[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5307 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5307
To require a strategy to align immigration-related policies with the
national interest in ensuring United States leadership and dominance in
artificial intelligence and in strengthening the broader ecosystem of
scientific, technological, and entrepreneurial innovation, while
protecting national security.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 6, 2026
Mr. Coons (for himself and Mr. Rounds) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require a strategy to align immigration-related policies with the
national interest in ensuring United States leadership and dominance in
artificial intelligence and in strengthening the broader ecosystem of
scientific, technological, and entrepreneurial innovation, while
protecting national security.
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 ``Artificial Intelligence and
Innovation Talent Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States is engaged in strategic competition
with foreign adversaries to achieve leadership and dominance in
artificial intelligence and other critical and emerging
technologies.
(2) Preservation of the primacy of the United States in
artificial intelligence is a national imperative that is
critical to maintaining the global leadership, economic
prosperity, and national security of the United States.
(3) Congress commends the action plan published by the
Trump administration titled America's AI Action Plan, dated
July 2025, for its commitment to winning the race for
artificial intelligence dominance.
(4) Leadership on artificial intelligence depends on
building a broad and robust ecosystem of scientific,
technological, industrial, and entrepreneurial innovation.
(5) Foreign adversaries are investing heavily in talent
recruitment, education, and industrial policy to gain advantage
in artificial intelligence and innovation by attracting,
retaining, or repatriating highly skilled individuals.
(6) The ability of the United States to attract, admit, and
retain highly skilled individuals, including foreign nationals,
is a key determinant of whether the United States will maintain
leadership and achieve dominance in artificial intelligence and
sustain innovation leadership more broadly.
(7) Failure to attract and retain such talent risks ceding
technological leadership and strategic advantage to foreign
adversaries.
(8) Statutes, policies, regulations, guidance, and
practices relating to the admission, retention, and employment
authorization of foreign nationals materially affect the
ability of the United States to compete effectively with
foreign adversaries.
(9) Appropriate and thoughtful policies to attract high-
skilled talent and to grow the innovation economy of the United
States will strengthen opportunities for American workers.
(10) As of 2025, 60 percent of the top artificial
intelligence companies based in the United States had at least
one immigrant founder, and key industry leaders have well-known
foreign founders, and the leading artificial intelligence
companies with immigrant founders are collectively responsible
for creating thousands of high-paying jobs in the United States
and driving billions of dollars in investment.
(11) The United States must ensure that it maintains robust
safeguards to protect sensitive technologies, intellectual
property, and national security.
(12) A coordinated national strategy is required to align
immigration-related policies with the national interest in
strengthening the United States innovation ecosystem and
domestic workforce opportunities, achieving artificial
intelligence dominance, and protecting against national
security risks.
SEC. 3. STRATEGY ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND INNOVATION TALENT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in
coordination with the Director of the Office of Science and Technology
Policy and the Secretary of State, and with input from members of
industry, stakeholders, and the public, shall develop and publish a
strategy to ensure that Federal policies, regulations, guidance, and
practices are aligned, to the maximum extent consistent with existing
law, with the goal of advancing the ability of the United States to
attract, admit, retain, and appropriately vet foreign talent and
cultivate domestic talent who can--
(1) promote United States leadership and dominance in
artificial intelligence and other critical and emerging
technologies, including through the creation of new economic
opportunities for citizens of the United States; and
(2) strengthen the broader ecosystem of scientific,
technological, and entrepreneurial innovation.
(b) Required Elements.--The strategy required under subsection (a)
shall include the following:
(1) Competitive barriers.--An assessment of how current
Federal statutes, policies, regulations, guidance, and
practices affect the ability of the United States to compete
with foreign adversaries in attracting and retaining
individuals contributing to artificial intelligence and to
scientific, technological, and entrepreneurial innovation more
broadly.
(2) Innovation and commercialization.--An assessment of how
immigration-related statutes, policies, regulations, guidance,
and practices affect entrepreneurship, company formation, and
the development, scaling, and commercialization of new
technologies in the United States.
(3) Retention of united states-trained talent.--
(A) In general.--An evaluation of options to
improve immigration pathways for and the retention of
foreign nationals educated or trained in the United
States, including researchers, engineers, and founders
whose work contributes to technological leadership,
innovation, and economic competitiveness.
(B) Skill development.--The evaluation required in
subparagraph (A) shall examine how to ensure relevant
skills are developed in citizens of the United States,
including through direct skill transference, joint
ventures in specific industries, and apprenticeship
programs in specialized skill areas.
(4) Talent identification.--
(A) In general.--An assessment of the need for and
potential implementation of a dedicated talent
identification organization within the Government or
the private sector to--
(i) identify top needed technical and
specialized talent willing to work in the
United States; and
(ii) work with agencies to address any
barriers for such talent to work in the United
States, where compatible with the national
security of the United States.
(B) High-priority occupations.--The assessment
required in subparagraph (A) shall identify high-
priority occupations, predict the number of individuals
that will be needed to fill each of these occupations
each year over the next 5 calendar years, and analyze
in detail whether there will be sufficient domestic
talent to fill these occupations.
(5) National security and vetting.--
(A) In general.--A description of measures to
ensure risk-based screening and vetting procedures to
protect national security from foreign adversaries,
including the safeguarding of sensitive technologies
and intellectual property, such as process innovations
gained from hands-on work and research in critical
industries.
(B) Risk.--Such a description shall include steps
taken, including screening and vetting procedures, to
identify and address specific risks within the
immigration and education systems of the United States
that may be exploited by foreign adversary nations in
order to compete with the United States economically or
act in ways that jeopardize the national security of
the United States.
(6) Metrics and benchmarks.--The identification of metrics
and benchmarks, including where practicable measures of
processing times, retention outcomes, and competitiveness
relative to foreign adversaries, to evaluate progress in
strengthening United States competitiveness in artificial
intelligence and innovation while addressing national security
risks.
(7) Administrative policy and regulatory recommendations.--
Recommendations for administrative, regulatory, or policy
actions that can be taken under existing authority to reduce
unnecessary barriers, improve efficiency and predictability,
and enhance the global competitiveness of the United States in
attracting, retaining, and cultivating such talent, including
revisions to the H-1B nonimmigrant visa registration and
selection process, including the lottery system and the
selection cap, to make sure that the H-1B program attracts the
talent that would best support the competitiveness and needs of
the United States.
(8) Public and private recommendations.--Recommendations
for how Federal agencies can better partner with industry and
the private sector to attract and retain talent, including
means to improve industry recruitment, headhunting, and
sponsorship planning.
(9) Legislative recommendations.--Recommendations for
legislative changes, including--
(A) changes to the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), that would further advance the
goals of the strategy; and
(B) the creation of a visa class specifically
focused on facilitating immigration pathways for
entrepreneurs in high-priority sectors, including
artificial intelligence and quantum technologies.
(10) Interagency coordination.--A description of how
relevant Federal departments and agencies will coordinate to
implement the strategy.
(c) Form.--The strategy required under subsection (a) shall be
submitted to the appropriate committees of Congress in unclassified
form but may include a classified annex.
(d) Report on Implementation.--Not later than 2 years after the
submission of the strategy required under subsection (c), the Secretary
of Homeland Security shall publish and submit to the appropriate
committees of Congress a report on the implementation of the strategy,
including--
(1) a description of actions taken to implement the
strategy;
(2) progress measured according to the metrics and
benchmarks identified under subsection (b)(6); and
(3) any updates to the recommendations.
<all>