[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 53 (Monday, March 24, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H1201-H1202]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNITED STATES RESEARCH PROTECTION ACT
Mr. BABIN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 1318) to amend the Research and Development, Competition, and
Innovation Act to clarify the definition of foreign country for
purposes of malign foreign talent recruitment restriction, and for
other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1318
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 ``United States Research
Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF FOREIGN COUNTRY FOR
PURPOSES OF MALIGN FOREIGN TALENT RECRUITMENT
RESTRICTION.
Paragraph (4) of section 10638 of title VI of division B of
the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act
(Public Law 117-167; 42 U.S.C. 19237) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``of concern'' after ``foreign country''
each place such term appears;
(2) by striking ``means--'' and all that follows through
``any program, position, or activity'' and inserting ``means
any program, position, or activity'';
(3) by striking subparagraph (B);
(4) by redesignating clauses (i) through (ix) as
subparagraphs (A) through (I), respectively, and moving such
subparagraphs, as so redesignated, two ems to the left;
(5) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), as so
redesignated, by striking ``directly provided'' and inserting
``whether directly or indirectly provided''; and
(6) in subparagraph (I), as so redesignated, by striking
``; and'' and inserting a period.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Babin) and the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Stevens) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. BABIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on H.R. 1318, the bill now under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. BABIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand in support of H.R. 1318, the
United States Research Protection Act, sponsored by my colleagues,
Representatives Kennedy and Stevens. This legislation passed the House
in the 118th Congress, and I am pleased that we are taking it up again
today.
America's leadership in science and technology is built on the
foundation of Federal investments and basic research. These investments
enhance our national security, strengthen our economy, and improve the
lives of our citizens.
Our unique research ecosystem, which combines Federal, academic, and
private R&D efforts, drives America's advancement in science and
technology. However, for this system to work, we need a degree of open
science that facilitates collaboration and transparency. The challenge
is ensuring this openness does not compromise our research security.
While the U.S. has significantly profited from this system, other
countries--friends and foes--also benefit from U.S. investments. The
theft of our basic research poses a significant risk to our global
competitiveness. It takes our cutting-edge innovations and puts them to
work for our adversaries, undermining our economy and hindering our
ability to stay at the forefront of discovery.
A 2023 survey by the Center for Strategic and International Studies
found 224 reported instances of Chinese espionage directed at the
United States since 2000.
After conducting oversight of recently enacted research security
requirements, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee was
informed that complicated and confusing language in the CHIPS and
Science Act was preventing the academic community from fully securing
taxpayer-funded research.
H.R. 1318 will update and clarify the definition of a malign foreign
talent recruitment program to assist universities and agencies in
protecting our national investments. This bill is a simple bipartisan
solution to protect our tax dollars and the research that they fund
from foreign espionage.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives Kennedy and Stevens for their
work on this critical legislation. I urge my colleagues to support H.R.
1318, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 1318, alongside
Congressman Kennedy of Utah, the United States Research Protection Act.
I certainly thank Mr. Kennedy for his bipartisan leadership on this
exciting and important topic and, frankly, an essential topic.
In the 117th Congress, we got the CHIPS and Science Act done. It
included a lot of provisions focused on improving research security.
This landmark law also included a prohibition on Federal researchers'
participation in foreign talent recruitment programs sponsored by
adversaries of the United States seeking to undermine our Nation's
competitiveness. This is a serious and very real topic.
By installing safeguards and creating informed practices for our
agencies, institutions, and researchers to implement, the CHIPS and
Science Act is continuing the innovation ecosystem necessary to win
into the mid-21st century.
From my vantage point of serving on the Science, Space, and
Technology Committee and the Select Committee on the Strategic
Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party,
I certainly understand the risks. Many of us who are delving into these
topics have really glommed on to the risks posed to our research
enterprise from adversaries like China and Russia.
The committees that are enabling us to operate in a bipartisan way
have also explored the methods used to circumvent the safeguards that
our country has put into place, including going through third-party
countries.
This is why we want to ensure our research institutions have the best
interests in mind, the best talent going to them, American talent,
doing very innovative things, but they need to have the necessary
clarity to faithfully implement research security measures that the
CHIPS and Science Act put into place to protect our national research
assets.
H.R. 1318 clarifies--it is always nice to clarify in legislation--the
definition of malign foreign talent recruitment program so that our
beloved universities and research institutions can
[[Page H1202]]
readily ensure that their faculty members are not affiliated with
malign foreign talent.
{time} 1445
The National Science Foundation affirmed that our amendment, this
adjustment, would improve their ability to ensure institutional
compliance because people want to follow the law. They need the
guardrails, and they need the clarity of the law. So even minor
differences in definitions can have large consequences and can make
implementation difficult. So we have the chance, and this year we are
eager to make this one right and to strengthen the United States and to
strengthen our research enterprise.
We have got a good example in this bill of how to address gaps in
policy and improve the efficiency of our agencies. In this case our
academic stakeholders are the ones who came to us, and they said that
we have a problem with a definition in a law that we wrote. So in a
bipartisan and in an informed process we worked with these
stakeholders, and we worked through the committee, the agency, and
certainly the NSF, to fix this issue.
This is how improving efficiency and accountability at our agencies
should be handled, with stakeholder consultation and congressional
action.
This bipartisan bill passed the 118th Congress. The Senate didn't
act, but we are going to encourage them in the 119th to act when we
urge all of our colleagues in the House Chamber to support this bill
once again.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BABIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Kennedy).
Mr. KENNEDY of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the passage
of my legislation, the United States Research Protection Act. H.R. 1318
is a critical piece of legislation that seeks to protect the future of
our Nation's scientific and technological advancement. The stakes could
not be higher in this era of rapid global innovation and increasingly
complex geopolitical dynamics.
I thank Chairman Babin for working with me to bring this important
bipartisan legislation to the floor quickly. I also thank my colleague
from Michigan, Congresswoman Stevens, for co-leading this bill with me.
I am proud that my very first bill to pass the House will protect
crucial research done here in the United States from adversarial
foreign actors seeking to exploit our research, talent, and resources
for their own gain.
Everyone in this Chamber knows the growing threat from the Chinese
Communist Party. This adversary has made no secret of its intentions to
surpass the United States in key technological areas, from artificial
intelligence to quantum computing to biotechnology.
In 2022, Congress passed the Research and Development, Competition,
and Innovation Act as part of the CHIPS and Science Act. That bill
prohibited researchers who receive Federal funds from participating in
malign foreign talent recruitment programs in which foreign countries
incentivize or compensate researchers for activities that present a
conflict of interest for the researcher or that are otherwise
unauthorized.
The Science, Space, and Technology Committee has been conducting
vigorous oversight of the implementation of the CHIPS Act and has found
that complicated and confusing language in the bill was impeding the
ability of American researchers and their institutions to protect
taxpayer-funded research.
This ambiguity could also allow for loopholes, allowing malign
foreign talent recruitment programs in our universities and other
research labs to recruit researchers or access sensitive data,
effectively funding breakthrough research for the Chinese Communist
Party with American taxpayers' dollars.
China's government has embarked on an aggressive strategy to acquire
critical American research and intellectual property. We have seen a
troubling pattern of intellectual property theft, economic espionage,
and illicit influence over academic institutions. These efforts are not
just limited to the economic realm. They are a matter of national
security.
The United States Research Protection Act updates and clarifies the
definition of malign foreign talent recruitment programs to protect our
national investments.
If we do not act now, we risk losing the technological edge that has
kept our country secure, prosperous, and at the forefront of global
innovation.
We have a responsibility to protect American research, safeguard our
intellectual property, and ensure that the innovations of today will
remain in the hands of those who work to benefit our Nation, not those
who seek to undermine it.
By passing this bipartisan bill, H.R. 1318, we are making a strong
commitment to future generations of Americans. We are telling them we
will not stand idly by as American innovations are put at risk. We are
telling the world that the United States will continue to lead in the
global technological race, and we will do so on our terms.
I thank Chairman Babin for his leadership on this issue. He is a
thoughtful and dedicated patriot who is making certain that our
grandchildren are better off as a result of our efforts today.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage all my colleagues to support this bill.
Ms. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time to
speak on this bill, and I am prepared to close. Mr. Speaker, I yield
myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I thank, again, my colleague, Mr. Kennedy for his were
very affirming and wonderful remarks on the importance of this
legislation.
I think from what everyone can hear today, we have bipartisan
technical improvement legislation that will only strengthen our Nation
and our research enterprise.
Mr. Speaker, I urge everyone to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1318, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BABIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, the government needs clear and explicit guidance for our
agencies and federally funded researchers. While this body has passed
multiple bills to protect American research, unintentional ambiguity
has created confusion within the academic research community. H.R. 1318
will eliminate confusion around the implementation of research security
requirements and increase protections of our R&D enterprise.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this simple and
noncontroversial bipartisan legislation, and I yield back the balance
of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 1318.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________