The U.S. House passed a bill this week to protect America’s federal research agencies and universities from foreign threats, a measure Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas says is aimed at Red China and its research thefts.
Lucas chairs the House Science and Technology Committee and spoke on the House floor in support of H.R. 7686, which is an update of the definition of malign foreign talent recruitment programs in the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act to help federal research agencies and universities more clearly identify and address threats to scientific research.
(Watch Chairman Lucas’s floor remarks here.)
“Research theft is one of the single greatest threats to our competitiveness as a nation. It takes our hard-won innovation and puts it to work for our adversaries, hurting our economy and our national security,” Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) said.
“The Chinese Communist Party has made it clear that they intend to surpass us as the global leader in science and technology, and they have no qualms about using intellectual property theft, forced technology acquisition, and other illicit means to do so.”
“H.R. 7686 provides a clear, comprehensive definition that ensures that we are covering efforts by foreign countries of concern like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran,” Lucas added.
“Research theft is a broad threat that is difficult to extinguish. And it’s challenging to protect our research while still maintaining helpful international scientific collaboration.”
California Republican Rep. Mike Garcia led the effort in the Science Committee to introduce the measure which won approval in the full House on Monday.
“The CHIPS Act is only as strong as its defenses against foreign exploitation,” Rep. Garcia said. “This bill eliminates confusing language in the CHIPS Act that could have allowed China to rob, replicate, and replace our innovations with their own. It’s a direct, decisive move to ensure American taxpayer dollars aren’t funding our CCP adversaries. We can’t afford to be naive—this is about securing our competitive edge and protecting our nation’s intellectual property.”
Read the full text of the bill here.