I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8346 

To protect federally funded academic research from undue foreign influences 

and threats by better informing the academic and research communities 

about such influences and threats, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 

Mr. RESCHENTHALER (for himself, Mr. TRONE, and Ms. HOULAHAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, 

Intelligence (Permanent Select), Foreign Affairs, and the Judiciary, 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 protect federally funded academic research from undue 

foreign influences and threats by better informing the 

academic and research communities about such influences and threats, 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 ‘‘Academic Research 

5 Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF ACADEMIC LIAISON TO PROTECT 

2 AGAINST EMERGING THREATS. 

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

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of De5 fense, acting through the Under Secretary of Defense for 

6 Research and Engineering, shall take the following ac7 tions: 

8 (1) Designate an official serving within the Of9 fice of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research 

10 and Engineering to work with the academic and re11 search communities to protect academic research 

12 funded by the Department of Defense from undue 

13 foreign influences and threats. 

14 (2) Set forth the responsibilities of the official 

15 designated under paragraph (1), including— 

16 (A) serving as the liaison of the Depart17 ment of Defense with the academic and re18 search communities; 

19 (B) carrying out initiatives of the Depart20 ment related to the protection of academic re21 search funded by the Department from undue 

22 foreign influences and threats, including the ini23 tiative established under section 1286 of the 

24 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

25 Year 2019 (10 U.S.C. 2358 note); 


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1 (C) not less frequently than once a year, 

2 conducting outreach and education activities for 

3 the academic and research community about 

4 undue foreign influences and threats to aca5 demic research that is funded by the Depart6 ment; 

7 (D) coordinating and aligning the policies 

8 relating to academic research security of— 

9 (i) the elements of the Department 

10 specified in section 111(b) of title 10, 

11 United States Code; 

12 (ii) the intelligence community; 

13 (iii) Federal science agencies; 

14 (iv) the Office of Science and Tech15 nology Policy; and 

16 (v) Federal regulatory agencies; and 

17 (E) working with the intelligence commu18 nity to the maximum extent practicable to share 

19 with the academic and research communities, at 

20 least annually, unclassified information, includ21 ing counterintelligence information, on threats 

22 from undue foreign influences. 

23 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec24 tion shall be construed as authorizing the official des25 ignated under subsection (a)(1) to classify academic reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346

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1 search in a manner that is inconsistent with the policies 

2 of the Department of Defense or the National Security 

3 Decision Directive Numbered 189 of September 21, 1985, 

4 titled ‘‘National Policy on the Transfer of Scientific, Tech5 nical and Engineering Information’’, or any successor di6 rective. 

7 SEC. 3. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON ACADEMIC RESEARCH 

8 PROTECTION. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the ex10 ecutive branch an independent commission, to be known 

11 as the ‘‘National Commission on Academic Research Pro12 tection’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’), 

13 to address concerns related to undue foreign influence at 

14 institutions of higher education conducting federally fund15 ed research and development. 

16 (b) TREATMENT.—The Commission shall be consid17 ered an independent establishment (as defined in section 

18 104 of title 5, United States Code). 

19 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

20 (1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be 

21 composed of 30 members, as follows: 

22 (A) The Director of the Office of Science 

23 and Technology. 

24 (B) The National Security Advisor (or a 

25 designee). 


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1 (C) The Director of National Intelligence 

2 (or a designee). 

3 (D) The Director of the National Science 

4 Foundation (or a designee). 

5 (E) The Secretary of Commerce (or a des6 ignee). 

7 (F) The Secretary of State (or a designee). 

8 (G) The Secretary of Defense (or a des9 ignee). 

10 (H) The Secretary of Homeland Security 

11 (or a designee). 

12 (I) The Secretary of Health and Human 

13 Services (or a designee). 

14 (J) The Secretary of Energy (or a des15 ignee). 

16 (K) The Secretary of Education (or a des17 ignee). 

18 (L) The Secretary of Agriculture (or a des19 ignee). 

20 (M) The Administrator of the National 

21 Aeronautics and Space Administration (or a 

22 designee). 

23 (N) The Archivist of the National Archives 

24 and Records Administration (or a designee). 

25 (O) The Attorney General (or a designee). 


