I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1398 

To establish the CCP Initiative program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2023 

Mr. GOODEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. POSEY, and 

Mr. LAMBORN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish the CCP Initiative program, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect America’s In5 novation and Economic Security from CCP Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CCP INITIATIVE PROGRAM. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

8 National Security Division of the Department of Justice 

9 the CCP Initiative to— 


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1 (1) counter nation-state threats to the United 

2 States; 

3 (2) curb spying by the Chinese Communist 

4 Party on United States intellectual property and 

5 academic institutions in the United States; and 

6 (3) focus on— 

7 (A) identifying and prosecuting those en8 gaged in trade secret theft, hacking, and eco9 nomic espionage; and 

10 (B) protecting the critical infrastructure in 

11 the United States against external threats 

12 through foreign direct investment and supply 

13 chain compromises. 

14 (b) STEERING COMMITTEE.—The CCP Initiative 

15 shall be led by a steering committee comprised of— 

16 (1) the Assistant Attorney General for National 

17 Security; 

18 (2) senior officials in the Federal Bureau of In19 vestigation, as determined by the Attorney General; 

20 (3) the Assistant Attorney General for the 

21 Criminal Division of the Department of Justice; 

22 (4) the Executive Assistant Director of the Na23 tional Security Branch of the Federal Bureau of In24 vestigation; and 


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1 (5) five United States attorneys, appointed by 

2 the Attorney General, from the judicial districts with 

3 the most cases involving espionage, intellectual prop4 erty theft, and trade secrets during the preceding 5- 

5 year period. 

6 (c) GOALS.—The CCP Initiative shall have the fol7 lowing goals: 

8 (1) Identify priority trade secret theft cases, en9 suring that investigations are adequately resourced. 

10 (2) Work to bring the cases described in para11 graph (1) to fruition in a timely manner and accord12 ing to the facts and applicable law. 

13 (3) Develop an enforcement strategy concerning 

14 nontraditional collectors, including researchers in 

15 labs, universities, and the defense industrial base, 

16 that are being co-opted into transferring technology 

17 contrary to United States interests. 

18 (4) Educate colleges and universities about po19 tential threats to academic freedom and open dis20 course from influence efforts on campus. 

21 (5) Apply the Foreign Agents Registration Act 

22 of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.) to un23 registered agents seeking to advance the political 

24 agenda of the People’s Republic of China, bringing 

25 enforcement actions if appropriate. 


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1 (6) Equip United States attorneys with intel2 ligence and materials to be used to— 

3 (A) raise awareness of the threats de4 scribed in this section within their judicial dis5 tricts; and 

6 (B) support outreach efforts. 

7 (7) Implement the Foreign Investment Risk Re8 view Modernization Act of 2018 (division A of title 

9 XVII of Public Law 115–232; 132 Stat. 2173) for 

10 the Department of Justice, including by working 

11 with the Department of the Treasury to develop reg12 ulations under that Act and prepare for increased 

13 workflow. 

14 (8) Identify opportunities to better address sup15 ply chain threats, especially ones impacting the tele16 communications sector, prior to the transition to 5G 

17 networks. 

18 (9) Identify Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 

19 1977 (Public Law 95–213; 91 Stat. 1494) cases in20 volving Chinese companies that compete with United 

21 States businesses. 

22 (10) Increase efforts to improve Chinese re23 sponses to requests under the Mutual Legal Assist24 ance Agreement with the United States. 


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1 (11) Evaluate whether additional legislative and 

2 administrative authorities are required to protect 

3 United States assets from foreign economic aggres4 sion. 

5 (d) REQUIREMENT.—Under the CCP Initiative— 

6 (1) all investigations and prosecutions shall be 

7 set as priority and not based on discretion; 

8 (2) the Initiative shall be separate from and not 

9 under the authority or discretion of any other De10 partment of Justice initiative dedicated to coun11 tering nation-state threats; and 

12 (3) all resources used for the CCP Initiative 

13 shall solely be set aside for the CCP Initiative and 

14 shall not be combined to support any other Depart15 ment of Justice program, including other programs 

16 and initiatives dedicated to countering nation-state 

17 threats. 

18 (e) ANNUAL BRIEFING.—The Attorney General shall 

19 brief the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern20 mental Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

21 Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security and the 

22 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa23 tives annually on the progress and challenges of the CCP 

24 Initiative. 


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1 (f) SUNSET.—This Act is effective beginning on the 

2 date of enactment of this Act and ending on the date that 

3 is 6 years after that date. 

4 (g) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or 

5 the application of such provision to any person or cir6 cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 

7 of this Act, and the application of the provisions of such 

8 to any person or circumstance, shall not be affected there9 by. 

Æ 


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