II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3228 

To prohibit certain members and former members of the Armed Forces 

from accepting employment with government entities of the People’s 

Republic of China or the Russian Federation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 6, 2023 

Mr. KELLY (for himself, Mr. COTTON, Mr. HEINRICH, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) 

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

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit certain members and former members of the 

Armed Forces from accepting employment with government entities of the People’s Republic of China or the 

Russian Federation. 

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 ‘‘No Work with Adver5 saries Act of 2023’’. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•S 3228 IS

1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN MEMBERS AND FORMER 

2 MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES ACCEPT3 ING EMPLOYMENT WITH CHINESE OR RUS4 SIAN GOVERNMENT ENTITIES. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find6 ings: 

7 (1) Members of the Armed Forces gain skills, 

8 knowledge, and training through their service that 

9 are integral to the mission of the United States mili10 tary. 

11 (2) The specialized skillsets gained through 

12 service in the United States Armed Forces are the 

13 product of unique United States Government train14 ing. 

15 (3) Public reports have revealed the People’s 

16 Republic of China has employed, or contracted 

17 through intermediaries, former United States mili18 tary personnel and former military personnel of 

19 countries that are allies of the United States to train 

20 Chinese military personnel on specialized skills. 

21 (4) The closest allies of the United States, in22 cluding the United Kingdom, Australia, and New 

23 Zealand, are taking steps to stop their former mili24 tary personnel from training the Armed Forces of 

25 foreign adversaries, including instituting policy and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•S 3228 IS

1 legal reviews and consideration of criminal penalties 

2 to prevent that type of post-military service activity. 

3 (5) Allowing individuals to be employed or en4 gaged in the provision of training to foreign adver5 saries in specialized skillsets gained through service 

6 in the United States Armed Forces poses a signifi7 cant risk for exploitation by foreign adversaries 

8 against United States interests. 

9 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con10 gress that it is in the national security interests of the 

11 United States that current and former members of the 

12 Armed Forces be prohibited from taking employment or 

13 holding positions that provide substantial support to the 

14 military of a foreign government that is an adversary of 

15 the United States, such as the Government of the People’s 

16 Republic of China or the Government of the Russian Fed17 eration, to prevent the exploitation of specialized United 

18 States military competencies and capabilities by those gov19 ernments. 

20 (c) PROHIBITION.—Section 207 of title 18, United 

21 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing new subsection: 

23 ‘‘(m) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN MEMBERS AND

24 FORMER MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES ACCEPTING


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•S 3228 IS

1 EMPLOYMENT WITH DESIGNATED FOREIGN GOVERN2 MENT ENTITIES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who is a mem4 ber or former member of the Armed Forces, who at 

5 any time occupied a covered position, and who, on 

6 or after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

7 knowingly accepts employment for or occupies a po8 sition with a designated entity, shall be punished as 

9 provided in section 216(a)(2) of this title. 

10 ‘‘(2) TEMPORARY WAIVER FOR FORMER MEM11 BERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On a case-by-case 

13 basis, the Secretary of Defense may temporarily 

14 waive the restriction under paragraph (1), and 

15 may renew any such waiver, with respect to a 

16 former member of the Armed Forces only 

17 after— 

18 ‘‘(i) the former member submits to 

19 the Secretary a written application for 

20 such waiver or renewal in such form and 

21 manner as the Secretary shall prescribe; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary determines that 

24 granting such waiver or renewal would not 

25 result in a detrimental impact to current 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•S 3228 IS

1 or future defense operations of the United 

2 States. 

3 ‘‘(B) PERIOD OF WAIVER OR RENEWAL.— 

4 A waiver or renewal under subparagraph (A) 

5 shall apply for a period not to exceed 5 years. 

6 ‘‘(C) REVOCATION.—The Secretary may 

7 revoke a waiver or renewal under subparagraph 

8 (A) for a former member of the Armed Forces 

9 and that revocation shall take effect on the date 

10 specified by the Secretary but not later than 60 

11 days after the date on which the Secretary pro12 vides the former member written notice of such 

13 revocation. 

14 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

15 ‘‘(A) COVERED POSITION.—The term ‘cov16 ered position’ means a position in the United 

17 States Armed Forces that provides training, 

18 knowledge, and experience in— 

19 ‘‘(i) aviation or flight operations; 

20 ‘‘(ii) defensive or offensive cyber oper21 ations; 

22 ‘‘(iii) operation or maintenance of— 

23 ‘‘(I) military equipment; 

24 ‘‘(II) electrical or power distribu25 tion systems; 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•S 3228 IS

1 ‘‘(III) weapon systems; or 

2 ‘‘(IV) munitions; 

3 ‘‘(iv) intelligence; 

4 ‘‘(v) logistics; 

5 ‘‘(vi) security of military assets; 

6 ‘‘(vii) defense acquisitions; or 

7 ‘‘(viii) military equipment testing and 

8 evaluation. 

9 ‘‘(B) DESIGNATED ENTITY.—The term 

10 ‘designated entity’ means any entity that seeks 

11 to employ or engages in employing any member 

12 of the Armed Forces or former member of the 

13 Armed Forces for the purpose of providing ma14 terial support, including sensitive military infor15 mation or capabilities, to the military of a des16 ignated foreign government, as determined by 

17 the Secretary of Defense. 

18 ‘‘(C) DESIGNATED FOREIGN GOVERN19 MENT.—The term ‘designated foreign govern20 ment’ means a government, at the national, re21 gional, or local level, in— 

22 ‘‘(i) the People’s Republic of China; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) the Russian Federation.’’. 

24 (d) WRITTEN NOTICE ABOUT PROHIBITION.— 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•S 3228 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense or 

2 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as appropriate, 

3 shall provide written notice of the prohibition under 

4 subsection (m) of section 207 of title 18, United 

5 States Code, as added by subsection (c)— 

6 (A) to any person subject to the prohibi7 tion as of the date of the enactment of this Act, 

8 as soon as practicable after such date of enact9 ment; and 

10 (B) to any person who becomes subject to 

11 the prohibition after such date of enactment, as 

12 soon as practicable thereafter. 

13 (2) IMPACT ON PROHIBITION.—The prohibition 

14 under subsection (m) of section 207 of title 18, 

15 United States Code, as added by subsection (c), 

16 shall apply to a person regardless of whether the 

17 Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of Veterans 

18 Affairs, as appropriate, have complied with the re19 quirements under paragraph (1). 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB