[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 140 (Thursday, August 6, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5236-S5237]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  NO TIKTOK ON GOVERNMENT DEVICES ACT

  Mr. HAWLEY. Madam President, I would like to make a few brief remarks 
today about TikTok, an app that has dominated the news in recent weeks 
and has dominated the internet in recent years.
  As most of you know, TikTok is used to create short music videos, and 
it has grown to be one of the most popular apps in America. More than 
80 million Americans now have TikTok on their personal phones. It might 
be easy just to assume that this app is harmless--music videos, 
diverting fun--but, let me assure you, the security concerns 
surrounding TikTok are real and not lighthearted in the least.
  TikTok is currently a major security risk, both to our data security 
and to our national security. ByteDance, which is TikTok's parent 
corporation, is based in Beijing, and we all know that Chinese 
corporations and the Chinese Communist Party are, in many ways, the 
same thing. In fact, China's national intelligence law requires it to 
be so.
  ByteDance, as a Chinese company, is obligated to collaborate with 
Chinese intelligence services, including by sharing data. In fact, all 
of the data that TikTok and ByteDance collect--and they collect a lot 
of data--can be routed at a moment's notice to the Chinese Communist 
Party.
  TikTok is a uniquely intrusive application. The company openly admits 
that it tracks users' locations, it tracks users' keystroke patterns, 
it tracks the filenames on users' devices. TikTok essentially claims 
the right to peer straight through our phones into our lives.
  I could go on. TikTok has censored content critical of China's 
treatment of Uighur Muslims and has violated the Children's Online 
Privacy Protection Act.
  Now, in light of all this, in light of all we know, it is unthinkable 
to me that we should continue to permit Federal employees--those 
workers entrusted with sensitive government data--to access this app on 
their work phones and computers. Not only is it inappropriate; it is 
irresponsible. This app represents a clear and present security risk at 
a time when we need to be clear-eyed about the threat from the Chinese 
Communist Party.
  That is why I introduced legislation to remove TikTok from 
government-owned phones and devices. Now, this is just common sense, 
and it follows steps that the Pentagon has started to take on its own, 
but we badly need a uniform standard that can apply across all Federal 
agencies and government organizations.
  Now, over the last few days we have heard a lot about a potential 
acquisition or sale of TikTok in the United States, but no one can say 
yet what will come of those talks. Deals fall through all the time, and 
TikTok is a threat to the security of Federal devices right now. Every 
day we wait is a day ByteDance can collect more information on and 
about Americans. Today is the day to take action.
  Even if TikTok ends up being sold eventually, it will be the 
responsibility of this body, the responsibility of all of us, to make 
sure that no trace of Beijing's influence remains--none at all.
  I would like to thank my colleagues for their support, and I 
particularly want to thank Senator Rick Scott, who has been my partner 
on this effort from the very beginning. It is always a privilege to 
work with and collaborate with Senator Scott, as we have on so many 
areas, and he has been, as I said, at the forefront of this effort from 
the very beginning. He is here today, and I would like to yield to him 
now to make a few remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, first I want to thank my 
colleague from Missouri. We got here at the same time, and both of us 
saw the dangers of Communist China, the dangers of the Communist Party 
of China, and the dangers of the General Secretary of the Communist 
Party, Xi.
  We have watched a million Uighurs get put into prison just for their 
religion. We have watched American companies have their technology 
stolen. We have watched as American jobs have been stolen. One of the 
goals that both of us had when we came up here was to stop this.
  We had the opportunity last year to visit the protesters in Hong 
Kong, and we got to hear from them firsthand their concern about what 
Communist China would be doing to take away their basic rights, rights 
granted to them in the turnover from Great Britain to China, on paper. 
But, as we know, the Communist Party and the General Secretary of the 
Communist Party don't care about any of these things.
  We have watched the Communist Party use drones for surveillance. We 
have watched, as my colleague has said, TikTok become a worldwide 
phenomenon. It is an opportunity for the Communist Party of China to 
surveil all of our citizens, whatever of our citizens are using it.
  So I want to thank my colleague for his effort in this regard--not 
just this but all of his efforts to hold Communist China accountable. 
There is a lot of work to do. As we know, this pandemic was much worse 
because of the actions of the Communist Party of China.
  So this is a commonsense thing to do. We should not have TikTok on 
Federal Government phones. This is a good first step, but there is a 
lot more to do to continue to hold Communist China accountable and to 
make sure we all, as Americans, understand that we are now in a cold 
war. This is not a cold war that America started. This is a cold war 
that the Communist Party of China started, led by the General Secretary 
of the Communist Party, Xi, and we are going to have to continue every 
day to focus on how we prevent them from surveilling us.
  Another thing Americans can do besides making sure you are not using 
TikTok is making sure you are buying American products and don't buy 
products from Communist China.
  You will do more to hold them accountable. The more we can do things 
like that, it will change the dynamics, and, hopefully, maybe 
eventually Communist China will come to their senses and stop being an 
adversary and eventually be merely a competitor.
  I yield back to my colleague from Missouri.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
  Mr. HAWLEY. Again, I thank Senator Scott for his work on this effort, 
his leadership on this effort, and his leadership across the board when 
it comes to standing up to Communist China--the Chinese Communist 
Party.
  I also want to thank my friends Senator Cotton, Senator Ernst, 
Senator Kennedy, Senator McSally, and all other Senators who have 
backed this legislation, along with Congressman   Ken Buck, who has led 
this effort in the House.
  Just 2 weeks ago, this legislation passed unanimously out of the 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. I also want to 
thank my colleagues there, especially Chairman Johnson, who has been a 
champion on this effort and has worked hard in the last couple of weeks 
to make sure we can bring this bill to the floor.
  I am encouraged by the bipartisan support we have seen in this body 
to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable, and that includes, by 
the way, holding accountable those corporations that would just do 
China's bidding. If I have anything to say about it, we will not be 
stopping here.
  Madam President, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent 
that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 
507, S. 3455.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 3455) to prohibit certain individuals from 
     downloading or using TikTok on any device issued by the 
     United States or a government corporation.


[[Page S5237]]


  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, 
which had been reported from the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs, with an amendment to strike all after the 
enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``No TikTok on Government 
     Devices Act''.

     SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF TIKTOK.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section--
       (1) the term ``covered application'' means the social 
     networking service TikTok or any successor application or 
     service developed or provided by ByteDance Limited or an 
     entity owned by ByteDance Limited;
       (2) the term ``executive agency'' has the meaning given 
     that term in section 133 of title 41, United States Code; and
       (3) the term ``information technology'' has the meaning 
     given that term in section 11101 of title 40, United States 
     Code.
       (b) Prohibition on the Use of TikTok.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of 
     Management and Budget, in consultation with the Administrator 
     of General Services, the Director of the Cybersecurity and 
     Infrastructure Security Agency, the Director of National 
     Intelligence, and the Secretary of Defense, and consistent 
     with the information security requirements under subchapter 
     II of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, shall 
     develop standards and guidelines for executive agencies 
     requiring the removal of any covered application from 
     information technology.
       (2) National security and research exceptions.--The 
     standards and guidelines developed under paragraph (1) shall 
     include--
       (A) exceptions for law enforcement activities, national 
     security interests and activities, and security researchers; 
     and
       (B) for any authorized use of a covered application under 
     an exception, requirements for agencies to develop and 
     document risk mitigation actions for such use.

  Mr. HAWLEY. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported 
substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be 
considered read and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was 
agreed to.
  The bill (S. 3455), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.
  Mr. HAWLEY. I yield the floor.

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