I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2993 To counter the military-civil fusion strategy of the Chinese Communist Party and prevent United States contributions to the development of dual- use technology in China. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 28, 2023 Mr. BANKS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology, Energy and Commerce, and Education and the Work- force, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To counter the military-civil fusion strategy of the Chinese Communist Party and prevent United States contribu- tions to the development of dual-use technology in China. 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 ‘‘Preventing PLA Ac- 4 quisition of United States Technology Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2993.IH H2993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2993 IH SEC. 2. COUNTERING THE MILITARY-CIVIL FUSION STRAT- 1 EGY OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY. 2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 (1) CHINESE ENTITY OF CONCERN.—The term 4 ‘‘Chinese entity of concern’’ means— 5 (A) any college or university in the Peo- 6 ple’s Republic of China that is determined by 7 the Secretary of Defense to be involved in the 8 implementation of the military-civil fusion strat- 9 egy, including— 10 (i) any college or university known as 11 the ‘‘Seven Sons of National Defense’’; 12 (ii) any college or university that re- 13 ceives funding from— 14 (I) the People’s Liberation Army; 15 or 16 (II) the Equipment Development 17 Department, or the Science and Tech- 18 nology Commission, of the Central 19 Military Commission; 20 (iii) any college or university in the 21 People’s Republic of China involved in 22 military training and education, including 23 any such college or university in partner- 24 ship with the People’s Liberation Army; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2993.IH H2993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2993 IH (iv) any college or university in the 1 People’s Republic of China that conducts 2 military research or hosts dedicated mili- 3 tary initiatives or laboratories, including 4 such a college or university designated 5 under the ‘‘double first-class university 6 plan’’; 7 (v) any college or university in the 8 People’s Republic of China that is des- 9 ignated by the State Administration for 10 Science, Technology, and Industry for the 11 National Defense to host ‘‘joint construc- 12 tion’’ programs; 13 (vi) any college or university in the 14 People’s Republic of China that has 15 launched a platform for military-civil fu- 16 sion or created national defense labora- 17 tories; and 18 (vii) any college or university in the 19 People’s Republic of China that conducts 20 research or hosts dedicated initiatives or 21 laboratories for any other related security 22 entity beyond the People’s Liberation 23 Army, including the People’s Armed Po- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2993.IH H2993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2993 IH lice, the Ministry of Public Security, and 1 the Ministry of State Security; 2 (B) any enterprise for which the majority 3 shareholder or ultimate parent entity is the 4 Government of the People’s Republic of China 5 at any level of that government; 6 (C) any privately owned company in the 7 People’s Republic of China— 8 (i) that has received a military pro- 9 duction license, such as the Weapons and 10 Equipment Research and Production Cer- 11 tificate, the Equipment Manufacturing 12 Unit Qualification, the Weapons and 13 Equipment Quality Management System 14 Certificate, or the Weapons and Equip- 15 ment Research and Production Unit Clas- 16 sified Qualification Permit; 17 (ii) that is otherwise known to have 18 set up mechanisms for engaging in activity 19 in support of military initiatives; 20 (iii) that has a history of subcon- 21 tracting for the People’s Liberation Army 22 or its affiliates; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2993.IH H2993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2993 IH (iv) that is participating in, or receiv- 1 ing benefits under, a military-civil fusion 2 demonstration base; or 3 (v) that has an owner, director, or a 4 senior management official who has served 5 as a delegate to the National People’s Con- 6 gress, a member of the Chinese People’s 7 Political Consultative Conference, or a 8 member of the Central Committee of the 9 Chinese Communist Party; and 10 (D) any entity that— 11 (i) is identified by the Secretary of 12 Defense under section 1260H(a) of the 13 William M. (Mac) Thornberry National 14 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 15 2021 (10 U.S.C. 113 note) as a Chinese 16 military company; and 17 (ii) is included in the Non-SDN Chi- 18 nese Military-Industrial Complex Compa- 19 nies List published by the Department of 20 the Treasury. 21 (2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en- 22 tity’’ means— 23 (A) any Federal agency that engages in re- 24 search or provides funding for research, includ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2993.IH H2993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2993 IH ing the National Science Foundation and the 1 National Institutes of Health; 2 (B) any institution of higher education, or 3 any other private research institution, that re- 4 ceives any Federal financial assistance; and 5 (C) any private company headquartered in 6 the United States that receives Federal finan- 7 cial assistance. 8 (3) FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The 9 term ‘‘Federal financial assistance’’ has the meaning 10 given the term in section 200.1 of title 2, Code of 11 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations). 12 (4) MILITARY-CIVIL FUSION STRATEGY.