[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 133 (Friday, August 1, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5258-S5259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 3496. Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mrs. Blackburn) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2296, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2026 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. 10__. FOREIGN COMMERCIAL SPYWARE.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) there is a national security need for the legitimate
and responsible procurement and application of cyber
intrusion capabilities, including for efforts relating to
counterterrorism, counternarcotics, and countertrafficking;
(2) the growing commercial market for sophisticated cyber
intrusion capabilities has enhanced state and non-state
actors' ability to target and track journalists, human rights
defenders, and civil society groups for nefarious purposes;
(3) the proliferation of commercial spyware presents
significant and growing risks to United States national
security, including to the safety and security of United
States Government personnel; and
(4) ease of access into and lack of transparency in the
commercial spyware market raises the probability of spreading
potentially destructive or disruptive cyber capabilities to a
wider range of malicious actors
(b) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United
States--
(1) to oppose the misuse of foreign commercial spyware to
target journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society
groups;
(2) to coordinate with allies and partners of the United
States to prevent the export of commercial spyware tools to
end-users likely to use them for malicious activities;
(3) to maintain robust information-sharing with trusted
allies and partners of the United States on commercial
spyware proliferation and misuse, including to better
identify and track these tools;
(4) to work with private industry to identify and counter
the abuse and misuse of commercial spyware technology; and
(5) to work with allies and partners of the United States
to establish robust guardrails to ensure that the use of
commercial spyware tools is consistent with respect for
internationally recognized human rights and the rule of law.
SEC. 10__. VISA RESTRICTIONS FOR MISUSE OF FOREIGN COMMERCIAL
SPYWARE.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State may, pursuant to
section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(C)), implement visa restrictions for
aliens (as defined in section 101(a) of that Act (8 U.S.C.
1101(a))) that the Secretary has reason to believe--
(1) have been knowingly involved in the misuse of foreign
commercial spyware to target, arbitrarily or unlawfully
surveil, harass, suppress, or intimidate individuals,
including--
(A) journalists;
(B) defenders of internationally recognized human rights;
(C) members of ethnic or religious minority groups; or
(D) family members of individuals described in subparagraph
(A), (B), or (C); or
[[Page S5259]]
(2) facilitate or derive financial benefit from the misuse
of foreign commercial spyware, including by--
(A) developing, directing, or controlling the operations of
foreign entities that furnish technologies such as commercial
spyware to governments that engage in the misuse of foreign
commercial spyware described in paragraph (1); or
(B) acting on behalf of such governments.
(b) National Security Waiver.--The Secretary of State may
waive the application of subsection (a) with respect to an
individual if the Secretary--
(1) determines that the waiver is in the national security
interests of the United States; and
(2) submits to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives a report on that determination.
SEC. 10__. ANNUAL REPORT ON COUNTRIES ABUSING COMMERCIAL
SPYWARE.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Foreign commercial spyware; foreign company; spyware.--
The terms ``foreign commercial spyware'', ``foreign
company'', and ``spyware'' have the meanings given such terms
in section 1102A of the National Security Act of 1947 (50
U.S.C. 3232a(a)).
(2) Human rights defender.--The term ``human rights
defender'' means an individual, including a journalist,
activist, lawyer, community leader, land or environmental
defender, labor leader, whistleblower, political prisoner, or
member of a civil society organization or opposition
political party, working alone or in a group, who uses
nonviolent means to promote or protect human rights and
fundamental freedoms in a manner consistent with the
principles described in the United Nations Declaration on
Human Rights Defenders.
(3) United nations declaration on human rights defenders.--
The term ``United Nations Declaration on Human Rights
Defenders'' means the Declaration on the Right and
Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society
to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by the United Nations
General Assembly on December 9, 1998.
(b) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
Secretary of State, in coordination with the Director of
National Intelligence and the heads of relevant Federal
departments and agencies, shall submit a classified report to
the appropriate congressional committees describing incidents
occurring during the 1-year period preceding the date on
which such report is submitted that involve the use of
foreign commercial spyware by the governments or government
officials of foreign countries to monitor or harass officials
of the United States or human rights defenders.
(c) Elements.--Each report required under subsection (b)
shall include, with respect to each incident included in the
report--
(1) the identification of the foreign government or
government officials responsible for ordering the use of and
deploying the foreign commercial spyware;
(2) the identification of the United States officials or
human rights defenders who were targeted;
(3) a description of the foreign commercial spyware used,
including technical characteristics, capabilities, and brand
names;
(4) a list of foreign persons who derive financial benefit
from such foreign commercial spyware;
(5) the identification of the supplier and procurer of such
foreign commercial spyware;
(6) an assessment of --
(A) whether the vendor of the foreign commercial spyware
has targeted United States persons; and
(B) the threat that the foreign commercial spyware poses to
current and future United States foreign policy objectives
and national security;
(7) a description of--
(A) how the foreign commercial spyware was or is used to
suppress freedom of speech, dissent, and other political
freedoms; and
(B) any connections between the foreign commercial spyware
and gross violations of human rights, including extrajudicial
killings, disappearances, torture, and mass arbitrary
detentions;
(8) a description of the suspected impetus or motivation
for the targeting of the United States officials or human
rights defenders concerned; and
(9) any statements the foreign government that used, or the
foreign company that provided, the foreign commercial spyware
has made regarding the use of the foreign commercial spyware,
including denials of its use.
______