SECURE CAMPUS Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2787 To secure the research enterprise of the United States from the Chinese Communist Party, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 22, 2021 Mr. KUSTOFF (for himself, Mr. PERRY, Mr. TIFFANY, and Mr. CRAWFORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology, Education and Labor, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To secure the research enterprise of the United States from the Chinese Communist Party, 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 ‘‘Safeguarding Edu- 4 cational Institutions, Colleges, Universities, and Research 5 Entities from China’s Attempts to Misappropriate Prop- 6 erty of the United States Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘SECURE 7 CAMPUS Act of 2021’’. 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2787.IH H2787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2787 IH SEC. 2. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN CITIZENS OF THE PEO- 1 PLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall deny 3 a nonimmigrant visa described in subparagraph (F) or (J) 4 of section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality 5 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) to, and the Secretary of 6 Homeland Security may not admit to the United States 7 pursuant to such a nonimmigrant visa, an alien who is 8 a citizen of the People’s Republic of China if the Secretary 9 of State determines that the alien seeks to enter the 10 United States to participate in graduate-level or post- 11 graduate-level coursework or academic research in a field 12 of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics at an 13 institution of higher education. 14 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (a) shall apply with 15 respect to any application for a visa described in that sub- 16 section filed on or after the date of the enactment of this 17 Act. 18 (c) WAIVERS.— 19 (1) HUMANITARIAN PURPOSES.—The Secretary 20 of State may waive the application of subsection (a) 21 with respect to a visa applicant who demonstrates 22 that he or she is a member of a religious or ethnic 23 group that is systematically oppressed by the Chi- 24 nese Communist Party. 25 (2) NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2787.IH H2787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2787 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 1 waive the application of subsection (a) on a 2 case-by-case basis if such application would 3 harm the national security of the United States. 4 (B) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days 5 after the date on which a waiver under this 6 paragraph is issued, the President shall submit 7 to Congress a report that describes the specific 8 national security interest served by the issuance 9 of the waiver. 10 (d) STUDENT AND EXCHANGE VISITOR PROGRAM 11 CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— 12 Section 641(d) of the Illegal Immigration Re- 13 form and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 14 U.S.C. 1372(d)) is amended by adding at the end 15 the following: 16 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION RELATING TO STEM 17 FIELDS.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As part of the Stu- 19 dent and Exchange Visitor program approval 20 process conducted under this section, not less 21 frequently than annually, each participating in- 22 stitution of higher education shall certify that 23 no alien who is a citizen of the People’s Repub- 24 lic of China enrolled in the participating institu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2787.IH H2787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2787 IH tion of higher education is permitted to partici- 1 pate in graduate-level or post-graduate-level 2 coursework or academic research in a field of 3 science, technology, engineering, or mathe- 4 matics at the participating institution of higher 5 education. 6 ‘‘(B) PARTICIPATING INSTITUTION OF 7 HIGHER EDUCATION DEFINED.—In this para- 8 graph, the term ‘participating institution of 9 higher education’ means an institution of higher 10 education that has been certified to participate 11 in the Student and Exchange Visitor Pro- 12 gram.’’. 13 (e) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the 14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 15 in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security 16 and the Secretary of Education, shall issue regulations 17 specifying areas of study that constitute science, tech- 18 nology, engineering, and mathematics. 19 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section shall 21 be construed to require the denial of a visa applica- 22 tion of— 23 (A) a citizen or permanent resident of Tai- 24 wan; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2787.IH H2787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2787 IH (B) a bona fide Hong Kong applicant. 1 (2) DEFINITION OF BONA FIDE HONG KONG AP- 2 PLICANT.—In this subsection, ‘‘bona fide Hong 3 Kong applicant’’ means an individual who— 4 (A)(i) was a resident of the Hong Kong 5 Special Administrative Region on December 31, 6 2018; or 7 (ii)(I) has been a resident of the Hong 8 Kong Special Administrative Region during the 9 entire 60-day period ending on the date on 10 which the individual applies for a visa described 11 in subparagraph (F) or (J) of section 12 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality 13 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)); and 14 (II) the Secretary of State certifies to Con- 15 gress that the United States has no reason to 16 believe that the individual is acting on behalf of 17 the government of the People’s Republic of 18 China, or any entity controlled by the govern- 19 ment of the People’s Republic of China; 20 (B) is a citizen of the People’s Republic of 21 China; and 22 (C) is not a citizen of any other country. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2787.IH H2787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2787 IH SEC. 3. CONDITIONS ON FEDERAL RESEARCH GRANTS. 1 As a condition of receiving a Federal research and 2 development grant in a field of science, technology, engi- 3 neering, or mathematics, a grant recipient shall certify 4 that the recipient— 5 (1) is not— 6 (A) a citizen of the People’s Republic of 7 China; or 8 (B) a participant in a foreign talent re- 9 cruitment program of the People’s Republic of 10 China listed by the Secretary of State in ac- 11 cordance with section 7; and 12 (2) will not knowingly employ to carry out ac- 13 tivities funded by the Federal research and develop- 14 ment grant— 15 (A) a citizen of the People’s Republic of 16 China; or 17 (B) a participant in a foreign talent re- 18 cruitment program of the People’s Republic of 19 China listed by the Secretary of State in ac- 20 cordance with section 7. 21 SEC. 4. PROTECTING INSTITUTIONS, LABORATORIES, AND 22 RESEARCH INSTITUTES. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 24 sion of law, the head of each Federal agency shall ensure 25 that any institution of higher education, laboratory, or re- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2787.IH H2787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2787 IH search institute receiving Federal assistance agrees, as a 1 condition of such assistance, to not knowingly employ any 2 individual who is a participant in a foreign talent recruit- 3 ment program of the People’s Republic of China. 4 (b) PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENTS.—Sec- 5 tion 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 6 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(30) The institution will not knowingly employ 9 any individual who is a participant in a foreign tal- 10 ent recruitment program of the People’s Republic of 11 China listed by the Secretary of State in accordance 12 with section 7 of the SECURE CAMPUS Act of 13 2021.’’. 14 SEC. 5. REGISTRATION OF PARTICIPANTS IN FOREIGN TAL- 15 ENT RECRUITMENT PROGRAMS OF THE PEO- 16 PLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AS AGENTS OF 17 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUB- 18 LIC OF CHINA. 19 Notwithstanding section 3 of the Foreign Agents 20 Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 613), any individual 21 in the United States who is associated with a foreign tal- 22 ent recruitment program of the People’s Republic of 23 China, either as a recruiter or as a recruit— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2787.IH H2787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2787 IH (1) shall be deemed to be an agent of a foreign 1 principal (as defined in section 1(c) of such Act (22 2 U.S.C. 611(c)); and 3 (2) shall comply with the registration require- 4 ments set forth in section 2 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 5 612) not later than 30 days after the later of— 6 (A) the date of the enactment of this Act; 7 or 8 (B) the date on which the individual en- 9 tered the United States. 10 SEC. 6. ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE. 11 Section 1839(1) of title 18, United States Code, is 12 amended— 13 (1) by inserting ‘‘education, research,’’ after 14 ‘‘commercial,’’; and 15 (2) by inserting ‘‘or otherwise incorporated or 16 substantially located in or composed of citizens of 17 countries subject to compulsory political or govern- 18 mental representation within corporate leadership’’ 19 after ‘‘foreign government’’. 20 SEC. 7. DEPARTMENT OF STATE LIST OF FOREIGN TALENT 21 RECRUITMENT PROGRAMS OF THE PEOPLE’S 22 REPUBLIC OF CHINA. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 24 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2787.IH H2787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2787 IH in consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary 1 of Defense, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall 2 compile and publish in the Federal Register a list of for- 3 eign talent recruitment programs of the People’s Republic 4 of China. 5 (b) ANNUAL REVIEW AND REVISION.—Not less fre- 6 quently than annually, the Secretary of State shall— 7 (1) review and revise the list compiled under 8 subsection (a); and 9 (2) publish the revised list in the Federal Reg- 10 ister. 11 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 12 In this Act: 13 (1) FOREIGN TALENT RECRUITMENT PROGRAM 14 OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.—The term 15 ‘‘foreign talent recruitment program of the People’s 16 Republic of China’’ means any effort organized, 17 managed, funded, or otherwise controlled by the 18 Government of the People’s Republic of China or the 19 Chinese Communist Party to employ, contract, or 20 otherwise compensate 1 or more individuals to con- 21 duct research, development, testing, or any other 22 science or technology activity for the direct or indi- 23 rect benefit of the People’s Republic of China. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2787.IH H2787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2787 IH (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 1 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 2 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 3 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2787.IH H2787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS