National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027

Floor Speech

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Mrs. HINSON. Mr. Chair, this amendment would prohibit foreign nationals from designated countries of concern from accessing nonpublic areas of any national laboratory.

This straightforward measure would protect the integrity of America's national labs and the sensitive research that underpins our national security.

For years, we know that the Chinese Communist Party has executed sweeping, coordinated campaigns to acquire American tech and innovation by any means necessary.

Last month, Mr. David Shedd, the former Acting Director of Defense Intelligence Agency, said: Efforts blending cyber espionage, human intelligence, academic collaboration, and commercial investments have fueled China's rapid military and economic rise.

This should concern all of us.

Congress passed a law 2 years ago which prohibited foreign nationals from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea from accessing our weapons labs. This was an important first step, but now we must address the same vulnerabilities in our science labs. These are labs where sensitive but unclassified work on artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and advanced computing are performed.

These are the very labs that the President has tasked with executing the Genesis Mission, a modern-day Manhattan Project, to ensure that the United States wins the race for AI dominance. Yet, at the same time, we are allowing thousands of nontraditional intelligence collectors from our competitors and greatest adversaries to operate inside of these facilities.

We know China's playbook. The CCP will weaponize any expertise it gains militarily, commercially, or economically. Our adversaries are running sophisticated espionage campaigns while we are rolling out the red carpet for thousands of these foreign nationals from proven countries of concern. This is a direct threat to our national security.

Mr. Chair, this amendment simply closes a known vulnerability. It prohibits foreign nationals from countries of concern from accessing any nonpublic area of a national laboratory that receives Defense funding.

Building on those actions taken 2 years ago, this amendment protects the Genesis project and mission and ensures that America, not our adversaries, will reap the benefits of scientific breakthroughs that our scientists achieve.

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Mrs. HINSON. Mr. Chair, while I think we can all agree that collaboration is an essential part of research, especially much of the research happening in our national laboratories, we are at a critical point for our country when it comes to national security and making sure that the investments that American taxpayers are putting into these institutions are protected from our adversaries.

Mr. Chair, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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