Academic Research Protection Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8346 To protect federally funded academic research from undue foreign influences and threats by better informing the academic and research communities about such influences and threats, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 Mr. RESCHENTHALER (for himself, Mr. TRONE, and Ms. HOULAHAN) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, Intelligence (Permanent Select), Foreign Affairs, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To protect federally funded academic research from undue foreign influences and threats by better informing the academic and research communities about such influ- ences and threats, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Academic Research 4 Protection Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Oct 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8346 IH SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF ACADEMIC LIAISON TO PROTECT 1 AGAINST EMERGING THREATS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of De- 4 fense, acting through the Under Secretary of Defense for 5 Research and Engineering, shall take the following ac- 6 tions: 7 (1) Designate an official serving within the Of- 8 fice of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research 9 and Engineering to work with the academic and re- 10 search communities to protect academic research 11 funded by the Department of Defense from undue 12 foreign influences and threats. 13 (2) Set forth the responsibilities of the official 14 designated under paragraph (1), including— 15 (A) serving as the liaison of the Depart- 16 ment of Defense with the academic and re- 17 search communities; 18 (B) carrying out initiatives of the Depart- 19 ment related to the protection of academic re- 20 search funded by the Department from undue 21 foreign influences and threats, including the ini- 22 tiative established under section 1286 of the 23 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 24 Year 2019 (10 U.S.C. 2358 note); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8346 IH (C) not less frequently than once a year, 1 conducting outreach and education activities for 2 the academic and research community about 3 undue foreign influences and threats to aca- 4 demic research that is funded by the Depart- 5 ment; 6 (D) coordinating and aligning the policies 7 relating to academic research security of— 8 (i) the elements of the Department 9 specified in section 111(b) of title 10, 10 United States Code; 11 (ii) the intelligence community; 12 (iii) Federal science agencies; 13 (iv) the Office of Science and Tech- 14 nology Policy; and 15 (v) Federal regulatory agencies; and 16 (E) working with the intelligence commu- 17 nity to the maximum extent practicable to share 18 with the academic and research communities, at 19 least annually, unclassified information, includ- 20 ing counterintelligence information, on threats 21 from undue foreign influences. 22 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 23 tion shall be construed as authorizing the official des- 24 ignated under subsection (a)(1) to classify academic re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8346 IH search in a manner that is inconsistent with the policies 1 of the Department of Defense or the National Security 2 Decision Directive Numbered 189 of September 21, 1985, 3 titled ‘‘National Policy on the Transfer of Scientific, Tech- 4 nical and Engineering Information’’, or any successor di- 5 rective. 6 SEC. 3. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON ACADEMIC RESEARCH 7 PROTECTION. 8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the ex- 9 ecutive branch an independent commission, to be known 10 as the ‘‘National Commission on Academic Research Pro- 11 tection’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’), 12 to address concerns related to undue foreign influence at 13 institutions of higher education conducting federally fund- 14 ed research and development. 15 (b) TREATMENT.—The Commission shall be consid- 16 ered an independent establishment (as defined in section 17 104 of title 5, United States Code). 18 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 19 (1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be 20 composed of 30 members, as follows: 21 (A) The Director of the Office of Science 22 and Technology. 23 (B) The National Security Advisor (or a 24 designee). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8346 IH (C) The Director of National Intelligence 1 (or a designee). 2 (D) The Director of the National Science 3 Foundation (or a designee). 4 (E) The Secretary of Commerce (or a des- 5 ignee). 6 (F) The Secretary of State (or a designee). 7 (G) The Secretary of Defense (or a des- 8 ignee). 9 (H) The Secretary of Homeland Security 10 (or a designee). 11 (I) The Secretary of Health and Human 12 Services (or a designee). 13 (J) The Secretary of Energy (or a des- 14 ignee). 15 (K) The Secretary of Education (or a des- 16 ignee). 17 (L) The Secretary of Agriculture (or a des- 18 ignee). 19 (M) The Administrator of the National 20 Aeronautics and Space Administration (or a 21 designee). 22 (N) The Archivist of the National Archives 23 and Records Administration (or a designee). 24 (O) The Attorney General (or a designee). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8346 IH (P) Twelve individuals who are employed 1 by institutions of higher education and have 2 demonstrated expertise relevant to the duties of 3 the Commission described in subsection (e). 4 (Q) Three individuals who have expertise 5 relevant to the duties of the Commission de- 6 scribed in subsection (e) and are each employed 7 by a different organization that represents in- 8 stitutions of higher education conducting feder- 9 ally funded research and development and that 10 focuses, at least in part, on academic research 11 and development of security policy. 12 (2) APPOINTMENTS.— 13 (A) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AP- 14 POINTMENTS.— 15 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Speaker of the 16 House of Representatives and the minority 17 leader of the House of Representatives 18 shall jointly appoint 6 of the members de- 19 scribed in paragraph (1)(P). 20 (ii) CONSULTATION.—The Speaker of 21 the House of Representatives and the mi- 22 nority leader of the House of Representa- 23 tives shall make the appointments de- 24 scribed in clause (i) in consultation with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8346 IH the Chairman and Ranking Member of 1 each of— 2 (I) the Committee on Agriculture 3 of the House of Representatives; 4 (II) the Committee on Appropria- 5 tions of the House of Representatives; 6 (III) the Committee on Armed 7 Services of the House of Representa- 8 tives; 9 (IV) the Committee on Education 10 and Labor of the House of Represent- 11 atives; 12 (V) the Committee on Energy 13 and Commerce of the House of Rep- 14 resentatives; 15 (VI) the Committee on Foreign 16 Affairs of the House of Representa- 17 tives; 18 (VII) the Committee on Home- 19 land Security of the House of Rep- 20 resentatives; 21 (VIII) the Committee on the Ju- 22 diciary of the House of Representa- 23 tives; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8346 IH (IX) the Committee on Science, 1 Space, and Technology of the House 2 of Representatives; and 3 (X) the Permanent Select Com- 4 mittee on Intelligence of the House of 5 Representatives. 6 (B) SENATE APPOINTMENTS.— 7 (i) IN GENERAL.—The majority leader 8 of the Senate and the minority leader of 9 the Senate shall jointly appoint 6 of the 10 members described in paragraph (1)(P). 11 (ii) CONSULTATION.—The majority 12 leader of the Senate and the minority lead- 13 er of the Senate shall make the appoint- 14 ments described in clause (i) in consulta- 15 tion with the Chairman and Ranking Mem- 16 ber of each of— 17 (I) the Committee on Agri- 18 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of 19 the Senate; 20 (II) the Committee on Appropria- 21 tions of the Senate; 22 (III) the Committee on Armed 23 Services of the Senate; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8346 IH (IV) the Committee on Com- 1 merce, Science, and Transportation of 2 the Senate; 3 (V) the Committee on Foreign 4 Relations of the Senate; 5 (VI) the Committee on Health, 6 Education, Labor, and Pensions of 7 the Senate; 8 (VII) the Committee on Home- 9 land Security and Governmental Af- 10 fairs of the Senate; 11 (VIII) the Committee on the Ju- 12 diciary of the Senate; and 13 (IX) the Select Committee on In- 14 telligence of the Senate. 15 (C) JOINT CONGRESSIONAL APPOINT- 16 MENTS.—The Speaker of the House of Rep- 17 resentatives, the minority leader of the House 18 of Representatives, the majority leader of the 19 Senate, and the minority leader of the Senate 20 shall jointly appoint the members described in 21 paragraph (1)(Q). 22 (D) CLEARANCE.—To be eligible to be ap- 23 pointed as a member of, or employed by, the 24 Commission, an individual must possess a secu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8346 IH rity clearance that the Secretary of Defense de- 1 termines sufficient to afford such individual ac- 2 cess to the information necessary to carry out 3 the responsibilities of a member or the position 4 in which such individual will be employed, as 5 applicable. 6 (3) TERMS.—Each member appointed under 7 paragraph (2) shall be appointed to a term of 4 8 years. 9 (4) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission 10 shall not affect its powers and shall be filled in the 11 same manner as the original appointment was made. 12 (5) OFFICERS.— 13 (A) CHAIR.—The members shall elect by 14 majority vote one of the members described in 15 subparagraphs (P) or (Q) of paragraph (1) to 16 serve as the Chair. 17 (B) VICE CHAIR.—The members shall elect 18 by majority vote one of the members described 19 in subparagraphs (A) through (O) of paragraph 20 (1) to serve as the Vice Chair. 21 (d) SUBCOMMITTEES.—The Chair, in consultation 22 with the Vice Chair, may establish subcommittees to focus 23 on particular topics that are of interest to the Commis- 24 sion. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8346 IH (e) DUTIES.—The responsibilities of the Commission 1 shall include the following: 2 (1) The Commission shall serve as the forum 3 for communication between institutions of higher 4 education, Federal law enforcement agencies, Fed- 5 eral counterintelligence agencies, and the intelligence 6 community regarding undue foreign influence on, 7 and threats to, federally funded academic research 8 and development. 9 (2) Not later than six months after the date of 10 the enactment of this Act, and not less than once 11 every six months thereafter, the Commission shall 12 meet to review the intelligence regarding— 13 (A) undue foreign influence on, and 14 threats to, federally funded academic research 15 and development; 16 (B) efforts by foreign entities to recruit 17 students or employees of institutions of higher 18 education; 19 (C) specific technologies relevant to institu- 20 tions of higher education that foreign entities 21 may seek to exploit; and 22 (D) national security and research security 23 issues related to foreign students attending in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8346 IH stitutions of higher education in the United 1 States. 2 (3) The Commission shall develop, and update 3 as warranted, methods for educating the academic 4 community in the United States, including faculty 5 and researchers, in an unclassified manner about 6 undue foreign influence on, and threats to, federally 7 funded academic research and development. 8 (4) The Commission shall develop, and update 9 as warranted, recommendations to facilitate the co- 10 ordination of Federal agency outreach, education, 11 disclosure, and regulatory efforts which affect feder- 12 ally funded research and development at institutions 13 of higher education. 14 (5) Not later than one year after the date of 15 the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 16 the Commission shall review the adequacy of Federal 17 disclosure policies for federally funded academic re- 18 search and development for protecting such research 19 and development from undue foreign influence and 20 threats. 21 (6) Not later than one year after the date of 22 the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 23 the Commission shall review the adequacy of Federal 24 export control regulations for protecting federally 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 8346 IH funded academic research and development that is 1 subject to such regulations from undue foreign influ- 2 ence and threats. 3 (7) Not later than one year after the date of 4 the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 5 the Commission shall submit to the President and 6 Congress in an unclassified form, but which may 7 contain a classified annex, a report containing rec- 8 ommendations on protecting federally funded aca- 9 demic research from undue foreign influence and 10 threats while maintaining an open and collaborative 11 research environment at institutions of higher edu- 12 cation. 13 (8) Not later than 30 days after th [Text truncated for display. 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