IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5245 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2024 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 

1956 to require certain congressional notification prior 

to entering into, renewing, or extending a science and 

technology agreement with the People’s Republic of 

China, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Science and Tech3 nology Agreement Enhanced Congressional Notification 

4 Act of 2024’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The signing and implementation of the 

8 agreement between the United States and the Peo9 ple’s Republic of China, known as the ‘‘Agreement 

10 between the Government of the United States of 

11 America and the Government of the People’s Repub12 lic of China on Cooperation in Science and Tech13 nology’’, signed in Washington on January 31, 1979 

14 (‘‘CST Agreement’’), and its many subsequent im15 plementing arrangements, has led to the develop16 ment of many science and technology programs. 

17 (2) Section 1207 of the Bob Stump National 

18 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 (22 

19 U.S.C. 6901 note) required the Secretary of State to 

20 publish biennial reports detailing how the CST 

21 Agreement has benefitted the economy, military, and 

22 industrial base of the People’s Republic of China, a 

23 requirement that was repealed by Congress in 2016. 

24 (3) The CST Agreement was last extended in 

25 2018 by the Trump Administration after amending 

26 it to address United States concerns about the 


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1 science and technology practices of the People’s Re2 public of China. 

3 (4) The People’s Republic of China has re4 stricted United States researcher access in China de5 spite its commitments in the CST Agreement other6 wise. This includes reportedly withholding avian in7 fluenza strains vital for United States vaccine devel8 opment and cutting off United States access to 

9 coronavirus research in 2019, including United 

10 States-funded work at the Wuhan Institute of Virol11 ogy. 

12 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that— 

14 (1) science and technology cooperation with the 

15 People’s Republic of China can be a useful tool of 

16 United States foreign policy and should be pursued 

17 when it reinforces and advances the values and in18 terests of the United States; 

19 (2) no research undertaken as part of a science 

20 and technology agreement should enable the People’s 

21 Republic of China’s development of dual-use and 

22 critical technologies that threaten United States na23 tional security; 

24 (3) a science and technology agreement with 

25 the People’s Republic of China should include 


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1 human rights protections and projects undertaken as 

2 part of it should not directly or indirectly enable 

3 human rights abuses, including the persecution of 

4 Uyghurs in Xinjiang; 

5 (4) a science and technology agreement with 

6 the People’s Republic of China should include provi7 sions to safeguard the safety of United States re8 searchers and their intellectual property, as well as 

9 enhance their research access in China; and 

10 (5) any renewal, extension, or changes to the 

11 CST Agreement should be made to ensure that 

12 United States and Chinese joint research is safer 

13 and remains beneficial for United States interests. 

14 SEC. 3. ENHANCED CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION RE15 GARDING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 

16 AGREEMENTS WITH THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC 

17 OF CHINA. 

18 (a) NOTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Not later than 15 

19 days before the date on which a renewal or extension of 

20 the CST Agreement, or the entry into or a renewal or ex21 tension of any other science and technology agreement 

22 with the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

23 or an entity of the People’s Republic of China, enters into 

24 effect, the Secretary of State shall submit to the approVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5245.RFS H5245

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1 priate congressional committees a notification containing 

2 each of the matters described in subsection (b). 

3 (b) MATTERS DESCRIBED.—The matters described 

4 in this subsection are, with respect to the science and tech5 nology agreement for which a notification is submitted 

6 under subsection (a), the following: 

7 (1) The full text of such agreement and any an8 nexes or side letters. 

9 (2) A detailed justification for such agreement, 

10 including an explanation of the reasons for which 

11 entering into, renewing, or extending such agree12 ment, as applicable, is in the national interest of the 

13 United States. 

14 (3) An assessment of any risks posed by such 

15 agreement, and the checks it includes to prevent the 

16 transfer of technology or intellectual property capa17 ble of— 

18 (A) harming the national security interests 

19 of the United States; or 

20 (B) enabling of the People’s Republic of 

21 China’s military-civil fusion strategy. 

22 (4) An explanation for how the Secretary of 

23 State intends to build in human rights protections 

24 for any scientific and technology collaboration con25 ducted under such agreement. 