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1 (P) Twelve individuals who are employed 

2 by institutions of higher education and have 

3 demonstrated expertise relevant to the duties of 

4 the Commission described in subsection (e). 

5 (Q) Three individuals who have expertise 

6 relevant to the duties of the Commission de7 scribed in subsection (e) and are each employed 

8 by a different organization that represents in9 stitutions of higher education conducting feder10 ally funded research and development and that 

11 focuses, at least in part, on academic research 

12 and development of security policy. 

13 (2) APPOINTMENTS.— 

14 (A) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AP15 POINTMENTS.— 

16 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Speaker of the 

17 House of Representatives and the minority 

18 leader of the House of Representatives 

19 shall jointly appoint 6 of the members de20 scribed in paragraph (1)(P). 

21 (ii) CONSULTATION.—The Speaker of 

22 the House of Representatives and the mi23 nority leader of the House of Representa24 tives shall make the appointments de25 scribed in clause (i) in consultation with 


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1 the Chairman and Ranking Member of 

2 each of— 

3 (I) the Committee on Agriculture 

4 of the House of Representatives; 

5 (II) the Committee on Appropria6 tions of the House of Representatives; 

7 (III) the Committee on Armed 

8 Services of the House of Representa9 tives; 

10 (IV) the Committee on Education 

11 and Labor of the House of Represent12 atives; 

13 (V) the Committee on Energy 

14 and Commerce of the House of Rep15 resentatives; 

16 (VI) the Committee on Foreign 

17 Affairs of the House of Representa18 tives; 

19 (VII) the Committee on Home20 land Security of the House of Rep21 resentatives; 

22 (VIII) the Committee on the Ju23 diciary of the House of Representa24 tives; 


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1 (IX) the Committee on Science, 

2 Space, and Technology of the House 

3 of Representatives; and 

4 (X) the Permanent Select Com5 mittee on Intelligence of the House of 

6 Representatives. 

7 (B) SENATE APPOINTMENTS.— 

8 (i) IN GENERAL.—The majority leader 

9 of the Senate and the minority leader of 

10 the Senate shall jointly appoint 6 of the 

11 members described in paragraph (1)(P). 

12 (ii) CONSULTATION.—The majority 

13 leader of the Senate and the minority lead14 er of the Senate shall make the appoint15 ments described in clause (i) in consulta16 tion with the Chairman and Ranking Mem17 ber of each of— 

18 (I) the Committee on Agri19 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of 

20 the Senate; 

21 (II) the Committee on Appropria22 tions of the Senate; 

23 (III) the Committee on Armed 

24 Services of the Senate; 


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1 (IV) the Committee on Com2 merce, Science, and Transportation of 

3 the Senate; 

4 (V) the Committee on Foreign 

5 Relations of the Senate; 

6 (VI) the Committee on Health, 

7 Education, Labor, and Pensions of 

8 the Senate; 

9 (VII) the Committee on Home10 land Security and Governmental Af11 fairs of the Senate; 

12 (VIII) the Committee on the Ju13 diciary of the Senate; and 

14 (IX) the Select Committee on In15 telligence of the Senate. 

16 (C) JOINT CONGRESSIONAL APPOINT17 MENTS.—The Speaker of the House of Rep18 resentatives, the minority leader of the House 

19 of Representatives, the majority leader of the 

20 Senate, and the minority leader of the Senate 

21 shall jointly appoint the members described in 

22 paragraph (1)(Q). 

23 (D) CLEARANCE.—To be eligible to be ap24 pointed as a member of, or employed by, the 

25 Commission, an individual must possess a secuVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346

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1 rity clearance that the Secretary of Defense de2 termines sufficient to afford such individual ac3 cess to the information necessary to carry out 

4 the responsibilities of a member or the position 

5 in which such individual will be employed, as 

6 applicable. 

7 (3) TERMS.—Each member appointed under 

8 paragraph (2) shall be appointed to a term of 4 

9 years. 

10 (4) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission 

11 shall not affect its powers and shall be filled in the 

12 same manner as the original appointment was made. 

13 (5) OFFICERS.— 

14 (A) CHAIR.—The members shall elect by 

15 majority vote one of the members described in 

16 subparagraphs (P) or (Q) of paragraph (1) to 

17 serve as the Chair. 

