I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9490 
To impose sanctions with respect to foreign telecommunications companies 
engaged in economic or industrial espionage against United States per-
sons, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 12, 2022 
Mr. GALLAGHER
(for himself, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. WALTZ, and Ms. 
HOULAHAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To impose sanctions with respect to foreign telecommuni-
cations companies engaged in economic or industrial espi-
onage against United States persons, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Neutralizing Emerging 
Threats from Wireless OEMs Receiving direction from 
Kleptocracies and Surveillance states Act’’ or the ‘‘NET-
WORKS Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO ECO-
NOMIC OR INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE BY FOR-
EIGN TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date that is 30 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Presi-
dent shall exercise all of the powers granted to the Presi-
dent under the International Emergency Economic Powers 
Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to 
block and prohibit all significant transactions in property 
and interests in property of a foreign person described in 
subsection (b) if such property and interests in property 
are in the United States, come within the United States, 
or are or come within the possession or control of a United 
States person. 
(b) FOREIGN PERSONS DESCRIBED.—A foreign per-
son is described in this subsection if the President deter-
mines that the person, on or after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act— 
(1) produces fifth or future generation tele-
communications technology; and 
(2) engages in— 
(A) economic or industrial espionage with 
respect to trade secrets or proprietary informa-
tion owned by United States persons; or 
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(B) other related illicit activities, including 
violations of sanctions imposed by the United 
States. 
(c) EXCEPTIONS.— 
(1) EXCEPTION
FOR
INTELLIGENCE
ACTIVI-
TIES.—Sanctions under this section shall not apply 
to any activity subject to the reporting requirements 
under title V of the National Security Act of 1947 
(50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) or any authorized intel-
ligence activities of the United States. 
(2) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF 
GOODS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and re-
quirements to impose sanctions authorized 
under this section shall not include the author-
ity or requirement to impose sanctions on the 
importation of goods. 
(B) GOOD DEFINED.—In this paragraph, 
the term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or 
manmade substance, material, supply or manu-
factured product, including inspection and test 
equipment, and excluding technical data. 
(d) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica-
tion of sanctions under this section with respect to a for-
eign person for renewable periods of not more than 90 
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days each if the President determines and reports to Con-
gress that such a waiver is vital to the national security 
interests of the United States. 
(e) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.— 
(1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex-
ercise the authorities provided to the President 
under sections 203 and 205 of the International 
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 
and 1704) to the extent necessary to carry out this 
section. 
(2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at-
tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 
violation of subsection (a) or any regulation, license, 
or order issued to carry out that subsection shall be 
subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) 
and (c) of section 206 of the International Emer-
gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the 
same extent as a person that commits an unlawful 
act described in subsection (a) of that section. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section: 
(A) ECONOMIC
OR
INDUSTRIAL
ESPIO-
NAGE.—The term ‘‘economic or industrial espi-
onage’’ means— 
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(i) stealing a trade secret or propri-
etary information or appropriating, taking, 
carrying away, or concealing, or by fraud, 
artifice, or deception obtaining, a trade se-
cret or proprietary information without the 
authorization of the owner of the trade se-
cret or proprietary information; 
(ii) copying, duplicating, downloading, 
uploading, destroying, transmitting, deliv-
ering, sending, communicating, or con-
veying a trade secret or proprietary infor-
mation without the authorization of the 
owner of the trade secret or proprietary in-
formation; or 
(iii) knowingly receiving, buying, or 
possessing a trade secret or proprietary in-
formation that has been stolen or appro-
priated, obtained, or converted without the 
authorization of the owner of the trade se-
cret or proprietary information. 
(B) FIFTH
OR
FUTURE
GENERATION 
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TECHNOLOGY.—The 
term ‘‘fifth or future generation telecommuni-
cations technology’’ means telecommunications 
technology that conforms to the technical stand-
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ards followed by the telecommunications indus-
try for telecommunications technology that is 
commonly known in the industry as fifth gen-
eration or future generation technology. 
(C) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign 
person’’ means any person that is not a United 
States person. 
(D) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, 
with respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a 
result, means that a person has actual knowl-
edge, or should have known, of the conduct, the 
circumstance, or the result. 
(E) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means 
an individual or entity. 
(F) 
PROPRIETARY
INFORMATION.—The 
term ‘‘proprietary information’’ has the mean-
ing given that term in section 1637(d) of the 
Carl Levin and Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2015 (50 U.S.C. 1708(d)). 
(G) THIRD
AND
FOURTH
GENERATION 
TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS.—The term 
‘‘third and fourth generation telecommuni-
cations networks’’ means telecommunications 
networks that conform to the technical stand-
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ards followed by the telecommunications indus-
try for telecommunications networks that are 
commonly known in the industry as third or 
fourth generation networks. 
(H) TRADE SECRET.—The term ‘‘trade se-
cret’’ has the meaning given that term in sec-
tion 1839 of title 18, United States Code. 
(I) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 
‘‘United States person’’ means— 
(i) a United States citizen or an alien 
lawfully admitted for permanent residence 
to the United States; or 
(ii) an entity organized under the laws 
of the United States or any jurisdiction 
within the United States, including a for-
eign branch of such an entity. 
(2) DETERMINATION
OF
SIGNIFICANCE.—For 
the purposes of this section, in determining if trans-
actions are significant, the President may consider 
the totality of the facts and circumstances, including 
factors similar to the factors set forth in section 
561.404 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations (or 
any corresponding similar regulation or ruling). 
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(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of 
this section, a transaction shall not be construed to 
include— 
(A) participation in an international stand-
ards-setting body or the activities of such a 
body; or 
(B) a transaction involving existing third 
or fourth generation telecommunications net-
works. 
Æ 
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