I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1678 

To create a task force within the Department of Education to address the 

threat of foreign government influence and threats to academic research 

integrity on college campuses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2019 

Mr. BANKS (for himself, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. COOK, and Mr. 

BACON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on 

Intelligence (Permanent Select), Armed Services, and Science, Space, and 

Technology, 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 create a task force within the Department of Education 

to address the threat of foreign government influence 

and threats to academic research integrity on college 

campuses, 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 ‘‘Protect Our Univer5 sities Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Adversaries of the United States take ad4 vantage of a largely vulnerable academic system. 

5 Academia is a place of uniquely free thought; how6 ever, adversaries take advantage of access to feder7 ally funded sensitive research that takes place on the 

8 campuses of institutions of higher education. 

9 (2) As stated in a 2018 report by the White 

10 House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, 

11 ‘‘More than 300,000 Chinese nationals annually at12 tend U.S. universities or find employment at U.S. 

13 national laboratories, innovation centers, incubators, 

14 and think tanks. Chinese nationals now account for 

15 approximately one third of foreign university and 

16 college students in the United States and about 25 

17 percent of graduate students specializing in science, 

18 technology, engineering, or math (STEM).’’. 

19 (3) International students from nations that are 

20 adversarial to the United States could face undue 

21 pressure or incentives to divulge technology to their 

22 home nation or to use sensitive information to nega23 tively impact the United States. According to the 

24 same 2018 White House Report, ‘‘The national and 

25 economic security risks are that the Chinese State 

26 may seek to manipulate or pressure even unwitting 


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1 or unwilling Chinese nationals into becoming non2 traditional information collectors that serve Beijing’s 

3 military and strategic ambitions.’’. 

4 (4) Technology and information that could be 

5 deemed sensitive to the national security interests of 

6 the United States should be given increased scrutiny 

7 to determine if access should be restricted in a re8 search environment. 

9 (5) An open federally funded research environ10 ment exposes the United States to the possibility of 

11 exchanging research affiliated with current or future 

12 critical military technological systems. 

13 (6) In Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 

14 Director Wray’s view, Chinese non-traditional intel15 ligence collectors ‘‘are exploiting the very open re16 search and development environment that we have, 

17 which we all revere. But they‘re taking advantage of 

18 it, so one of the things we’re trying to do is view the 

19 China threat as not just the whole-of-government 

20 threat, but a whole-of-society threat on their end, 

21 and I think it’s going to take a whole-of-society re22 sponse by us.’’. 

23 (7) As stated in the January 2018 China’s 

24 Technology Transfer Strategy report by the Defense 

25 Innovation Unit, ‘‘Academia is an opportune enviVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1678.IH H1678

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1 ronment for learning about science and technology 

2 since the cultural values of U.S. educational institu3 tions reflect an open and free exchange of ideas. As 

4 a result, Chinese science and engineering students 

5 frequently master technologies that later become 

6 critical to key military systems, amounting over time 

7 to unintentional violations of U.S. export control 

8 laws.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. TASK FORCE. 

10 (a) TASK FORCE ESTABLISHED.—Not later than one 

11 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

12 of Education, in consultation with the Secretary of De13 fense and the Director of National Intelligence, shall es14 tablish the National Security Technology Task Force 

15 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’) within the 

16 Department of Education to address the threat of espio17 nage at institutions of higher education. 

18 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

19 (1) DESIGNATION.—The Task Force shall in20 clude not more than 30 members, of which— 

21 (A) at least 1 representative shall be from 

22 the Department of Defense, designated by the 

23 Secretary of Defense; 


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1 (B) at least 1 representative shall be from 

2 the intelligence community, designated by the 

3 Director of National Intelligence; 

4 (C) at least 1 representative shall be from 

5 the Department of Justice, designated by the 

6 United States Attorney General; 

7 (D) at least 1 representative shall be from 

8 the Department of Energy, designated by the 

9 Secretary of Energy; and 

10 (E) at least 1 representative shall be from 

11 each of the following offices of the Department 

12 of Education, as appointed and named by the 

13 Secretary of Education: 

14 (i) Office of Postsecondary Education. 

15 (ii) Office of Planning, Evaluation, 

16 and Policy Development. 

17 (iii) Office of the General Counsel. 

18 (iv) Any other office the Secretary of 

19 Education determines to be appropriate. 

20 (2) MEMBERSHIP LIST.—Not later than 10 

21 days after the first meeting of the Task Force, the 

22 Task Force shall submit to Congress a list identi23 fying each member of the Task Force. 

24 (c) SENSITIVE RESEARCH PROJECT LIST.—The 

25 Task Force shall, in consultation with the Office of the 


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1 Director of National Intelligence, actively maintain a list 

2 of sensitive research projects. Such list shall— 

3 (1) be referred to as the Sensitive Research 

4 Projects List; and 

5 (2) for each project included on the list, indi6 cate— 

7 (A) the qualified funding agency that is 

8 funding the project; 

9 (B) whether the project is open to student 

10 participation; and 

11 (C) whether the project is related to— 

12 (i) an item listed on the Commerce 

13 Control List (CCL) maintained by the De14 partment of Commerce; 

15 (ii) an item listed on the United 

16 States Munitions List maintained by the 

17 Department of State; or 

18 (iii) technology designated by the Sec19 retary of Defense as having a technology 

20 readiness level of 1, 2, or 3. 

21 (d) CONSULTATION WITH OIG.—The Task Force 

22 shall periodically, but no less than annually, consult with 

23 the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of 

24 Education, which shall include annual reports to the Of25 fice of the Inspector General on the activities of the Task 


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1 Force, with an opportunity for the Office of the Inspector 

2 General to provide active feedback related to such activi3 ties. 

4 (e) INSTRUCTION TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER

5 EDUCATION.—Not less than once every six months, the 

6 Task Force shall provide relevant instruction to institu7 tions of higher education at which research projects on 

8 the Sensitive Research Project List are being carried out. 

9 Such instruction shall provide the institutions of higher 

10 education with information related to the threat posed by 

11 espionage, best practices identified by the Task Force, 

12 and, to the extent possible, any specific risks that the in13 telligence community, the qualified funding agency, or law 

14 enforcement entities determine appropriate to share with 

15 the institutions. 

16 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than one year 

17 after the date of enactment of this Act, and every six 

18 months thereafter, the Task Force shall provide a report 

19 to the Committee on Education and Labor, the Committee 

20 on Armed Services, and the Permanent Select Committee 

21 on Intelligence of the House of Representatives, and to 

22 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen23 sions, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Select 

24 Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, regarding the 

25 threat of espionage at institutions of higher education. In 


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1 each such briefing, the Task Force shall identify actions 

2 that may be taken to reduce espionage carried out through 

3 student participation in sensitive research projects. The 

4 Task Force shall also include in this report an assessment 

5 of whether the current licensing regulations relating to the 

6 International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export 

7 Administration Regulations are sufficient to protect the 

8 security of the projects listed on the Sensitive Research 

9 Project List. 

10 SEC. 4. FOREIGN STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN SENSITIVE 

11 RESEARCH PROJECTS. 

12 (a) APPROVAL OF FOREIGN STUDENT PARTICIPA13 TION REQUIRED.—Beginning on the date that is one year 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act, for each project 

15 on the Sensitive Research Project List that is open to stu16 dent participation, the head of such project at the institu17 tion of higher education at which the project is being car18 ried out shall ensure that each student participating in 

19 such project shall be required to provide proof of citizen20 ship before the student is permitted to participate in such 

21 project. A student who is a citizen of a country identified 

22 in subsection (b) shall be permitted to participate in such 

23 a project only if— 

24 (1) the student applies for, and receives ap25 proval from, the Director of National Intelligence to 


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1 participate in such project, based on a background 

2 check and any other information the Director deter3 mines to be appropriate; and 

4 (2) in the case of such a project that is related 

5 to an item or technology described in subparagraph 

6 (C) of section 3(c)(2), the student applies for, and 

7 receives approval from, the head of the qualified 

8 funding agency, to participate in such project. 

9 (b) LIST OF CITIZENSHIP REQUIRING APPROVAL.— 

10 Approval under subsection (a) shall be required for any 

11 student who is a citizen of a country that is one of the 

12 following: 

13 (1) The People’s Republic of China. 

14 (2) The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. 

15 (3) The Russian Federation. 

16 (4) The Islamic Republic of Iran. 

17 (5) Any country identified by the head of the 

18 qualified funding agency as requiring approval for 

19 the purposes of this section. 

20 SEC. 5. FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

21 (a) LIST OF FOREIGN ENTITIES THAT POSE AN IN22 TELLIGENCE THREAT.—Not later than one year after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of National 

24 Intelligence shall identify foreign entities, including gov25 ernments, corporations, non-profit and for-profit organizaVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1678.IH H1678

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1 tions, and any subsidiary or affiliate of such an entity, 

2 that the Director determines pose a threat of espionage 

3 with respect to sensitive research projects, and shall de4 velop and maintain a list of such entities. The Director 

5 may add or remove entities from such list at any time. 

6 The initial list developed by the Director shall include the 

7 following entities (including any subsidiary or affiliate): 

8 (1) Huawei Technologies Company. 

9 (2) ZTE Corporation. 

10 (3) Hytera Communications Corporation. 

11 (4) Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology 

12 Company. 

13 (5) Dahua Technology Company. 

14 (6) Kaspersky Lab. 

15 (7) Any entity that is owned or controlled by, 

16 or otherwise has demonstrated financial ties to, the 

17 government of a country identified under section 

18 4(b). 

19 (b) NOTICE TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDU20 CATION.—The Director of National Intelligence shall 

21 make the initial list required under subsection (a), and 

22 any changes to such list, available to the Secretary of Edu23 cation, the Task Force, and the head of each qualified 

24 funding agency as soon as practicable. The Secretary of 

25 Education shall provide such initial list and subsequent 


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1 amendments to each institution of higher education at 

2 which a project on the Sensitive Research Project List is 

3 being carried out. 

4 (c) PROHIBITION ON USE OF CERTAIN TECH5 NOLOGIES.—Beginning on the date that is one year after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each 

7 sensitive research project shall, as a condition of receipt 

8 of funds from a qualified funding agency, provide an as9 surance to such qualified funding agency that, beginning 

10 on the date that is two years after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, any technology developed by an entity 

12 included on the list maintained under subsection (a) shall 

13 not be utilized in carrying out the sensitive research 

14 project. 

15 SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT. 

16 The head of each qualified funding agency shall take 

17 such steps as may be necessary to enforce the provisions 

18 of sections 4 and 5 of this Act. Upon determination that 

19 the head of a sensitive research project has failed to meet 

20 the requirements of either section 4 or section 5, the head 

21 of a qualified funding agency may determine the appro22 priate enforcement action, including— 

23 (1) imposing a probationary period, not to ex24 ceed 6 months, on the head of such project, or on 

25 the project; 


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1 (2) reducing or otherwise limiting the funding 

2 for such project until the violation has been rem3 edied; 

4 (3) permanently cancelling the funding for such 

5 project; or 

6 (4) any other action the head of the qualified 

7 funding agency determines to be appropriate. 

8 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) CITIZEN OF A COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘cit11 izen of a country’’, with respect to a student, in12 cludes all countries in which the student has held or 

13 holds citizenship or holds permanent residency. 

14 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

15 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ means an in16 stitution described in section 102 of the Higher 

17 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002) that re18 ceives Federal funds in any amount and for any pur19 pose. 

20 (3) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 

21 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given 

22 that term in section 3 of the National Security Act 

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


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1 (4) QUALIFIED FUNDING AGENCY.—The term 

2 ‘‘qualified funding agency’’, with respect to a sen3 sitive research project, means— 

4 (A) the Department of Defense, if the sen5 sitive research project is funded in whole or in 

6 part by the Department of Defense; 

7 (B) the Department of Energy, if the sen8 sitive research project is funded in whole or in 

9 part by the Department of Energy; or 

10 (C) an element of the intelligence commu11 nity, if the sensitive research project is funded 

12 in whole or in part by the element of the intel13 ligence community. 

14 (5) SENSITIVE RESEARCH PROJECT.—The term 

15 ‘‘sensitive research project’’ means a research 

16 project at an institution of higher education that is 

17 funded by a qualified funding agency, except that 

18 such term shall not include any research project that 

19 is classified or that requires the participants in such 

20 project to obtain a security clearance. 

21 (6) STUDENT PARTICIPATION.—The term ‘‘stu22 dent participation’’ shall not include student activity 

23 in— 

24 (A) a research project that is required for 

25 completion of a course in which the student is 


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1 enrolled at an institution of higher education; 

2 or 

3 (B) a research project for which the stu4 dent is conducting unpaid research. 

Æ 


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