[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3594-S3598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 6469. Mrs. BRITT submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
her to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2027 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, insert the following:
TITLE ___--FAIR ACCESS TO CRITICAL COMPUTING TECHNOLOGIES
SEC. ___1. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) Control.--The term ``control'' means, with respect to a
person (referred to in this paragraph as the ``controlled
person''), that another person--
(A) holds, directly or indirectly, 25 percent or more of
the voting interests in the controlled person;
(B) has the power to direct or cause the direction of
management and policies of the controlled person; or
(C) otherwise meets the definition of control with respect
to the controlled person under section 721 of the Defense
Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565) and the regulations
prescribed under that section.
(2) Covered instruction set architecture.--The term
``covered instruction set architecture'' means an instruction
set architecture for which a covered ISA provider grants
royalty-bearing licenses to 2 or more unaffiliated persons
for commercial or governmental use.
(3) Covered isa provider.--The term ``covered ISA
provider'' means--
(A) any person that--
(i) designs, controls, or grants intellectual property
licenses for rights to implement an instruction set
architecture; and
(ii) is--
(I) not a United States person; or
(II) owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by a
foreign person; or
(B) any foreign person that owns, controls, or is under
common ownership or control with a person described in
subparagraph (A).
(4) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means
any--
(A) foreign national;
(B) foreign government;
(C) foreign entity; or
(D) entity over which control is exercised or exercisable,
directly or indirectly, by any foreign national, foreign
government, or foreign entity.
(5) Instruction set architecture.--The term ``instruction
set architecture''--
(A) means a functional specification defining a
programmable interface of a computer central processing unit;
and
(B) includes all specifications, documentation, versions,
updates, revisions, verification resources, compliance
materials, reference implementations, certifications, and
other information, deliverables, or materials necessary or
reasonably necessary to enable full and effective
implementation and commercialization of a functional
specification described in subparagraph (A).
(6) United states person.--The term ``United States
person'' means any--
(A) United States citizen;
(B) lawful permanent resident of the United States; or
(C) entity organized under the laws of--
(i) the United States; or
(ii) any jurisdiction within the United States.
SEC. ___2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Computer instruction set architectures and their
associated intellectual property, specifications,
documentation, and compliance resources are fundamental to
the functioning and interoperability of semiconductors,
computing systems, and software that are the foundation of
critical infrastructure, national defense systems, and other
sensitive applications.
(2) Excessive concentration of control over an instruction
set architecture that has become entrenched in systems or
applications described in paragraph (1) may create national
and economic security vulnerabilities and undermine the
national defense, including by enabling supply chain
disruption, coercion, discrimination, and strategic denial
against United States persons.
(3) United States semiconductor leadership is essential to
the national security and economic security of the United
States and requires that United States semiconductor
companies and other United States persons have access to
entrenched instruction set architectures on terms that are
fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory.
(4) Critical infrastructure, national defense systems, and
other sensitive applications in the United States have become
substantially dependent on a limited number of instruction
set architectures, and disruption of access to those
instruction set architectures would impair the ability of the
United States to procure, maintain, operate, and modernize
systems essential to the national defense.
SEC. ___3. LICENSING OBLIGATIONS OF COVERED ISA PROVIDERS.
(a) Obligations.--
(1) In general.--A covered ISA provider shall make
available any covered instruction set architecture to any
United States person on licensing terms that are fair,
reasonable, and nondiscriminatory in view of any licenses,
implied licenses, authorizations, or equivalent rights to
implement the covered instruction set architecture that the
covered ISA provider has granted to any other United States
person or foreign person.
(2) Contents.--A license for a covered instruction set
architecture made available under paragraph (1) shall include
at least those rights sufficient to permit the applicable
licensee to design, make, cause to be made, use, sell, offer
for sale, import, and export (subject to applicable export
controls) products or services that implement the covered
instruction set architecture.
(3) Prohibition.--A covered ISA provider may not exclude,
foreclose, or disadvantage United States persons in the
provision of license rights to any covered instruction set
architecture.
(b) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to an
instruction set architecture that a covered ISA provider
makes available to the public through royalty-free open-
source licenses.
(c) Special Rules for Licensing Disputes.--In the event of
a dispute between a covered ISA provider and an existing or
prospective licensee regarding the terms of a license to a
covered instruction set architecture (referred to in this
subsection as a ``disputed license''), the following rules
shall apply:
(1) Upon written notice of the dispute from the existing or
prospective licensee, the covered ISA provider may not bar,
delay, condition, degrade, or otherwise restrict access to
that covered instruction set architecture by the existing or
prospective licensee during the pendency of the dispute.
(2) Access to the covered instruction set architecture
provided under paragraph (1) shall not prejudice the right of
the covered ISA provider to be compensated for the use of the
covered instruction set architecture by the licensee upon
resolution of the license dispute.