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1 (5) An assessment of the ways in which the 

2 Secretary will be able to prescribe terms for, and 

3 continuously monitor, the commitments and con4 tracts made by the Government of the People’s Re5 public of China or entity of the People’s Republic of 

6 China under such agreement. 

7 (6) A summary of changes or updates to the 

8 agreement that were secured to strengthen the 

9 United States ability to engage in science coopera10 tion with the People’s Republic of China in a way 

11 that is safer, more beneficial for the United States, 

12 or allows for stronger United States oversight over 

13 joint research. 

14 (7) Such other information relating to such 

15 agreement as the Secretary of State may determine 

16 appropriate. 

17 (c) APPLICABILITY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The notification require19 ments under subsection (a) shall apply with respect 

20 to any science and technology agreements entered 

21 into, renewed, or extended on or after the date of 

22 the enactment of this Act. 

23 (2) EXISTING AGREEMENTS.—For any science 

24 and technology agreement between the United States 

25 Government and the People’s Republic of China that 


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1 is in effect as of the date of the enactment of this 

2 Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the ap3 propriate congressional committees a report that in4 cludes each of the matters described in subsection 

5 (b) with respect to such existing agreement, not 

6 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

7 of this Act. 

8 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

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

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

11 for 5 years, the Secretary of State, in consultation with 

12 the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and 

13 agencies, shall submit to Congress a report on— 

14 (1) the implementation of each science and 

15 technology agreement with the People’s Republic of 

16 China, including implementing arrangements, en17 tered into pursuant to the notification requirements 

18 under section 3; and 

19 (2) all activities conducted under each such 

20 agreement. 

21 (b) CONTENTS.—Each report required by subsection 

22 (a) shall also include each of the following: 

23 (1) An accounting of all joint projects and ini24 tiatives conducted under the CST Agreement and its 

25 implementing arrangements since the previous reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5245.RFS H5245

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1 port (or, in the case of the first report, since the 

2 CST Agreement was entered into), including the 

3 name of each project, agreement, or implementing 

4 arrangement. 

5 (2) An evaluation of the benefits of the CST 

6 Agreement to the United States economy, scientific 

7 leadership, innovation capacity, and industrial base 

8 of the United States. 

9 (3) An estimate of the costs to the United 

10 States to administer the CST Agreement during the 

11 period covered by the report. 

12 (4) An evaluation of the benefits of the CST 

13 Agreement to the economy, to the military, and to 

14 the industrial base of the People’s Republic of 

15 China. 

16 (5) An assessment of how the CST Agreement 

17 has influenced the foreign and domestic policies and 

18 scientific capabilities of the People’s Republic of 

19 China. 

20 (6) Any plans of the Secretary of State for im21 proving the monitoring of the activities and the Peo22 ple’s Republic of China’s commitments established 

23 under the CST Agreement. 


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1 (7) An assessment of any potential risks posed 

2 by ongoing science cooperation with the People’s Re3 public of China. 

4 (c) FORM.—Each report required by subsection (a) 

5 shall be submitted in unclassified form and may include 

6 a classified annex. 

7 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT10 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com11 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

12 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

13 Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

14 (2) CST AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘CST Agree15 ment’’ means the agreement between the United 

16 States and the People’s Republic of China known as 

17 the ‘‘Agreement between the Government of the 

18 United States of America and the Government of 

19 the People’s Republic of China on Cooperation in 

20 Science and Technology’’, signed in Washington on 

21 January 31, 1979, and its protocols, as well as any 

22 sub-agreements entered into pursuant to such 

23 Agreement on or before the date of the enactment 

24 of this Act. 


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1 (3) IMPLEMENTING ARRANGEMENT.—The term 

2 ‘‘implementing arrangement’’, with respect to the 

3 CST Agreement or any other science and technology 

4 agreement, includes any sub-agreement or sub-ar5 rangement entered into under the CST Agreement 

6 or other science and technology agreement be7 tween— 

8 (A) any Federal governmental entity of the 

9 United States; and 

10 (B) any governmental entity of the Peo11 ple’s Republic of China, including state-owned 

12 research institutions. 

13 (4) SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AGREEMENT.— 

14 The term ‘‘science and technology agreement’’ 

15 means any treaty, memorandum of understanding, 

16 or other contract or agreement between the United 

17 States and 1 or more foreign countries for the pur18 pose of collaborating on or otherwise engaging in 

19 joint activities relating to scientific research, techno20 logical development, or the sharing of scientific or 


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1 technical knowledge or resources between such coun2 tries. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 9, 

2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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