Protect Our Universities Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1879 To call on the Secretary of Homeland Security to lead a task force to address the threat of foreign government influence and threats to aca- demic research integrity on college campuses, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 18, 2019 Mr. HAWLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To call on the Secretary of Homeland Security to lead a task force to address the threat of foreign government influence and threats to academic research integrity on college campuses, 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 ‘‘Protect Our Univer- 4 sities Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1879.IS S1879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1879 IS (1) The United States enjoys one of the most 1 vibrant and open education systems in the world. 2 The free flow of ideas has led to the development of 3 innovative technologies and new modes of thinking. 4 The openness of the system also puts it at risk. Ad- 5 versaries of the United States take advantage of ac- 6 cess to federally funded sensitive research that takes 7 place on the campuses of institutions of higher edu- 8 cation. 9 (2) According to Alex Joske of the Australian 10 Strategic Policy Institute, there are thousands of 11 scientists with links to China’s People’s Liberation 12 Army who have traveled to American universities 13 over the last several years. In his report, Joske de- 14 scribed the Chinese military’s tactic as ‘‘picking 15 flowers in foreign lands to make honey in China’’. 16 (3) As stated in the January 2018 China’s 17 Technology Transfer Strategy report by the Defense 18 Innovation Unit, ‘‘Academia is an opportune envi- 19 ronment for learning about science and technology 20 since the cultural values of U.S. educational institu- 21 tions reflect an open and free exchange of ideas. As 22 a result, Chinese science and engineering students 23 frequently master technologies that later become 24 critical to key military systems, amounting over time 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1879.IS S1879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1879 IS to unintentional violations of U.S. export control 1 laws.’’. 2 (4) In Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 3 Director Wray’s view, Chinese nontraditional intel- 4 ligence collectors ‘‘are exploiting the very open re- 5 search and development environment that we have, 6 which we all revere. But they’re taking advantage of 7 it, so one of the things we’re trying to do is view the 8 China threat as not just the whole-of-government 9 threat, but a whole-of-society threat on their end, 10 and I think it’s going to take a whole-of-society re- 11 sponse by us.’’. 12 (5) Russia has also attempted to exploit the 13 openness of our university system for intelligence 14 purposes. In 2012, for instance, the Russian Foreign 15 Intelligence Service (SVR) tasked an undercover of- 16 ficer at Columbia University with recruiting class- 17 mates or professors who might have access to sen- 18 sitive information. 19 (6) Iran poses a similar threat. In 2012, Presi- 20 dent Barack Obama signed into law the Iran Threat 21 Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 22 (Public Law 112–158), which prohibited issuance of 23 a student visa to any Iranian who wished to pursue 24 coursework in preparation for a career in the Ira- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1879.IS S1879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1879 IS nian energy, nuclear science, or nuclear engineering 1 sectors, or related fields. 2 (7) The United States recognizes the great 3 value of appropriate openness and the security need 4 of striking a balance with asset protection. 5 (8) However, technology and information that 6 could be deemed sensitive to the national security in- 7 terests of the United States should be given in- 8 creased scrutiny to determine if access should be re- 9 stricted in a research environment. 10 (9) An open federally funded research environ- 11 ment exposes the United States to the possibility of 12 exchanging research affiliated with current or future 13 critical military technological systems. 14 (10) This Act preserves the openness of Amer- 15 ica’s higher education system, while preventing ad- 16 versaries from exploiting that very system in fur- 17 therance of their own repressive agendas. 18 SEC. 3. TASK FORCE AND SENSITIVE RESEARCH PROJECT 19 DESIGNATION. 20 (a) TASK FORCE ESTABLISHED.—Not later than one 21 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 22 of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary 23 of State and the Director of National Intelligence, shall 24 establish the National Security Technology Task Force 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1879.IS S1879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1879 IS (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’) to address 1 the threat of espionage, targeting research and develop- 2 ment at institutions of higher education that is funded in 3 part or whole by any member agency of the Task Force. 4 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 5 (1) DESIGNATION.— 6 (A) PARTICIPATION.—The Task Force 7 shall include not more than 30 members as fol- 8 lows: 9 (i) At least 1 representative shall be 10 from the Department of Homeland Secu- 11 rity, designated by the Secretary of Home- 12 land Security. 13 (ii) The Secretary of Homeland Secu- 14 rity shall coordinate with the following in 15 order to secure their participation on the 16 Task Force: 17 (I) The Director of National In- 18 telligence for at least 1 representative 19 from the intelligence community. 20 (II) The United States Attorney 21 General for at least 1 representative 22 from the Department of Justice. 23 (III) The Director of the Federal 24 Bureau of Investigation for at least 1 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1879.IS S1879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1879 IS representative from the Federal Bu- 1 reau of Investigation. 2 (IV) The Secretary of Energy for 3 at least 1 representative from the De- 4 partment of Energy. 5 (V) The Secretary of Education 6 for at least 1 representative from each 7 of the following offices of the Depart- 8 ment of Education: 9 (aa) The Office of Postsec- 10 ondary Education. 11 (bb) The Office of the Gen- 12 eral Counsel. 13 (cc) Any other office the 14 Secretary of Homeland Security 15 determines to be appropriate. 16 (VI) The Secretary of State for 17 at least 1 representative from the De- 18 partment of State. 19 (VII) The Secretary of Defense 20 for at least 1 representative from the 21 Department of Defense. 22 (VIII) The Director of the Na- 23 tional Institutes of Health for at least 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1879.IS S1879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1879 IS 1 representative from the National In- 1 stitutes of Health. 2 (IX) The Director of the Office 3 of Science and Technology Policy. 4 (B) EQUAL REPRESENTATION.