18 (B) VICE CHAIR.—The members shall elect 

19 by majority vote one of the members described 

20 in subparagraphs (A) through (O) of paragraph 

21 (1) to serve as the Vice Chair. 

22 (d) SUBCOMMITTEES.—The Chair, in consultation 

23 with the Vice Chair, may establish subcommittees to focus 

24 on particular topics that are of interest to the Commis25 sion. 


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1 (e) DUTIES.—The responsibilities of the Commission 

2 shall include the following: 

3 (1) The Commission shall serve as the forum 

4 for communication between institutions of higher 

5 education, Federal law enforcement agencies, Fed6 eral counterintelligence agencies, and the intelligence 

7 community regarding undue foreign influence on, 

8 and threats to, federally funded academic research 

9 and development. 

10 (2) Not later than six months after the date of 

11 the enactment of this Act, and not less than once 

12 every six months thereafter, the Commission shall 

13 meet to review the intelligence regarding— 

14 (A) undue foreign influence on, and 

15 threats to, federally funded academic research 

16 and development; 

17 (B) efforts by foreign entities to recruit 

18 students or employees of institutions of higher 

19 education; 

20 (C) specific technologies relevant to institu21 tions of higher education that foreign entities 

22 may seek to exploit; and 

23 (D) national security and research security 

24 issues related to foreign students attending inVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346

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1 stitutions of higher education in the United 

2 States. 

3 (3) The Commission shall develop, and update 

4 as warranted, methods for educating the academic 

5 community in the United States, including faculty 

6 and researchers, in an unclassified manner about 

7 undue foreign influence on, and threats to, federally 

8 funded academic research and development. 

9 (4) The Commission shall develop, and update 

10 as warranted, recommendations to facilitate the co11 ordination of Federal agency outreach, education, 

12 disclosure, and regulatory efforts which affect feder13 ally funded research and development at institutions 

14 of higher education. 

15 (5) Not later than one year after the date of 

16 the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

17 the Commission shall review the adequacy of Federal 

18 disclosure policies for federally funded academic re19 search and development for protecting such research 

20 and development from undue foreign influence and 

21 threats. 

22 (6) Not later than one year after the date of 

23 the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

24 the Commission shall review the adequacy of Federal 

25 export control regulations for protecting federally 


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1 funded academic research and development that is 

2 subject to such regulations from undue foreign influ3 ence and threats. 

4 (7) Not later than one year after the date of 

5 the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

6 the Commission shall submit to the President and 

7 Congress in an unclassified form, but which may 

8 contain a classified annex, a report containing rec9 ommendations on protecting federally funded aca10 demic research from undue foreign influence and 

11 threats while maintaining an open and collaborative 

12 research environment at institutions of higher edu13 cation. 

14 (8) Not later than 30 days after the date on 

15 which the Commission submits a report under para16 graph (7), the Commission shall make such report 

17 publicly available in an unclassified form. 

18 (9) Any other matters that the Commission de19 termines to be relevant to protecting federally fund20 ed academic research and development from undue 

21 foreign influence and threats. 

22 (f) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—On request of the 

23 Chair, made in consultation with the Vice Chair, any head 

24 of a Federal agency shall furnish directly to the CommisVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346

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1 sion any information necessary to enable the Commission 

2 to carry out this section. 

3 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For fis4 cal year 2021 and for each fiscal year thereafter, there 

5 is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000, to remain 

6 available until expended, for the Commission to carry out 

7 its duties. 

8 (h) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

9 on the date that is 10 years after the date on which the 

10 Commission conducts the initial meeting described in sub11 section (e)(2). 

12 SEC. 4. INITIATIVES TO PROTECT ACADEMIC RESEARCH 

13 FROM FOREIGN THREATS. 

14 (a) INFORMATION SHARING WITH INSTITUTIONS OF

15 HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date that 

17 is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 

18 section, the Director of National Intelligence, in con19 sultation with the National Commission on Academic 

20 Research Protection, shall establish an unclassified 

21 online clearinghouse to consolidate and make pub22 licly available— 

23 (A) open source intelligence relating to for24 eign threats to institutions of higher education 


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1 or the faculty thereof, academic researchers, 

2 and academic scholars; and 

3 (B) guidance and other publications re4 garding the foreign threats described in sub5 paragraph (A) that are issued by Federal agen6 cies. 

