II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 968 

To prohibit the procurement of solar panels manufactured or assembled 

in the People’s Republic of China. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 23, 2023 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. COTTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit the procurement of solar panels manufactured 

or assembled in the People’s Republic of China. 

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 ‘‘Keep China Out of 

5 Solar Energy Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON PROCUREMENT OF SOLAR PAN7 ELS FROM COVERED FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of10 fice of Management and Budget, in consultation with the 


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1 Administrator of General Services, shall develop standards 

2 and guidelines for executive agencies to— 

3 (1) prohibit Federal funds from being awarded 

4 by contract, subcontract, grant, or subgrant for the 

5 procurement of solar panels that are manufactured 

6 or assembled by a covered entity; and 

7 (2) prohibit the use of Government-issued pur8 chase cards to purchase solar panels that are manu9 factured or assembled by a covered entity. 

10 (b) AMENDMENT OF FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGU11 LATION.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

12 enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 

13 Council shall amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation 

14 to implement the prohibition established pursuant to sub15 section (a)(1) with respect to Federal contracts and sub16 contracts. 

17 SEC. 3. EXEMPTION WAIVER. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of an executive agency 

19 may obtain a waiver from the prohibition implemented 

20 pursuant to section 2 if the agency head certifies to the 

21 Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Secu22 rity that the covered entity is the only viable source for 

23 the solar panels and the Secretary of State and the Sec24 retary of Homeland Security jointly approve the waiver 

25 request. 


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1 (b) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of an agency re3 questing a waiver under this section shall notify the 

4 Director of the Office of Management and Budget of 

5 the request. The Director of the Office of Manage6 ment and Budget shall submit to the appropriate 

7 congressional committees a quarterly report listing 

8 requests listing under subsection (a), including 

9 whether each such request was approved or rejected. 

10 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT11 TEES.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate 

12 congressional committees’’ means— 

13 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

14 and the Committee on Homeland Security and 

15 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

16 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

17 the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 

18 House of Representatives. 

19 SEC. 4. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT. 

20 Not later than 275 days after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

22 States shall submit to Congress a report on the amount 

23 of solar panels procured by Federal departments and 

24 agencies from covered entities. 


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1 SEC. 5. STUDY. 

2 (a) INDEPENDENT STUDY.—Not later than one year 

3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 

4 of the Office of Management and Budget shall seek to 

5 enter into a contract with a federally funded research and 

6 development center under which the center will conduct 

7 a study of— 

8 (1) the current and future domestic market of 

9 solar panel production; 

10 (2) the ability of the solar panel domestic mar11 ket to keep pace with technological advancements 

12 across the industry; and 

13 (3) the current global supply chain and work14 force involved with solar panel production. 

15 (b) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 

16 days after the date on which the Director of the Office 

17 of Management and Budget receives the study under sub18 section (b), the Director shall submit the study to— 

19 (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

20 Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Energy 

21 and Natural Resources of the Senate; and 

22 (2) the Committee on Homeland Security, the 

23 Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the Com24 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

25 Representatives. 


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1 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en4 tity’’ means any entity domiciled in the People’s Re5 public of China or subject to influence or control by 

6 the Government of the People Republic of China or 

7 the Communist Party of the People’s Republic of 

8 China, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland 

9 Security. 

10 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.— The term ‘‘executive 

11 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

12 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

13 (3) SOLAR PANEL.—The term ‘‘solar panel’’ 

14 means crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells and 

15 modules. 

Æ 


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