II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4866 

To require a report on the threats posed by control of strategic ports by 

the People’s Republic of China. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2024 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. KELLY, and Mr. SCOTT of Florida) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require a report on the threats posed by control of 

strategic ports by 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 ‘‘Strategic Ports Re5 porting Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPORT ON THREATS POSED BY CONTROL OF 

7 STRATEGIC PORTS BY THE PEOPLE’S REPUB8 LIC OF CHINA. 

9 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Defense 

10 shall conduct a study of— 


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1 (1) strategic ports; 

2 (2) the reasons such ports are of interest to the 

3 United States; 

4 (3) the activities and plans of the Government 

5 of the People’s Republic of China to expand its con6 trol over strategic ports outside the People’s Repub7 lic of China; 

8 (4) the public and private actors, such as China 

9 Ocean Shipping Company, that are executing and 

10 supporting the activities and plans of the Govern11 ment of the People’s Republic of China to expand its 

12 control over strategic ports outside the People’s Re13 public of China; 

14 (5) the activities and plans of the Government 

15 of the People’s Republic of China to expand its con16 trol over maritime logistics by promoting products, 

17 such as LOGINK, and setting industry standards 

18 outside the People’s Republic of China; 

19 (6) how the control by the Government of the 

20 People’s Republic of China over strategic ports out21 side the People’s Republic of China could harm the 

22 national security or economic interests of the United 

23 States and allies and partners of the United States; 

24 and 


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1 (7) measures the United States Government 

2 could take to ensure open access and security for 

3 strategic ports. 

4 (b) CONDUCT OF STUDY.—The Secretary of Defense 

5 may enter into an arrangement with a federally funded 

6 research and development center under which the center 

7 shall conduct the study described in subsection (a). 

8 (c) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec11 retary of Defense shall submit to the appropriate 

12 congressional committees a report on the findings of 

13 the study conducted under subsection (a). 

14 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para15 graph (1) shall include— 

16 (A) a detailed list of all known strategic 

17 ports operated, controlled, or owned, directly or 

18 indirectly, by the People’s Republic of China 

19 and an assessment of the national security and 

20 economic interests relevant to each such port; 

21 (B) a detailed list of all known strategic 

22 ports operated, controlled, or owned, directly or 

23 indirectly, by the United States and an assess24 ment of the national security and economic in25 terests relevant to each such port; 


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1 (C) an assessment of vulnerabilities of— 

2 (i) ports operated, controlled, or 

3 owned, directly or indirectly, by the United 

4 States; and 

5 (ii) strategic ports; 

6 (D) an analysis of the activities and ac7 tions of the Government of the People’s Repub8 lic of China to gain control or ownership over 

9 strategic ports, including promoting products, 

10 such as LOGINK, and setting industry stand11 ards; 

12 (E) an assessment of how the Government 

13 of the People’s Republic of China plans to ex14 pand its control over strategic ports outside of 

15 the People’s Republic of China; 

16 (F) a suggested strategy, developed in con17 sultation with the heads of the relevant United 

18 States Government offices, that suggests 

19 courses of action to secure trusted investment 

20 and ownership of strategic ports and maritime 

21 infrastructure, to protect such ports and infra22 structure from the control of the Government of 

23 the People’s Republic of China, and to ensure 

24 open access and security for such ports, that in25 cludes— 


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1 (i) a list of relevant existing authori2 ties that can be used to carry out the 

3 strategy; 

4 (ii) a list of any additional authorities 

5 necessary to carry out the strategy; 

6 (iii) an assessment of products owned 

7 by the Government of the People’s Repub8 lic of China or an entity affiliated with 

9 such government that are used in connec10 tion with strategic ports or maritime infra11 structure; 

12 (iv) an assessment of costs to secure 

13 trusted investment and ownership of stra14 tegic ports and replace products owned by 

15 the Government of the People’s Republic of 

16 China or an entity affiliated with such gov17 ernment that are used in connection with 

18 such ports; and 

19 (v) a list of funding sources to secure 

20 trusted investment and ownership of stra21 tegic ports, which shall include— 

22 (I) an identification of private 

23 funding sources; and 


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1 (II) an identification of public 

2 funding sources, including loans, loan 

3 guarantees, and tax incentives; and 

4 (G) a suggested strategy for Federal agen5 cies to maintain an up-to-date list of strategic 

6 ports. 

7 (3) FORM.—The report required by paragraph 

8 (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may 

9 include a classified annex if necessary. 

10 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT12 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com13 mittees’’ means— 

14 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

15 and Transportation, the Committee on Armed 

16 Services, and the Select Committee on Intel17 ligence of the Senate; and 

18 (B) the Committee on Transportation and 

19 Infrastructure, the Committee on Energy and 

20 Commerce, the Committee on Armed Services, 

21 and the Permanent Select Committee on Intel22 ligence of the House of Representatives. 

23 (2) RELEVANT UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

24 OFFICES.—The term ‘‘relevant United States Gov25 ernment offices’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Unified Combatant Commands; 

2 (B) the Office of the Secretary of Defense; 

3 (C) the United States International Devel4 opment Finance Corporation; 

5 (D) the Export-Import Bank of the United 

6 States; 

7 (E) the Office of the Director of National 

8 Intelligence; and 

9 (F) the Maritime Administration of the 

10 Department of Transportation. 

11 (3) STRATEGIC PORT.—The term ‘‘strategic 

12 port’’ means an international port or waterway that 

13 the heads of the relevant United States Government 

14 offices determine is critical to the national security 

15 or economic prosperity of the United States. 

Æ 


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