Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 906, the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act. At the end of last year, we learned that Salt Typhoon, a cyber espionage operation backed by the Chinese Communist Party, infiltrated several American telecommunications networks to gain access to detailed information on former Vice President Harris and other political figures, as well as access American surveillance information.

This is extremely disturbing and a stark reminder of the lengths to which foreign adversary countries will go to use our media and communications networks to disrupt and divide us, weakening our economy for their own benefit. Whether it is through communications equipment, the networks themselves, or social media, we have seen these operations time and time again, which is why we must stay vigilant to minimize these risks or avoid them altogether.

Fortunately, today, we are taking additional action to address these and future threats. H.R. 906 would require the Federal Communications Commission to publish a list within 4 months indicating any entities with ties to China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran that hold wireless and undersea cable licenses that power our country's mobile and fixed communications networks.

The bill would also require the FCC to issue rules in 18 months to help it attain foreign ownership information for the remaining authorizations, licenses, and grants that the agency issues. The FCC would then publish on its list any additional entities with ties to China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran no later than 1 year after the new rules are adopted. The FCC would also need to update this entity list annually.

This bill is particularly important since we know our communications networks carry Americans' most sensitive personal and government data on a daily basis, so we must have a clear understanding if any foreign adversary countries or the companies operating within those countries are investors in our networks.

With this bill, we continue to secure our communications networks, protect Americans and their personal data, and help better protect our allies as they, too, rely on our global undersea cable network for broadband services.

I thank Representatives Castor, Khanna, Wittman, and Kean for their bipartisan work and leadership on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 906, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mrs. DINGELL. Castor), a great leader on this issue.

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Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I strongly urge that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle support H.R. 906, the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act for the security of our Nation. I yield back the balance of my time.

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