[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3389-S3390]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1869. Mr. REED submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 4049, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2021 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place in title X, insert the following:

     SEC. ___. INDEPENDENT STUDY ON IDENTIFYING AND ADDRESSING 
                   THREATS THAT INDIVIDUALLY OR COLLECTIVELY 
                   AFFECT NATIONAL SECURITY, FINANCIAL SECURITY, 
                   OR BOTH.

       (a) Independent Study.--Not later than 30 days after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of National 
     Intelligence, in coordination with the Secretary of the 
     Treasury in the Secretary's capacity as the Chair of the 
     Financial Stability Oversight Council and the heads of other 
     relevant departments and agencies, shall seek to enter into a 
     contract with a federally funded research and development 
     center under which the center will conduct a study on 
     identifying and addressing threats that individually or 
     collectively affect national security, financial security, or 
     both.
       (b) Elements of Study.--In carrying out the study referred 
     to in subsection (a), the selected Federally funded research 
     and development center shall be contractually obligated to --
       (1) identify threats that individually or collectively 
     affect national security, financial security, or both, 
     including--
       (A) foreign entities and governments acquiring financial 
     interests in domestic companies that have access to critical 
     or sensitive national security materials, technologies, or 
     information;
       (B) other currencies being used in lieu of the United 
     States Dollar in international transactions;
       (C) foreign influence in companies seeking to access 
     capital markets by conducting initial public offerings in 
     other countries;
       (D) the use of financial instruments, markets, payment 
     systems, or digital assets in ways that appear legitimate but 
     may be part of a foreign malign strategy to weaken or 
     undermine the economic security of the United States;
       (E) the use of entities, such as corporations, companies, 
     limited liability companies, limited partnerships, business 
     trusts, business associations, or other similar entities to 
     obscure or hide the foreign beneficial owner of such 
     entities; and
       (F) any other known or potential threats that individually 
     or collectively affect national security, financial security, 
     or both currently or in the foreseeable future.
       (2) assess the extent to which the United States Government 
     is currently able to identify and characterize the threats 
     identified under paragraph (1);
       (3) assess the extent to which the United States Government 
     is currently able to mitigate the risk posed by the threats 
     identified under paragraph (1);
       (4) assess whether current levels of information sharing 
     and cooperation between the United States Government and 
     allies and partners has been helpful or can be improved

[[Page S3390]]

     upon in order for the United States Government to identify, 
     characterize, and mitigate the threats identified under 
     paragraph (1); and
       (5) recommend opportunities, and any such authorities or 
     resources required, to improve the efficiency and 
     effectiveness of the United States Government in identifying 
     the threats identified under paragraph (1) and mitigating the 
     risk posed by such threats.
       (c) Submission to Director of National Intelligence.--Not 
     later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
     Act, the federally funded research and development center 
     selected to conduct the study under subsection (a) shall 
     submit to the Director of National Intelligence a report on 
     the results of the study in both classified and unclassified 
     form.
       (d) Submission to Congress.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date on 
     which the Director of National Intelligence receives the 
     report under subsection (c), the Director shall submit to the 
     appropriate committees of Congress an unaltered copy of the 
     report in both classified and unclassified form, and such 
     comments as the Director, in coordination with the Secretary 
     of Treasury in his capacity as the Chair of the Financial 
     Stability Oversight Council and the heads of other relevant 
     departments and agencies, may have with respect to the 
     report.
       (2) Appropriate committees of congress.--In this 
     subsection, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' 
     means--
       (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the Select Committee 
     on Intelligence, and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
     Urban Affairs of the Senate; and
       (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the Permanent Select 
     Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Financial 
     Services of the House of Representatives.
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