I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8899 

To prioritize the efforts of and enhance coordination among United States 

agencies to encourage countries in Central and Eastern Europe to improve the security of their telecommunications networks, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 8, 2020 

Ms. KAPTUR (for herself, Mr. KINZINGER, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. WILSON of South 

Carolina, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. DIAZBALART, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CASE, Mr. STEWART, Mr. MORELLE, and Mr. 

COSTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To prioritize the efforts of and enhance coordination among 

United States agencies to encourage countries in Central 

and Eastern Europe to improve the security of their 

telecommunications networks, 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 ‘‘Transatlantic Telecom5 munications Security Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

2 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con3 gress that— 

4 (1) Fifth-generation telecommunications net5 works in allied and partner countries based on com6 mon, secure, transparent, democratic standards have 

7 the potential to increase cultural, political, and eco8 nomic exchanges leading to mutual job creation, 

9 closer citizen relations, and stronger democratic in10 stitutions; 

11 (2) the United States has national security and 

12 economic interests in assisting Central and Eastern 

13 European countries to improve the security of their 

14 telecommunications networks by reducing depend15 ence on covered telecommunications equipment or 

16 services that are often offered with predatory eco17 nomic inducements, and replacing them with secure 

18 telecommunications equipment or services; 

19 (3) China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the 

20 17+1 Initiative seek to undermine Central and 

21 Eastern Europe’s infrastructure resilience and sov22 ereignty through predatory inducements from state23 linked providers of telecommunications equipment or 

24 services such as Huawei Technologies Company and 

25 ZTE Corporation; 


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1 (4) the United States must assemble a coalition 

2 of democratic and like-minded allies and partners to 

3 counter the rise of global malign actors such as 

4 China and Russia, and build resilience in Central 

5 and Eastern Europe against malign influences; and 

6 (5) in order to ensure robust military coordina7 tion and interoperability with the North Atlantic 

8 Treaty Organization (NATO) and transatlantic al9 lies and partners, the United States should ensure 

10 that allies’ and partners’ telecommunications net11 works are secure and free from potential threats in 

12 accordance with the 2019 NATO London Declara13 tion. 

14 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

15 United States— 

16 (1) to strengthen the transatlantic alliance 

17 based on shared values in the face of rising malign 

18 influence from the Russian Federation and the Peo19 ple’s Republic of China, nations that seek to under20 mine democratic institutions and values; 

21 (2) to encourage public and private sector in22 vestment in European telecommunications infra23 structure projects to ensure secure telecommuni24 cations and to catalyze economic advancement 


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1 through the highest standards of transparency, ac2 cessibility, and competition; 

3 (3) to provide economically feasible alternatives 

4 to financing from providers of covered telecommuni5 cations equipment or services; 

6 (4) to engage in diplomacy with European allies 

7 and partners to strengthen United States and Euro8 pean private sector efforts to develop common tele9 communications technology and industry standards, 

10 and in turn promote them globally; 

11 (5) to support the Three Seas Initiative orga12 nized by twelve Central and Eastern European coun13 tries of the European Union to increase infrastruc14 ture resiliency and reduce reliance on malign actors, 

15 including in the telecommunications space; and 

16 (6) to support the people of Ukraine, Moldova, 

17 Georgia, and the Western Balkan countries in their 

18 desire for integration into euro-Atlantic institutions 

19 and economies through enhanced cross-border tele20 communications infrastructure connectivity. 


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1 SEC. 3. PRIORITIZATION OF EFFORTS AND ASSISTANCE 

2 FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUC3 TURE PROJECTS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN 

4 EUROPE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—In pursuing the policy described 

6 in section 2, the Secretary of State, in consultation with 

7 the Secretary of Commerce, the Chief Executive Officer 

8 of the United States International Development Finance 

9 Corporation, the Director of the Trade and Development 

10 Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, and 

11 heads of other relevant United States agencies, shall, as 

12 appropriate, prioritize and expedite the efforts of the De13 partment of State and those agencies in supporting the 

14 efforts of the European Commission and the governments 

15 of Central and Eastern European countries to improve the 

16 security of their telecommunications networks, including 

17 through providing diplomatic and political support to the 

18 European Commission and Central and Eastern Europe 

19 countries, as necessary— 

20 (1) to support enhancement of European tele21 communications markets, including through early22 stage project support and late-stage project support 

23 for the construction or improvement of telecommuni24 cations and related infrastructure; 

25 (2) to remove covered telecommunications 

26 equipment or services and replace such equipment or 


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1 services with secure telecommunications equipment 

2 or services; 

3 (3) to support the development of telecommuni4 cations networks that are inclusive, transparent, eco5 nomically viable, financially, environmentally, and 

6 socially sustainable, compliant with international 

7 standards, laws, and regulations, and supplied by 

8 providers of secure telecommunications equipment or 

9 services; and 

10 (4) to facilitate international coordination on 

11 cross-border telecommunications infrastructure con12 struction and security standards to ensure cross-bor13 der telecommunications are secure. 

14 (b) PROJECT SELECTION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, the 

16 Chief Executive Officer of the United States Inter17 national Development Finance Corporation, and the 

18 Director of the Trade and Development Agency shall 

19 identify telecommunications infrastructure projects 

20 that would advance United States national security 

21 and be appropriate for United States assistance 

22 under this section. 

23 (2) PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.—A project is eligible 

24 for United States assistance under this section if— 

25 (A) the project— 


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1 (i) improves telecommunications net2 works through either hard infrastructure 

3 such as telecommunications lines or equip4 ment or soft infrastructure such as innova5 tive software development or cloud serv6 ices; 

7 (ii) is inclusive, transparent, economi8 cally viable, financially, environmentally, 

9 and socially sustainable, compliant with 

10 international standards, laws, and regula11 tions, and supplied with secure telecommu12 nications equipment or services solely by 

13 providers of secure telecommunications 

14 equipment or services; 

15 (iii) does not use covered telecommu16 nications equipment or services or removes 

17 covered telecommunications equipment or 

18 services and replaces such equipment or 

19 services with secure telecommunications 

20 equipment or services; and 

21 (iv) enhances telecommunications 

22 market integration across the Central or 

23 Eastern European region that is secure 

24 from exploitation by malign actors; and 


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1 (B) the project is located in a Central or 

2 Eastern European country. 

3 (3) PREFERENCE.—In selecting among projects 

4 that are eligible under paragraph (2), the agencies 

5 described in subsection (a) shall give preference to 

6 projects that— 

7 (A) can attract funding from the private 

8 sector, an international financial institution, the 

9 government of the country in which the project 

10 will be carried out, or the European Commis11 sion; 

12 (B) have been designated as available for 

13 funding through the Three Seas Initiative In14 vestment Fund; 

15 (C) are to be carried out in the Three Seas 

16 Initiative member nations; 

17 (D) are to be carried out in NATO mem18 ber nations that meet or are making progress 

19 toward meeting their commitments to upholding 

20 the rule of law and preserving democratic insti21 tutions in accordance with the preamble and 

22 Article 2 of the NATO Treaty; 

23 (E) are to be carried out in NATO mem24 ber nations that meet or are making demon25 strable progress toward meeting their defense 


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1 spending commitments in accordance with the 

2 2014 NATO Wales Summit Declaration; or 

3 (F) have the potential to advance United 

4 States economic interests. 

5 (c) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.— 

6 (1) DIPLOMATIC AND POLITICAL SUPPORT.— 

7 The Secretary of State shall provide diplomatic and 

8 political support to the European Commission and 

9 Central and Eastern European countries, as nec10 essary, including by using the diplomatic and polit11 ical influence and expertise of the Department of 

12 State to build the capacity of Central and Eastern 

13 European countries to resolve any impediments to 

14 the development of projects selected under sub15 section (b). 

16 (2) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

17 SUPPORT.—The Secretary of State shall seek to en18 courage international financial institutions, including 

19 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Develop20 ment, the European Investment Bank, and the 

21 International Monetary Fund, the Foreign, Com22 monwealth, and Development Office of the Govern23 ment of the United Kingdom, the Agency for Inter24 national Cooperation of the Government of Ger25 many, and the Development Agency of the GovernVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Dec 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8899.IH H8899

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1 ment of France to invest in telecommunications in2 frastructure resilience in Central and Eastern Eu3 rope. 

4 (3) EARLY-STAGE PROJECT SUPPORT.—The Di5 rector of the Trade and Development Agency shall 

6 provide early-stage project support with respect to 

7 projects selected under subsection (b), as necessary, 

8 including project support in middle- and upper-in9 come countries. 

10 (4) LATE-STAGE PROJECT SUPPORT.—Agencies 

11 described in subsection (a) that provide late-stage 

12 project support shall do so with respect to projects 

13 selected under subsection (b), as necessary. 

14 (5) UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL DEVELOP15 MENT FINANCE CORPORATION SUPPORT.—The 

16 United States International Development Finance 

17 Corporation is authorized to provide support for 

18 projects under this section in Central and Eastern 

19 European countries that are countries with upper20 middle-income economies or high-income economies 

21 (as those terms are defined by the International 

22 Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the 

23 International Development Association (collectively 

24 referred to as the ‘‘World Bank’’)) notwithstanding 

25 the restriction under section 1412(c)(2) of the BetVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Dec 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8899.IH H8899

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1 ter Utilization of Investments Leading to Develop2 ment Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 9612(c)(2)). 

3 SEC. 4. PROGRESS REPORTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

6 the President shall submit to the appropriate congres7 sional committees a report on the progress made in pro8 viding assistance for projects under section 3 that in9 cludes— 

10 (1) a description of the telecommunications in11 frastructure projects the United States has identi12 fied for such assistance; and 

13 (2) for each such project— 

14 (A) a description of the role of the United 

15 States in the project, including in early-stage 

16 project support and late-stage project support; 

17 (B) the amount and form of debt financ18 ing, equity financing, and insurance provided by 

19 the United States Government, the Three Seas 

20 Initiative Investment Fund, international finan21 cial institutions, including the European Bank 

22 for Reconstruction and Development, the Euro23 pean Investment Bank, and the International 

24 Monetary Fund, the Foreign, Commonwealth, 

25 and Development Office of the Government of 


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1 the United Kingdom, the Agency for Inter2 national Cooperation of the Government of Ger3 many, and the Development Agency of the Gov4 ernment of France for the project; 

5 (C) the contractual terms of the project 

6 that preclude the use of covered telecommuni7 cations equipment or services and steps taken 

8 to ensure providers of telecommunications 

9 equipment or services meet such contractual 

10 terms; and 

11 (D) an update on the progress made on 

12 the project as of the date of the report. 

13 (b) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

14 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con15 gressional committees’’ means— 

16 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

17 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep18 resentatives; and 

19 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

20 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

21 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) CENTRAL OR EASTERN EUROPEAN COUN24 TRY.—The term ‘‘Central or Eastern European 

25 country’’ includes— 


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1 (A) Albania; 

2 (B) Austria 

3 (C) Bosnia and Herzegovina; 

4 (D) Bulgaria; 

5 (E) Croatia; 

6 (F) Cyprus; 

7 (G) the Czech Republic; 

8 (H) Estonia; 

9 (I) Greece; 

10 (J) Hungary; 

11 (K) Kosovo; 

12 (L) Latvia; 

13 (M) Lithuania; 

14 (N) Moldova; 

15 (O) Montenegro; 

16 (P) North Macedonia; 

17 (Q) Poland; 

18 (R) Romania; 

19 (S) Serbia; 

20 (T) Slovakia; 

21 (U) Slovenia; and 

22 (V) Ukraine. 

23 (2) COVERED FOREIGN COUNTRY.—The term 

24 ‘‘covered foreign country’’ means the People’s Re25 public of China. 


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1 (3) COVERED TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIP2 MENT OR SERVICES.—The term ‘‘covered telecom3 munications equipment or services’’ means any of 

4 the following: 

5 (A) Telecommunications equipment or 

6 services produced or provided by Huawei Tech7 nologies Company or ZTE Corporation (or any 

8 subsidiary or affiliate of such entities). 

9 (B) Telecommunications equipment or 

10 services produced or provided by an entity that 

11 the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 

12 Director of National Intelligence, reasonably be13 lieves to be an entity owned or controlled by, or 

14 otherwise connected to, the government of a 

15 covered foreign country. 

16 (4) EARLY-STAGE PROJECT SUPPORT.—The 

17 term ‘‘early-stage project support’’ includes— 

18 (A) feasibility studies; 

19 (B) resource evaluations; 

20 (C) project appraisal and costing; 

21 (D) pilot projects; 

22 (E) commercial support, such as trade 

23 missions, reverse trade missions, technical 

24 workshops, international buyer programs, and 


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1 international partner searchers to link suppliers 

2 to projects; 

3 (F) technical assistance and other guid4 ance to improve the local regulatory environ5 ment and market frameworks to encourage 

6 transparent competition and enhance tele7 communications security; and 

8 (G) long-term telecommunications sector 

9 planning. 

10 (5) LATE-STAGE PROJECT SUPPORT.—The term 

11 ‘‘late-stage project support’’ includes debt financing, 

12 equity financing, insurance, and transaction advisory 

13 services. 

14 (6) SECURE TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIP15 MENT OR SERVICES.—The term ‘‘secure tele16 communications equipment or services’’ means tele17 communications equipment or services that are not, 

18 and do not contain, covered telecommunications 

19 equipment or services. 

Æ 


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