National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I want to begin my remarks by commending our colleagues in the House for taking up a bill later today that I introduced with the junior Senator from Michigan, Mr. Peters, and Congresswoman Comstock over in the House of Representatives.

We passed this bill unanimously in the Senate in May. I know people believe that nothing happens in a bipartisan way around here and that certainly if it does happen, we are sharply divided somehow, but this bill passed unanimously, defying that suspicion or that intuition. Once the House passes it, it will be headed to the President's desk for his signature and will become the law of the land.

This bill authorizes a program called Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is a nationwide partnership between Federal, State, and local law enforcement authorities and prosecutors focused on reducing crime and improving public safety through stronger community partnerships and targeting the most serious criminal organizations and repeat offenders.

Since its inception in 2001, Project Safe Neighborhoods has proved to reduce violent crime in cities with high participation rates, including double-digit reductions in firearms crimes and homicides. Let me say that again. Since 2001, where it has been used, those jurisdictions and those communities have seen double-digit reductions in firearms crimes and homicides.

One of the most important elements of the program is a focus on criminal organizations. When Federal, State, and local law enforcement work together to focus on those who control criminal networks, we can defeat them outright. This will also bolster other efforts we are undertaking as the Federal Government to address gun violence and school safety.

By the way, I commend Attorney General Sessions for ramping up prosecutions of gun-related crimes, especially the so-called lie-and- buy incidents, where people lie about or otherwise hide their criminal background in order to obtain firearms illegally.

Now we have taken a big step to improve the criminal background check system used when somebody enters a sporting goods store or gun shop to buy a firearm. If you are a convicted felon, if you have been convicted of domestic violence, if you have been dishonorably discharged from the military, you cannot, under current law, purchase a firearm or possess a firearm legally. But what has happened--and we saw this in Sutherland Springs because of the broken background check system--often the derogatory or disqualifying information is not uploaded into the background check system, so people enter these sporting goods stores and purchase a firearm by lying, even though they are already disqualified under Federal law. We have taken a big step here in Congress on a bipartisan basis to shut that down. It is going to take some time to fix that system, so it is important in the interim, certainly, at least, to have the Department of Justice focus on those who lie and buy firearms illegally.

Under Attorney General Sessions, enforcement of our existing gun laws has been dramatically improved. There was a 15-percent increase in all Federal gun prosecutions last year. People like me believe we ought to focus on the person, on the individual, and not on the instrumentality or the tool, because obviously law-abiding citizens are not a threat to public safety and certainly don't go out and commit crimes. But by focusing on criminals and people who are not legally qualified to purchase a firearm in the first place or possess one under current law, we can help improve public safety and lower the crime rate.

What is happening under Attorney General Sessions and this administration is in great contrast to what we saw under Eric Holder, who often failed to enforce existing gun laws adequately against violent criminals. Those who illegally possess or purchase firearms must be held accountable, and I am glad to see the Congress and administration working together to ensure that happens.

The Project Safe Neighborhoods Authorization Act is another important piece of our bipartisan commitment to reduce violent crime by focusing on the most serious offenders and improving law enforcement relations with the communities they serve. It is important that Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies work together in close coordination because then we can solve the most complex challenges that drive violent crime and make our communities safer. The Project Safe Neighborhoods Authorization Act is a significant step in that direction. Student Visa Program

On another topic, Mr. President, this afternoon, I will be chairing a Judiciary subcommittee hearing titled ``Student Visa Integrity: Protecting Educational Opportunity and National Security.''

We are blessed in America with a world-class higher education and university system. Everybody wants to come to America to go to college or graduate school, and that is a good thing, by and large. The point of today's hearing, though, is to raise awareness about a very real issue that we must be diligently aware of and to hear from Federal agencies responsible for our national security, visa policy, and the vetting of foreign nationals because we know our open society here in America is also exploited by our adversaries for their own benefit and to undermine our national security at home.

We hope to shed light on policies and procedures that are in place or should be in place to address what has become a growing source of concern. That issue primarily but not solely relates to China's aggressive activity to surpass the United States on all fronts-- militarily, economically, and technologically--and use whatever means necessary--legal or not, open or secret--to achieve their goals.

The interesting thing about China is they have advertised their plans. They are there for the world to see, and all we need to do is read what they have said they intend to do. Through its ``Made in China 2025'' strategy, China is accelerating its efforts to acquire U.S. intellectual property and sensitive research, and that is where our universities come in. That is where most of the important research takes place.

This past February, FBI Director Wray testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee about the security risks posed by certain foreign students, visiting scientists, and scholars at America's colleges and universities. Director Wray's remarks were brief, and because of the sensitive and classified nature of the issue, he could not provide the full context and breadth of the concerns in an open setting, but what he has said publicly is alarming.

He said that the FBI is ``watching warily.'' He said that ``naivete'' was exacerbating the problem. I think that by ``naivete,'' he meant a lack of public awareness about the problem and thus a lack of vigilance on the part of our university systems and the public generally--that is what he was referring to as ``naivete''--and it is hurting our national security.

He also said that the Chinese Government has been very aggressive about planting spies--foreign intelligence officers--on our university campuses and our research facilities in order to accomplish its goals. That is not the only way they are doing it, but that is a significant way they are trying to achieve the goals they set in ``Made in China 2025,'' enhancing their national security and robbing us of our technological advantage. Particularly when it comes to military-use technology, they are all in. It is an all-of-government approach.

As I said, we are fortunate to have the top universities in the world, and they are known for their open research and development environment, which fosters collaboration and innovation across a broad array of industry sectors and academic disciplines. That is a good thing, but what is happening now, as Director Wray said, is that foreign actors are taking advantage of that environment--again, of our vulnerability as an open environment--and they are using it to study, learn, and acquire sensitive information, to the detriment of U.S. national security.

This is not an isolated problem. Director Wray said the Bureau is monitoring universities from virtually all of its 56 field offices across the Nation, not just in major cities. So it is not just New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, or Houston; it is all across the country.

Approximately 350,000 Chinese students are enrolled at U.S. universities--350,000. That is 35 percent of all foreign students in the United States. As those numbers suggest, there is ample opportunity for mischief.

Most--and I want to emphasize the word ``most''--most students and visiting scholars come for legitimate reasons, and we welcome them. We should welcome them. They come here to learn, share our culture, and contribute their talents to the United States. I think our educational system here in America is one of the greatest elements of our soft power, where we invite foreign students to come to study in our colleges and universities and learn more about who we are and about our values and to take those back home and become natural allies with us in making the world a better and safer place. But it is important to note that the Chinese Communist Party, which dominates the Government in China, has the capacity to influence all students from that country who come here and the academics.

I want to emphasize that this is not about restricting student visas. Students from across the world are welcome to come and study at our colleges and universities, and I encourage all of them to explore opportunities for them to do so. It is good for them, and it is good for us. What the hearing is about and what we should all be concerned about are security risks and the theft of intellectual property at our universities.

Again, as the FBI Director said, we shouldn't be naive. This theft is occurring, it is well documented, and we have to take the necessary preventive measures to ensure that it doesn't continue to occur.

While I have highlighted China's activities, these concerns are certainly not limited to one country. There are other countries, including state sponsors of terrorism, like Iran, that are actively working to steal U.S. technology, bypass expensive U.S. research and development, and exploit the student visa program to gain information that will benefit their countries. It seems like such a logical target for them. If they have no regard for the rule of law, if they can steal technology that we have spent years and billions of dollars to develop and acquire and implement, it is a huge economic advantage for them, and it helps catapult their national security apparatus in ways that eventually will overcome our national security structure itself.

As one example, just this last March, the Department of Justice indicted 9 Iranian hackers who had stolen more than 31 terabytes of information, totaling $3 billion in intellectual property, from more than 300 American and foreign universities. While I have said that China is the biggest, most obvious culprit, there are others, as well, and we hope to discuss all of them in our hearing.

Finally, let me say that our colleges and universities, again, have become a mecca for foreign nationals because of the high-quality education and the academic and cultural freedoms that exist in America. In order to preserve those crown jewels, we have to make sure that American research is protected and that the intellectual property developed in our colleges and universities is protected.

Today's hearing in the Judiciary Committee about the student visa program is about protecting the educational atmosphere we have worked generations to build in this country. Again, our higher education system is the envy of the world. That is why students come here. They flock here, as many as can, in order to study at our colleges and universities. Again, this is a good thing. We need to hear how U.S. institutions and higher education can actively protect their most sensitive areas from potential intrusion from foreign states with less than honorable purposes and intent.

In addition to the testimony we are going to hear from Federal agencies this afternoon at the hearing, we are going to hear from Texas A&M University, which has been recognized for its excellence in providing security for that research and intellectual property, which are targets for foreign actors. We are going to hear from NAFSA, the Association of International Educators, about the value and talent foreign nationals bring to the U.S. national education system. As these panelists will suggest, this is a complex problem. No one is suggesting that it is not. There are a lot of different angles to it, and we need to do our best to learn and listen from all sides and make good policy decisions about what we should do in response to this threat.

I look forward to learning about how we can continue to open our doors to foreign students and, at the same time, protect ourselves from espionage and outright theft, which ultimately makes our country less safe.

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