—Each 5 agency represented on the Task Force shall 6 maintain equal representation with the other 7 agencies on the Task Force. 8 (2) MEMBERSHIP LIST.—Not later than 10 9 days after the first meeting of the Task Force, the 10 Task Force shall submit to Congress a list identi- 11 fying each member agency of the Task Force. 12 (c) SENSITIVE RESEARCH TOPICS LIST.—The Task 13 Force shall maintain a list of topics determined sensitive 14 by one or more Task Force member agencies. Such list 15 shall be referred to as the ‘‘Sensitive Research Topics 16 List’’ and be populated and maintained in accordance with 17 the following: 18 (1) Not later than 90 days after the date of en- 19 actment of this Act, each Task Force member agen- 20 cy shall generate an initial list of research topics de- 21 termined sensitive for national security reasons and 22 submit such list to the Office of the Director of Na- 23 tional Intelligence. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1879.IS S1879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1879 IS (2) Each Task Force member agency shall up- 1 date their respective list of sensitive research topics 2 on a 6-month basis and submit changes to the Office 3 of the Director of National Intelligence. 4 (3) Task Force member agency inputs de- 5 scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be added 6 to— 7 (A) any item listed on the Commerce Con- 8 trol List (CCL) maintained by the Department 9 of Commerce; and 10 (B) any item listed on the United States 11 Munitions List maintained by the Department 12 of State. 13 (4) Not later than 90 days after receipt of Task 14 Force member agency inputs described in para- 15 graphs (1) and (2), the Office of the Director of Na- 16 tional Intelligence shall compile the inputs and issue 17 the first Sensitive Research Topics List to all Task 18 Force member agencies. Thereafter, the Office of 19 Directory of National Intelligence shall maintain an 20 updated list of the research topics based on Task 21 Force member agency inputs and any changes to the 22 Commerce Control List and the United States Muni- 23 tions List, and ensure an updated version of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1879.IS S1879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1879 IS Sensitive Research Topic Lists is available to all of 1 the Task Force member agencies. 2 (d) SENSITIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS LIST.—The 3 Task Force shall maintain a list of projects funded by 4 Task Force member agencies and addressing sensitive re- 5 search topics. Such list shall be referred to as the ‘‘Sen- 6 sitive Research Projects List’’ and be populated and main- 7 tained in accordance with the following: 8 (1) Not later than 90 days after the first 9 issuance of the Sensitive Research Topics List, each 10 Task Force member agency shall identify any ongo- 11 ing or scheduled projects that— 12 (A) receive or are scheduled to receive 13 funding from said agency; 14 (B) involve personnel from an institution 15 of higher education; and 16 (C) address one or more topics found on 17 the Sensitive Research Topics List. 18 (2) The Task Force shall collect the following 19 information relevant to each project identified in 20 paragraph (1): 21 (A) The Task Force member agency that 22 is funding the project. 23 (B) Which topic on the Sensitive Research 24 Topics List is addressed by the project. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1879.IS S1879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1879 IS (C) Contact information for the principal 1 investigator on the project. 2 (3) The Task Force shall submit the Sensitive 3 Research Projects List, with the required informa- 4 tion, to the Office of the Director of National Intel- 5 ligence, who shall maintain the Sensitive Research 6 Projects List. 7 (4) The Sensitive Research Projects List shall 8 be updated in response to any changes to the Sen- 9 sitive Research Topics List, and— 10 (A) the Office of the Director of National 11 Intelligence shall issue notification to all Task 12 Force member agencies of any changes to the 13 Sensitive Research Topics List resulting from 14 updated inputs from Task Force member agen- 15 cies or the Commerce Control Lists or United 16 States Munitions List; and 17 (B) each Task Force member agency 18 shall— 19 (i) reinitiate the process detailed in 20 paragraph (1); and 21 (ii) provide an updated list of agency- 22 funded sensitive research projects to the 23 Office of the Director of National Intel- 24 ligence. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1879.IS S1879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 1879 IS (e) CONSULTATION WITH OIG.—The Task Force 1 shall periodically, but not less frequently than annually, 2 consult with the Office of the Inspector General of the De- 3 partment of Homeland Security, which shall include an- 4 nual reports to the Office of the Inspector General on the 5 activities of the Task Force, with an opportunity for the 6 Office of the Inspector General to provide active feedback 7 related to such activities. 8 (f) INSTRUCTION TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDU- 9 CATION.—Not less frequently than annually, the Task 10 Force shall provide relevant instruction to institutions of 11 higher education at which research projects on the Sen- 12 sitive Research Projects List are being carried out. Such 13 instruction shall provide the institutions of higher edu- 14 cation with information related to the threat posed by es- 15 pionage, best practices identified by the Task Force, and, 16 to the extent possible, any specific risks that the intel- 17 ligence community, the qualified funding agency, or law 18 enforcement entities determine appropriate to share with 19 the institutions. 20 (g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than one year 21 after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 6 22 months thereafter, the Task Force shall provide a report 23 to the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern- 24 mental Affairs, the Committee on Health, Education, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1879.IS S1879 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 1879 IS Labor, and Pensions, the Committee on Armed Services, 1 and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate 2 and to the Committee on Homeland Security, the Com- 3 mittee on Education and Labor, the Committee on Armed 4 Services, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intel- 5 ligence of the House of Representatives, regarding the 6 threat of espionage at institutions of higher education. In 7 each such briefing, the Task Force shall identify actions 8 that may be taken to reduce espionage carried out through 9 student participation in sensitive research projects. The 10 Task Force shall also include in this report an assessment 11 of whether the current licensing regulations relating to the 12 International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export 13 Administration Regulations are sufficient to protect the 14 security of the projects listed [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]