7 (2) INTELLIGENCE CLASSIFICATION.—Intel8 ligence routinely classified or restricted above the 

9 level of controlled unclassified information may not 

10 be made available through the clearinghouse de11 scribed in paragraph (1). 

12 (b) INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC IN ARMS REGULATION

13 GUIDANCE.—Beginning not later than the date that is 

14 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, 

15 the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary 

16 of Commerce, and in consultation with the National Com17 mission on Academic Research Protection and the Export 

18 Enforcement Coordination Center, shall— 

19 (1) develop, issue, and regularly update export 

20 control guidance for institutions of higher education 

21 on compliance with the International Traffic in 

22 Arms Regulations, including guidance, support docu23 mentation, and training materials encouraging and 

24 assisting such institutions to perform periodic interVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Oct 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8346.IH H8346

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1 nal assessments of the risk of not complying with 

2 such regulations; and 

3 (2) at least annually, conduct outreach activi4 ties exclusively for the academic community that 

5 promote understanding and compliance with the 

6 International Traffic Arms Regulations. 

7 (c) EXPORT ADMINISTRATION REGULATION GUID8 ANCE.—Beginning not later than the date that is 180 days 

9 after the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec10 retary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretary 

11 of State, and in consultation with the National Commis12 sion on Academic Research Protection and the Export En13 forcement Coordination Center, shall— 

14 (1) develop, issue, and regularly update export 

15 control guidance for institutions of higher education 

16 on compliance with the Export Administration Regu17 lations, including guidance, support documentation, 

18 and training materials encouraging and assisting 

19 such institutions to perform periodic internal assess20 ments of the risk of not complying with such regula21 tions; and 

22 (2) at least annually, conduct outreach activi23 ties exclusively for the academic community that 

24 promote understanding and compliance with the Ex25 port Administration Regulations. 


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1 (d) FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION INFORMA2 TION OUTREACH.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date that 

4 is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 

5 section, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Inves6 tigation, in consultation with the National Commis7 sion on Academic Research Protection, shall develop 

8 and implement in the headquarters and all of the 

9 field offices of the Bureau an outreach strategy to 

10 inform institutions of higher education about the 

11 availability of information on threats against such 

12 institutions, including information about threats to 

13 federally funded research and development carried 

14 out by such institutions. 

15 (2) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

16 date of the enactment of this section, and annually 

17 thereafter, the Director of the Federal Bureau of In18 vestigation shall issue, and make publicly available 

19 on a website, a report on the outreach strategy de20 scribed in paragraph (1). 

21 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) EXPORT ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS.— 

24 The term ‘‘Export Administration Regulations’’ 

25 means those regulations contained in parts 730 


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1 through 774 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations 

2 (or successor regulations). 

3 (2) EXPORT ENFORCEMENT COORDINATION

4 CENTER.—The term ‘‘Export Enforcement Coordi5 nation Center’’ means the organization established 

6 under Executive Order 13558, titled ‘‘Export En7 forcement Coordination Center’’ (75 Fed. Reg. 

8 69573). 

9 (3) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

10 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 

11 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

12 (4) FEDERAL REGULATORY AGENCIES.—The 

13 term ‘‘Federal regulatory agencies’’ means the De14 partment of Defense, the Department of Commerce, 

15 the Department of State, the Department of Justice, 

16 the Department of Energy, the Department of the 

17 Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security, 

18 and the National Archives and Records Administra19 tion. 

20 (5) FEDERAL SCIENCE AGENCIES.—The term 

21 ‘‘Federal science agencies’’ means each Federal 

22 agency that obligated or expended not less than 

23 $100,000,000 in the previous fiscal year for research 

24 and development. 


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1 (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

2 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

3 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High4 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

5 (7) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 

6 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given 

7 such term in section 3 of the National Security Act 

8 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003). 

9 (8) INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC IN ARMS REGULA10 TIONS.—The term ‘‘International Traffic in Arms 

11 Regulations’’ means those regulations contained in 

12 parts 120 through 130 of title 22, Code of Federal 

13 Regulations (or successor regulations). 

Æ 


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