022, the Biden administration's 
        Department of Justice announced the end of its national 
        security program aimed at prioritizing and countering 
        legitimate threats of economic espionage, theft of American 
        intellectual property and research, and other threats posed by 
        the Chinese Communist Party to the United States.
            (17) This action comes at a time when President Biden's 
        leadership in only a short period has resulted in many foreign 
        policy missteps, notably in Afghanistan, Russia, and Iran.
            (18) The United States efforts to combat the Chinese 
        Communist Party's malign activities should actively protect 
        United States domestic national security, and address the 
        strategic failures described in this section.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ACTIVITIES RELATED TO 
              COUNTERING CHINESE NATIONAL SECURITY THREATS.

    (a) Requirement.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter for 7 years, the 
Attorney General shall submit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives and of the Senate a report that includes each 
of the following:
            (1) A description of the activities and operations of the 
        Department of Justice related to countering Chinese national 
        security threats and espionage in the United States, including 
        trade-secret theft, theft of United States intellectual 
        property and research, and threats from non-traditional 
        collectors, such as researchers in laboratories, at 
        universities, and at defense industrial base facilities (as 
        that term is defined in section 2208(u)(3) of title 10, United 
        States Code).
            (2) An accounting of the resources of the Department of 
        Justice that are dedicated to programs aimed at combating 
        national security threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party, 
        and any supporting information as to the efficacy of each such 
        program.
    (b) Form.--The report under subsection (a) shall be submitted in 
unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. On the date on 
which the Attorney General submits each report under subsection (a), 
the Attorney General shall make such report publicly available on the 
website of the Department of Justice.
    (c) Consultation.--In preparing the report under subsection (a), 
the Attorney General shall consult with other appropriate officials.
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