I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5404 

To direct the Attorney General to prepare a report on the Department 

of Justice activities related to countering Chinese national security 

threats, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 

Mr. FITZGERALD (for himself, Mr. BUCK, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. WALTZ, and 

Mr. LAMBORN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To direct the Attorney General to prepare a report on the 

Department of Justice activities related to countering 

Chinese national security 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 ‘‘Countering Chinese 

5 Espionage Reporting Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 5404 IH

1 (1) The Chinese Communist Party poses perva2 sive and growing threats to United States domestic 

3 national security. 

4 (2) On November 1, 2018, the Department of 

5 Justice launched a new initiative, referred to as the 

6 ‘‘China Initiative’’, to address some of the most crit7 ical threats to United States domestic national secu8 rity posed by the Chinese regime. 

9 (3) The China Initiative has sought to identify 

10 and prosecute Chinese trade-secret theft and eco11 nomic espionage and to protect American critical in12 frastructure and supply chains from covert influence. 

13 (4) The Chinese Communist Party’s aggression 

14 is a pervasive and growing problem, as approxi15 mately 80 percent of all Federal economic espionage 

16 prosecutions involve alleged conduct that would ben17 efit the Chinese Communist Party, and about 60 

18 percent of all United States trade-secret theft cases 

19 have a nexus to the Chinese Communist Party. 

20 (5) According to the Commission on the Theft 

21 of American Intellectual Property, the Chinese Com22 munist Party’s theft of United States intellectual 

23 property is estimated to cost the United States econ24 omy between $225,000,000,000 to 

25 $600,000,000,000 annually. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 5404 IH

1 (6) The Department of Justice has identified 

2 academia as one of the sectors of the United States 

3 economy that are most vulnerable to trade-secret 

4 theft and economic espionage by the Chinese Com5 munist Party. The Chinese Communist Party ex6 ploits the American tradition of openness and the 

7 free flow of ideas for its own benefit. 

8 (7) The widespread and dangerous threats 

9 posed by the Chinese Communist Party has been un10 derscored by the most senior-level United States 

11 Government officials. 

12 (8) On November 1, 2018, the former Assistant 

13 Attorney for the Department of Justice’s National 

14 Security Division stated, ‘‘China wants the fruits of 

15 America’s brainpower to harvest the seeds of its 

16 planned economic dominance. Preventing this from 

17 happening will take all of us, here at the Justice De18 partment, across the U.S. Government, and within 

19 the private sector’’. 

20 (9) On June 24, 2020, the former National Se21 curity Advisor of the White House stated that the 

22 Chinese Communist Party ‘‘is seeking leverage over 

23 individual Americans’’ and ‘‘collecting your most in24 timate data—your words, your actions, your pur25 chases, your whereabouts, your health records, your 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 5404 IH

1 social media posts, your texts, and mapping your 

2 network of friends, family, and acquaintances’’. 

3 (10) On July 7, 2020, the Director of the Fed4 eral Bureau of Investigation warned that ‘‘[t]he 

5 greatest long-term threat to our nation’s information 

6 and intellectual property, and to our economic vital7 ity, is the counterintelligence and economic espio8 nage threat from China’’. 

9 (11) The Director of the Federal Bureau of In10 vestigation added that ‘‘[w]e’ve now reached the 

11 point where the FBI is opening a new China-related 

12 counterintelligence case about every 10 hours. Of the 

13 nearly 5,000 active FBI counterintelligence cases 

14 currently underway across the country, almost half 

15 are related to China’’. 

16 (12) On July 16, 2020, the former Attorney 

17 General of the Department of Justice stated that 

18 ‘‘[t]he ultimate ambition of China’s rulers isn’t to 

19 trade with the United States. It is to raid the 

20 United States’’. 

21 (13) On July 23, 2020, the former Secretary of 

22 the Department of State stated that ‘‘[w]e [the 

23 United States] must admit a hard truth that should 

24 guide us in the years and decades to come, that if 

25 we want a free 21st century, and not the Chinese 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 5404 IH

1 century of which Xi Jingping dreams, the old para2 digm of blind engagement with China simply won’t 

3 get it done. We must not continue it and we must 

4 not return it’’. 

5 (14) Actions by the Biden administration have 

6 raised serious concerns about its commitment to 

7 confront the national security threats posed by the 

8 Chinese Communist Party. 

9 (15) In July 2021, the Biden administration’s 

10 Department of Justice moved to dismiss charges 

11 against several suspected Chinese researchers ac12 cused of concealing ties to the Chinese military. 

13 (16) On February 23, 2022, the Biden adminis14 tration’s Department of Justice announced the end 

15 of its national security program aimed at prioritizing 

16 and countering legitimate threats of economic espio17 nage, theft of American intellectual property and re18 search, and other threats posed by the Chinese Com19 munist Party to the United States. 

20 (17) This action comes at a time when Presi21 dent Biden’s leadership in only a short period has 

22 resulted in many foreign policy missteps, notably in 

23 Afghanistan, Russia, and Iran. 

24 (18) The United States efforts to combat the 

25 Chinese Communist Party’s malign activities should 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 5404 IH

1 actively protect United States domestic national se2 curity, and address the strategic failures described 

3 in this section. 

4 SEC. 3. REPORT ON DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ACTIVITIES 

5 RELATED TO COUNTERING CHINESE NA6 TIONAL SECURITY THREATS. 

7 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 90 days after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter 

9 for 7 years, the Attorney General shall submit to the Com10 mittees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives 

11 and of the Senate a report that includes each of the fol12 lowing: 

13 (1) A description of the activities and oper14 ations of the Department of Justice related to coun15 tering Chinese national security threats and espio16 nage in the United States, including trade-secret 

17 theft, theft of United States intellectual property 

18 and research, and threats from non-traditional col19 lectors, such as researchers in laboratories, at uni20 versities, and at defense industrial base facilities (as 

21 that term is defined in section 2208(u)(3) of title 

22 10, United States Code). 

23 (2) An accounting of the resources of the De24 partment of Justice that are dedicated to programs 

25 aimed at combating national security threats posed 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•HR 5404 IH

1 by the Chinese Communist Party, and any sup2 porting information as to the efficacy of each such 

3 program. 

4 (b) FORM.—The report under subsection (a) shall be 

5 submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classi6 fied annex. On the date on which the Attorney General 

7 submits each report under subsection (a), the Attorney 

8 General shall make such report publicly available on the 

9 website of the Department of Justice. 

10 (c) CONSULTATION.—In preparing the report under 

11 subsection (a), the Attorney General shall consult with 

12 other appropriate officials. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB