Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 820) to direct the Federal Communications Commission to publish a list of entities that hold authorizations, licenses, or other grants of authority issued by the Commission and that have certain foreign ownership, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 820
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act''. SEC. 2. LIST OF ENTITIES HOLDING FCC AUTHORIZATIONS, LICENSES, OR OTHER GRANTS OF AUTHORITY AND HAVING CERTAIN FOREIGN OWNERSHIP.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall publish on the internet website of the Commission a list of each entity--
(1) that holds a license issued by the Commission pursuant to--
(A) section 309(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)); or
(B) the Act of May 27, 1921 (47 U.S.C. 34 et seq.; commonly known as the ``Cable Landing Licensing Act'') and Executive Order 10530 (3 U.S.C. 301 note; relating to the performance of certain functions vested in or subject to the approval of the President); and
(2) with respect to which--
(A) a covered entity holds an equity or voting interest that is required to be reported to the Commission under the ownership rules of the Commission; or
(B) an appropriate national security agency has determined that a covered entity exerts control, regardless of whether such covered entity holds an equity or voting interest as described in subparagraph (A).
(b) Rulemaking.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall issue rules to obtain information to identify each entity--
(A) that holds any authorization, license, or other grant of authority issued by the Commission (other than a license described in subsection (a)(1)); and
(B) with respect to which a covered entity holds an equity or voting interest that is required to be reported to the Commission under the ownership rules of the Commission.
(2) Placement on list.--Not later than 1 year after the Commission issues the rules required by paragraph (1), the Commission shall place each entity described in such paragraph on the list published under subsection (a).
(c) Paperwork Reduction Act Exemption.--A collection of information conducted or sponsored by the Commission to implement this section does not constitute a collection of information for the purposes of subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code (commonly referred to as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act'').
(d) Annual Updates.--The Commission shall, not less frequently than annually, update the list published under subsection (a), including with respect to any entity required to be placed on such list by subsection (b)(2).
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate national security agency.--The term ``appropriate national security agency'' has the meaning given such term in section 9 of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1608).
(2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal Communications Commission.
(3) Covered country.--The term ``covered country'' means a country specified in section 4872(d)(2) of title 10, United States Code.
(4) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means--
(A) the government of a covered country;
(B) an entity organized under the laws of a covered country; and
(C) a subsidiary or affiliate of an entity described in subparagraph (B), regardless of whether the subsidiary or affiliate is organized under the laws of a covered country.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 820, the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act, led by the gentlewoman from New York's 21st District.
The Chinese Communist Party and other foreign adversaries present security threats to our critical infrastructure. Entities with ties to these countries could be called upon to support and assist their national intelligence work, jeopardizing the security of American data and communications networks. As a result, the presence of their equipment in our networks pose a significant threat to our national security.
Over the years, Congress has worked to address these threats from passing legislation to rip-and-replace Huawei and ZTE equipment from our networks by encouraging TikTok to divest from its CCP-controlled parent company, ByteDance. We must build on this work by bringing transparency into the ways our foreign adversaries operate in our networks.
This legislation requires the FCC to annually publish a list of entities with ties to our adversaries, Communist China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, that hold a license, authorization, or other authority granted by the FCC.
Understanding which adversaries are present in our communications networks as well as the threat they pose is necessary to strengthen our networks.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New York's 21st District for her leadership on this bill and the chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee for her leadership moving this bill to the floor.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 820, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. LATTA. Stefanik), the bill's sponsor.
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Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, this legislation came out of the Energy and Commerce Committee 44-0. It shows how important this legislation is, and I urge support of H.R. 820.
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