(3) A court or other applicable tribunal hearing the
dispute shall ensure that the court or tribunal, as
applicable, and the parties to the dispute have complete and
open access to the terms of all other licenses for a covered
instruction set architecture granted by the covered ISA
provider to any other person so that the court or tribunal
may determine fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory terms
for the disputed license.
SEC. ___4. PROHIBITION ON ANTI-CHALLENGE AND RETALIATORY
LICENSING PRACTICES.
(a) Anti-challenge Provisions Void.--Any provision in a
license or other agreement, whether express or implied,
between a covered ISA provider and a United States person
that prohibits, restricts, penalizes, or otherwise limits the
ability of that United States person to assert, bring, or
maintain a legal challenge in a court of competent
jurisdiction with respect to any intellectual property owned
or controlled by the covered ISA provider, including patents,
copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property
rights, shall be void and unenforceable.
(b) Prohibition on Retaliation.--A covered ISA provider may
not, directly or indirectly, retaliate against a United
States person for asserting or pursuing a legal challenge
described in subsection (a), including by--
(1) terminating or threatening to terminate a license or
other relevant agreement;
(2) suspending, curtailing, conditioning, or otherwise
limiting rights granted under that license or agreement;
(3) withholding, delaying, degrading, or refusing to
perform any obligation required under that license or
agreement; or
(4) taking any other action intended to deter, punish, or
disadvantage the United States person for the exercise of
rights under United States law.
(c) Non-waiver.--The protections of this section--
(1) may not be waived, whether by contract, agreement,
course of dealing, or otherwise; and
(2) shall apply notwithstanding any contrary provision in a
license or related agreement.
SEC. ____5. ENFORCEMENT AND REMEDIES.
(a) Attorney General Enforcement Authority.--The Attorney
General may bring a civil action against a covered ISA
provider in an appropriate district court of the United
States with respect to a violation of this title by the
covered ISA provider.
(b) Private Right of Action.--Any United States person
aggrieved by a violation of this title, whether that United
States person is an existing or prospective licensee, may
bring a civil action against the applicable covered ISA
provider in an appropriate district court of the United
States for legal or equitable relief, including specific
performance, to enforce compliance with this title.
(c) Interim Relief.--In any action brought under subsection
(a) or (b)--
(1) upon a prima facie showing by a United States person of
a violation of this title by a covered ISA provider, the
United States person shall be entitled to a rebuttable
presumption of irreparable harm for purposes of preliminary
or interim equitable relief; and
(2) the court, upon weighing the traditional factors
governing preliminary and interim equitable relief, may issue
an order barring the applicable covered ISA provider from
denying, delaying, or restricting access to the applicable
covered instruction set architecture pending resolution of
the action, on such terms (including the posting of a bond or
other security and a requirement
[[Page S3598]]
that the United States person negotiate in good faith) as the
court determines appropriate.
(d) Other Remedies.--In any action brought under subsection
(a) or (b), upon a finding by a preponderance of the evidence
that a covered ISA provider has violated this title, the
court--
(1) shall issue an injunction ordering the covered ISA
provider to comply with this title;
(2) may, upon request of a party to the action, issue a
declaratory judgment establishing licensing terms that comply
with this title; and
(3) may, if determined necessary to prevent existing or
future violations of this title, require the appointment of
an independent compliance monitor, at the expense of the
covered ISA provider, to assess, oversee, and report to the
court on the compliance with this title by the covered ISA
provider.
(e) Statute of Limitations.--
(1) In general.--No civil action under this section may be
commenced more than 5 years after the cause of action
accrues.
(2) Calculation.--For purposes of this subsection, a
continuing violation accrues anew on each day on which the
violation continues.
SEC. ___6. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this title may be construed to--
(1) affect the ability of any person, other than a covered
ISA provider, to design, make, cause to be made, sell, offer
for sale, export, or import any product or component that
utilizes a covered instruction set architecture;
(2) impose any obligation, limitation, or requirement with
respect to the licensing of intellectual property by any
person other than a covered ISA provider or with respect to
any intellectual property other than a covered instruction
set architecture; or
(3) deprive any covered ISA provider of fair compensation
for the use of the intellectual property of the covered ISA
provider under licensing terms determined to be fair,
reasonable, and nondiscriminatory pursuant to this title.
SEC. ___7. APPLICATION.
This title shall apply--
(1) only to licensing transactions, conduct, and effects in
or affecting the commerce of the United States; and
(2) to any license to a covered instruction set
architecture entered into, renewed, or amended on or after
the date of enactment of this Act and to any conduct
occurring on or after that date of enactment with respect to
a license entered into before that date.
SEC. ___8. TRANSITION.
A covered ISA provider shall have a period of 90 days after
the date of enactment of this Act to bring existing licensing
arrangements into compliance with this title.
SEC. ___9. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this title, or the application of such
provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be
unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the remainder of this
title, and the application of such provision to other persons
or circumstances, shall not be affected.
______