I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4775 
To ensure small business concerns indirectly owned or controlled by certain 
foreign entities are ineligible to receive SBIR or STTR awards, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 25, 2025 
Mr. TRAN (for himself and Mr. BACON) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Small Business, and in addition to the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To ensure small business concerns indirectly owned or con-
trolled by certain foreign entities are ineligible to receive 
SBIR or STTR awards, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘SBIR/STTR Foreign 
Interference Safeguard Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF DUE DILIGENCE PROGRAM TO AS-
SESS SECURITY RISKS. 
Section 9(vv)(3)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 638(vv)(3)(C)) is amended by striking ‘‘September 
30, 2025’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2030’’. 
SEC. 3. CODIFYING SAFEGUARDS FOR SMALL BUSINESS 
CONCERNS MAJORITY-OWNED BY VENTURE 
CAPITAL OPERATING COMPANIES, HEDGE 
FUNDS, OR PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(dd) of the Small Busi-
ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(dd)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking ‘‘If a Fed-
eral’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in para-
graph (8), if a Federal’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(8) PARTICIPATION LIMITS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A small business con-
cern that is majority-owned by multiple venture 
capital operating companies, hedge funds, or 
private equity firms is ineligible to receive an 
award under any SBIR program if the Admin-
istrator determines that such small business 
concern is, or is owned and controlled in major-
ity part by, a covered foreign entity. 
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‘‘(B) OWNERSHIP
DETERMINATION.—In 
determining whether a small business concern is 
ineligible to receive an award under any SBIR 
program under subparagraph (A), the Adminis-
trator shall consider whether the small business 
concern is a direct or indirect subsidiary of a 
foreign-owned firm. 
‘‘(C) SIZE
STANDARDS.—The Adminis-
trator shall establish size standards for small 
business concerns seeking to participate in an 
SBIR program solely under the authority under 
this section. 
‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—the 
term ‘covered foreign entity’— 
‘‘(I) means— 
‘‘(aa) a foreign entity of 
concern; 
‘‘(bb) a government or polit-
ical party of a foreign country of 
concern; 
‘‘(cc) a natural person who 
is not a lawful permanent resi-
dent of the United States, citizen 
of the United States, or any 
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other protected individual (as 
such term is defined in section 
274B(a)(3) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1324b(a)(3))); or 
‘‘(dd) a partnership, associa-
tion, corporation, organization, or 
other combination of persons or-
ganized under the laws of or hav-
ing its principal place of business 
in a foreign country of concern; 
and 
‘‘(II) includes— 
‘‘(aa) any entity owned by, 
controlled by, or subject to the 
jurisdiction or direction of a an 
entity listed in subclause (I); 
‘‘(bb) any person, wherever 
located, who acts as an agent, 
representative, or employee of an 
entity listed in subclause (I); 
‘‘(cc) any person who acts in 
any other capacity at the order, 
request, or under the direction or 
control, of an entity listed in sub-
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clause (I), or of a person whose 
activities are directly or indirectly 
supervised, directed, controlled, 
financed, or subsidized in whole 
or in majority part by an entity 
listed in subclause (I); 
‘‘(dd) any person who di-
rectly or indirectly through any 
contract, 
arrangement, 
under-
standing, relationship, or other-
wise, owns 25 percent or more of 
the equity interests of an entity 
listed in subclause (I); 
‘‘(ee) any person with sig-
nificant responsibility to control, 
manage, or direct an entity listed 
in subclause (I); 
‘‘(ff) any person, wherever 
located, who is a citizen or resi-
dent of a country controlled by 
an entity listed in subclause (I); 
or 
‘‘(gg) any corporation, part-
nership, association, or other or-
ganization organized under the 
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laws of a country controlled by 
an entity listed in subclause (I). 
‘‘(ii) 
FOREIGN
ENTITY
OF
CON-
CERN.—The term ‘foreign entity of con-
cern’ means a foreign entity that is— 
‘‘(I) designated as a foreign ter-
rorist organization by the Secretary of 
State under section 219(a) of the Im-
migration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1189(a)); 
‘‘(II) included on the list of spe-
cially 
designated 
nationals 
and 
blocked persons maintained by the Of-
fice of Foreign Assets Control of the 
Department of the Treasury (com-
monly known as the SDN list); 
‘‘(III) owned by, controlled by, or 
subject to the jurisdiction or direction 
of a government of a foreign country 
that is a covered nation (as such term 
is defined in section 4872 of title 10, 
United States Code); 
‘‘(IV) alleged by the Attorney 
General to have been involved in ac-
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tivities for which a conviction was ob-
tained under— 
‘‘(aa) chapter 37 of title 18, 
United States Code (commonly 
known as the Espionage Act); 
‘‘(bb) section 951 or 1030 of 
such title; 
‘‘(cc) chapter 90 of such 
title (commonly known as the 
Economic 
Espionage 
Act 
of 
1996); 
‘‘(dd) the Arms Export Con-
trol Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.); 
‘‘(ee) section 224, 225, 226, 
227, or 236 of the Atomic En-
ergy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 
2274, 2275, 2276, 2277, and 
2284); 
‘‘(ff) the Export Control Re-
form Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 
4801 et seq.); or 
‘‘(gg) 
the 
International 
Emergency Economic Powers Act 
(50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or 
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‘‘(V) determined by the Secretary 
of Commerce, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Defense and the Director 
of National Intelligence, to be engaged 
in unauthorized conduct that is detri-
mental to the national security or for-
eign policy of the United States.’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub-
section (a) shall apply only with respect to awards made 
under an Small Business Innovation Research Program 
(as defined in section 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 638(e))) after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
Æ 
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