[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 47 (Friday, March 15, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E253-E254]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROTECTING AMERICANS FROM FOREIGN ADVERSARY CONTROLLED APPPLICATIONS 
                                  ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 13, 2024

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7521, the 
Protecting American from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
  This legislation was passed out of the Energy & Commerce Committee 
with a remarkable vote of bipartisanship, unanimously supported 50 to 
0, because our nation is facing a clear, emerging threat from foreign 
adversaries who have alarming access to Americans' data. Their control 
of communications applications gives them the ability to push 
disinformation and propaganda campaigns literally into the hands of 100 
million Americans, including tens of millions of children.
  When you download an app, you should ask yourself: Who gains access 
to my information? How are they tracking it? How is it being used? Does 
a foreign government have access to it?
  With regard to TikTok, some answers are clear: TikTok is a company 
based in China that is regulated by its Communist government. TikTok is 
tracking users' location information, online activity, and 
interactions. It is not clear the full extent to which users' data is 
being used. Just last week, users were targeted and tracked, and 
received difficult-to-dismiss pop-up alerts. They were tracked based on 
their geo-location information, and pushed to call their Member of 
Congress, sharing a misleading message calling H.R. 7521 `the TikTok 
ban'.
  This incident alone raises concerns about the security and safety of 
the American public's personal information and how it is being used. 
The public deserves to know about the risks to their privacy when using 
TikTok.
  I support H.R. 7521's provision requiring parent company ByteDance to 
sell TikTok within six months to continue operating. This bill would 
also give the President the authority to protect Americans from future 
threats from foreign adversaries--namely, China, Iran, North Korea, or 
Russia--by requiring that communications applications are divested from

[[Page E254]]

their control if they pose significant threats to our national 
security.
  I urge my colleagues to support these protections for our national 
security and the integrity of our democracy.

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