—The 13 term ‘‘military-civil fusion strategy’’ means the 14 strategy of the Chinese Communist Party aiming to 15 mobilize non-military resources and expertise for 16 military application, including the development of 17 technology, improvements in logistics, and other uses 18 by the People’s Liberation Army. 19 (b) PROHIBITIONS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—No covered entity may en- 21 gage with a Chinese entity of concern in any sci- 22 entific research or technical exchange that has a di- 23 rect bearing on, or the potential for dual use in, the 24 development of technologies that the Chinese Com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2993.IH H2993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2993 IH munist Party has identified as a priority of its na- 1 tional strategy of military-civil fusion and that are 2 listed on the website under subsection (c)(1)(A). 3 (2) PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.—No covered enti- 4 ty described in subsection (a)(2)(C) may form a 5 partnership or joint venture with another such cov- 6 ered entity for the purpose of engaging in any sci- 7 entific research or technical exchange described in 8 paragraph (1). 9 (c) WEBSITE.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in 11 consultation with the Secretary of State, the Direc- 12 tor of National Intelligence, the Director of the Fed- 13 eral Bureau of Investigation, the Secretary of En- 14 ergy, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of 15 the Treasury, and the Secretary of Commerce, shall 16 establish, and periodically update not less than twice 17 a year, a website that includes— 18 (A) a list of the specific areas of scientific 19 research or technical exchange for which the 20 prohibitions under subsection (b) apply, which 21 shall initially include some or all aspects of the 22 fields of quantum computing, photonics and la- 23 sers, robotics, big data analytics, semiconduc- 24 tors, new and advanced materials, biotechnology 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2993.IH H2993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2993 IH (including synthetic biology and genetic engi- 1 neering), 5G and all future generations of tele- 2 communications, advanced nuclear technology 3 (including nuclear power and energy storage), 4 aerospace technology, and artificial intelligence; 5 and 6 (B) to the extent practicable, a list of all 7 Chinese entities of concern. 8 (2) LIST OF SPECIFIC AREAS.—In developing 9 the list under paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary of 10 Defense shall monitor and consider the fields identi- 11 fied by the State Administration for Science, Tech- 12 nology, and Industry for the National Defense of the 13 People’s Republic of China as defense-relevant and 14 consider, including the more than 280 fields of study 15 designated as of the date of enactment of this Act, 16 and any others designated thereafter, as disciplines 17 with national defense characteristics that have the 18 potential to support military-civil fusion. 19 (3) RESOURCES.—In establishing the website 20 under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Defense may 21 use as a model any existing resources, such as the 22 China Defense Universities Tracker maintained by 23 the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, subject to 24 any other laws applicable to such resources. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2993.IH H2993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2993 IH (d) EXCEPTION.—The prohibitions under subsection 1 (b) shall not apply to any collaborative study or research 2 project in fields involving information that would not con- 3 tribute substantially to the goals of the military-civil fu- 4 sion strategy, as determined by regulations issued by the 5 Secretary of Defense. 6 (e) ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 8 after the date of enactment of this Act, and Decem- 9 ber 31 of each year thereafter, each covered entity 10 shall submit to the Secretary of Defense a report 11 that discloses— 12 (A) any research relationships the covered 13 entity has with a Chinese entity of concern or 14 has had during the previous year; 15 (B) any research relationships the covered 16 entity has considered with a Chinese entity of 17 concern during the previous year and declined; 18 and 19 (C) any research relationships the covered 20 entity has terminated with a Chinese entity of 21 concern during the previous year because the 22 relationship violates subsection (b) or as a re- 23 sult of related concerns. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2993.IH H2993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2993 IH (2) AUDIT.—The Secretary of Defense may 1 enter into a contract with an independent entity to 2 conduct an audit of any report submitted under 3 paragraph (1) to ensure compliance with the re- 4 quirements of such paragraph. 5 (f) ENFORCEMENT.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 7 provision of law, a covered entity described in sub- 8 paragraph (B) or (C) of subsection (a)(2) that vio- 9 lates a prohibition under subsection (b), or violates 10 subsection (e), on or after the date of enactment of 11 this Act shall be precluded from receiving any Fed- 12 eral financial assistance on or after the date of such 13 violation. 14 (2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense, 15 in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Di- 16 rector of National Intelligence, the Director of the 17 Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secretary of 18 Energy, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of 19 the Treasury, and the Secretary of Commerce, 20 shall— 21 (A) promulgate regulations to enforce the 22 prohibitions under subsection (b), the auditing 23 requirements under subsection (e), and the re- 24 quirement under paragraph (1); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2993.IH H2993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2993 IH (B) coordinate with the heads of other 1 Federal agencies to ensure the enforcement of 2 such prohibitions and requirements. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2993.IH H2993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS