[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 78 (Thursday, May 22, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3297-S3298]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LEVIN (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Rockefeller, and Mr. 
        Coburn):
  S. 2384. A bill to require the President to develop a watch list and 
a priority watch list of foreign countries that engage in economic or 
industrial espionage in cyberspace with respect to United States trade 
secrets or proprietary information, to provide for the imposition of 
sanctions with respect to foreign persons that knowingly benefit from 
such espionage, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I am joined today by Senators McCain, 
Rockefeller and Coburn in introducing a bill to respond to overwhelming 
and indisputable evidence of large scale cyber intrusions by the 
Government of China into the computer networks of private U.S. 
companies for the purpose of stealing valuable intellectual property 
and proprietary information. Such illegal and damaging behavior demands 
strong and immediate action.
  American companies invest hundreds of billions of dollars every year 
in research and development. The innovation that results from those 
investments drives the growth of American companies and the U.S. 
economy. Unfortunately, our companies are having their intellectual 
property stolen right out from underneath them through cyberspace. 
According to a 2013 Center for Strategic and International Studies 
study, cyber theft costs American companies $100 billion annually--a 
staggering amount that threatens to undermine America's global 
competitiveness.
  General Keith B. Alexander, former head of the National Security 
Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, has called the cyber theft of U.S. 
intellectual property ``the greatest transfer of wealth in history.''
  Monday's Department of Justice indictment of 5 Chinese military 
officials for computer hacking, economic espionage and other offenses 
directed at 6 American companies confirms what earlier U.S. Government 
reports have documented: the culprits of cyber theft are frequently 
foreign governments and China is the worst offender. The indictment 
alleges that the defendants, members of China's People's Liberation 
Army, conspired to hack into the computers of U.S. companies to steal 
information useful to those American companies' Chinese competitors, 
including state-owned enterprises.
  The indictments demonstrate the administration's willingness to take 
on cybercrime through the aggressive use of the criminal justice 
system. The legislation we are introducing today, a revised version of 
a bill we introduced last year, gives our Government another tool to 
impose costs on those who steal and profit from the cyber theft of 
American technology, trade secrets and proprietary information.
  Our bill would authorize the President to direct the Treasury 
Department to freeze the assets of any foreign person or company, 
including a state owned enterprise, determined to have benefitted from 
the theft of U.S. technology or proprietary information stolen in 
cyberspace.
  The Deter Cyber Theft Act would also require the Director of National 
Intelligence to compile an annual report on foreign economic and 
industrial espionage that includes: a list of foreign countries that 
engage in economic or industrial espionage in cyberspace against U.S. 
firms or individuals, including a priority watch list of the worst 
offenders; a list of U.S. technologies or proprietary information 
targeted by such espionage, and, to the extent possible, a list of such 
information that has been stolen; a list of items manufactured or 
produced or services or services provided using such stolen 
technologies or proprietary information; a list of foreign companies, 
including state-owned firms, that benefit from such theft; details of 
the espionage activities of foreign countries; and actions taken by the 
DNI and other Federal agencies to combat industrial or economic 
espionage in cyberspace.
  As Dennis C. Blair, former director of national intelligence and co-
chair of the IP Commission report has said, ``Jawboning alone won't 
work. Something has to change China's calculus.'' We need to call out 
those who are responsible for cyber theft and empower the President to 
hit the thieves where it hurts most--in their wallets.
  If foreign governments, like the Chinese government, want to continue 
to deny their involvement in cyber theft despite the proof, that is one 
thing. We can't stop the denials. But we aren't without remedies. We 
can make sure that the companies that benefit from cyber theft, 
including state-owned companies, pay the price. Blocking these 
companies from doing business in the United States will send the 
message that we have had enough.
  We worked closely with the administration in developing this bill. I 
believe it is an important complement to their recent aggressive 
efforts to respond to economic espionage by members of the Chinese 
military.
  In light of the Snowden leaks, some have charged that it is 
inconsistent of the U.S. to criticize China's campaign to steal our 
intellectual property

[[Page S3298]]

through cyberspace. Let's be clear. Attempts to equate China's actions 
and our own are false. The United States economy is built on the hard 
work and innovation of American entrepreneurs who are free to think for 
themselves, develop new products and deliver them to the world. China's 
actions, on the other hand, reveal a country that is satisfied with 
theft as a means of economic growth while ironically, suppressing the 
freedoms that encourage new ideas and innovation. The Snowden 
revelations are about espionage; the United States does not steal 
intellectual property for economic gain.
  I urge the speedy enactment of the Deter Cyber Theft Act.
                                 ______