SECURE CAMPUS Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3920 To secure the research enterprise of the United States from the Chinese Communist Party, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 9, 2020 Mr. COTTON (for himself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 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 2020’’ or the ‘‘SECURE 7 CAMPUS Act of 2020’’. 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:01 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3920.IS S3920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3920 IS 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 05:01 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3920.IS S3920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3920 IS (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) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the 11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 12 in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security 13 and the Secretary of Education, shall issue regulations 14 specifying areas of study that constitute science, tech- 15 nology, engineering, and mathematics. 16 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 17 tion shall be construed to require the denial of a visa appli- 18 cation of a citizen or permanent resident of Taiwan or 19 Hong Kong. 20 SEC. 3. CONDITIONS ON FEDERAL RESEARCH GRANTS. 21 As a condition of receiving a Federal research and 22 development grant in a field of science, technology, engi- 23 neering, or mathematics, a grant recipient shall certify 24 that the recipient— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:01 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3920.IS S3920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3920 IS (1) is not— 1 (A) a citizen of the People’s Republic of 2 China; or 3 (B) a participant in a foreign talent re- 4 cruitment program of the People’s Republic of 5 China listed by the Secretary of State in ac- 6 cordance with section 7; and 7 (2) will not knowingly employ to carry out ac- 8 tivities funded by the Federal research and develop- 9 ment grant— 10 (A) a citizen of the People’s Republic of 11 China; or 12 (B) a participant in a foreign talent re- 13 cruitment program of the People’s Republic of 14 China listed by the Secretary of State in ac- 15 cordance with section 7. 16 SEC. 4. PROTECTING INSTITUTIONS, LABORATORIES, AND 17 RESEARCH INSTITUTES. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 19 sion of law, the head of each Federal agency shall ensure 20 that any institution of higher education, laboratory, or re- 21 search institute receiving Federal assistance agrees, as a 22 condition of such assistance, to not knowingly employ any 23 individual who is a participant in a foreign talent recruit- 24 ment program of the People’s Republic of China. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:01 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3920.IS S3920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3920 IS (b) PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENTS.—Sec- 1 tion 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 2 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(30) The institution will not knowingly employ 5 any individual who is a participant in a foreign tal- 6 ent recruitment program of the People’s Republic of 7 China listed by the Secretary of State in accordance 8 with section 7 of the SECURE CAMPUS Act of 9 2020.’’. 10 SEC. 5. REGISTRATION OF PARTICIPANTS IN FOREIGN TAL- 11 ENT RECRUITMENT PROGRAMS OF THE PEO- 12 PLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AS AGENTS OF 13 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUB- 14 LIC OF CHINA. 15 Notwithstanding section 3 of the Foreign Agents 16 Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 613), any individual 17 in the United States who is associated with a foreign tal- 18 ent recruitment program of the People’s Republic of 19 China, either as a recruiter or as a recruit— 20 (1) shall be deemed to be an agent of a foreign 21 principal (as defined in section 1(c) of such Act (22 22 U.S.C. 611(c)); and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:01 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3920.IS S3920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3920 IS (2) shall comply with the registration require- 1 ments set forth in section 2 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2 612) not later than 30 days after the later of— 3 (A) the date of the enactment of this Act; 4 or 5 (B) the date on which the individual en- 6 tered the United States. 7 SEC. 6. ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE. 8 Section 1839(1) of title 18, United States Code, is 9 amended— 10 (1) by inserting ‘‘education, research,’’ after 11 ‘‘commercial,’’; and 12 (2) by inserting ‘‘or otherwise incorporated or 13 substantially located in or composed of citizens of 14 countries subject to compulsory political or govern- 15 mental representation within corporate leadership’’ 16 after ‘‘foreign government’’. 17 SEC. 7. DEPARTMENT OF STATE LIST OF FOREIGN TALENT 18 RECRUITMENT PROGRAMS OF THE PEOPLE’S 19 REPUBLIC OF CHINA. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 21 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 22 in consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary 23 of Defense, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall 24 compile and publish in the Federal Register a list of for- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:01 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3920.IS S3920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3920 IS eign talent recruitment programs of the People’s Republic 1 of China. 2 (b) ANNUAL REVIEW AND REVISION.—Not less fre- 3 quently than annually, the Secretary of State shall— 4 (1) review and revise the list compiled under 5 subsection (a); and 6 (2) publish the revised list in the Federal Reg- 7 ister. 8 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 9 In this Act: 10 (1) FOREIGN TALENT RECRUITMENT PROGRAM 11 OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.—In this 12 Act, the term ‘‘foreign talent recruitment program 13 of the People’s Republic of China’’ means any effort 14 organized, managed, funded, or otherwise controlled 15 by the Government of the People’s Republic of 16 China or the Chinese Communist Party to employ, 17 contract, or otherwise compensate 1 or more individ- 18 uals to conduct research, development, testing, or 19 any other science or technology activity for the di- 20 rect or indirect benefit of the People’s Republic of 21 China. 22 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 23 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:01 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3920.IS S3920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3920 IS meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 1 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:01 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3920.IS S3920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS