I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6642 
To require the disclosure of foreign support provided to a recipient after 
the award of a research and development award, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 6, 2023 
Mr. POSEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Permanent Se-
lect Committee on Intelligence, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require the disclosure of foreign support provided to 
a recipient after the award of a research and develop-
ment award, 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 ‘‘Grant Recipient Ac-
countability for Necessary Transparency Act of 2023’’ or 
the ‘‘GRANT Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The United States Department of Edu-
cation identified several universities receiving Fed-
eral research and development funding that did not 
report foreign gifts as required by law. 
(2) The United States Department of Edu-
cation found 6 universities of the 12 they inves-
tigated received gifts that amounted to more than 
$1,300,000,000 from foreign sources, including the 
People’s Republic of China, Qatar, and the Russian 
Federation. 
(3) On April 13, 2023, the United States Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector 
General issued a memorandum concerning ‘‘Disclo-
sure of Foreign Support for EPA Research.’’ 
(4) The EPA’s OIG ‘‘identified a concern re-
garding the lack of a requirement for EPA research 
grant recipients to report foreign support after re-
ceiving a grant award.’’ 
(5) According to the memorandum, ‘‘[a]s of 
March 22, 2023, the EPA only required grant appli-
cants to disclose all active and pending research sup-
port before receiving a grant award.’’ 
(6) The National Security Presidential Memo-
randum—33 requires Federal research and develop-
ment recipients to disclose any involvement in pro-
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grams sponsored by foreign governments, instrumen-
talities, entities, including foreign government spon-
sored talent recruitment programs. 
(7) The memorandum also provides guidance to 
require both pre-award and post-award disclosures. 
SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH AND DE-
VELOPMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS REQUIRED. 
(a) RECIPIENT REQUIREMENT TO DISCLOSE.—The 
head of a covered agency shall require in the terms and 
conditions of any research and development award issued 
by the covered agency that— 
(1) the recipient of the award disclose within 30 
days after the date on which the recipient receives 
any support from a country of concern or an entity 
of concern a description of such support; and 
(2) any covered individual report to the recipi-
ent within 30 days after a commitment of any sup-
port or the receipt of any support from a country of 
concern or entity of concern, which shall be disclosed 
to the covered agency within 14 days after any such 
report. 
(b) COOPERATION WITH INSPECTORS GENERAL.— 
The head of any covered agency shall cooperate with the 
inspectors general in order to ensure compliance with the 
requirements of this section. 
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(c) USE OF THE COLLECTED DISCLOSURE INFORMA-
TION.—Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Director of the National Science 
Foundation shall— 
(1) establish and maintain a searchable data-
base on a website for any disclosure made to a cov-
ered agency pursuant to subsection (a); 
(2) require covered agencies to transmit by elec-
tronic means an unredacted copy of the report re-
quired pursuant to subsection (a) to the Director; 
(3) make the website publicly available (in elec-
tronic and downloadable format); 
(4) ensure website and content is searchable 
and sortable; and 
(5) make each such report available on the 
website not later than 30 days after receipt of the 
report. 
(d) STUDY ON RESEARCH SECURITY CONCERNS.— 
(1) TRANSMISSION OF REPORTS TO NATIONAL 
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY CENTER.— 
Not later than 7 days after the date on which a re-
port is submitted pursuant to subsection (c)(2), the 
Director of the National Science Foundation shall 
transmit by electronic means an unredacted copy of 
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such report to the Director of the National Counter-
intelligence and Security Center. 
(2) ANALYSIS.—The Director of the National 
Counterintelligence and Security Center shall— 
(A) perform an analysis of each report 
submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) to identify 
broader research security concerns or patterns 
of misconduct by each country of concern or en-
tity of concern; and 
(B) share the analysis with Congress and 
the intelligence and Federal law enforcement 
agencies, including the inspector general office 
of each covered agency. 
(3) NSF ANALYSIS.—Not later than 60 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Di-
rector of the National Science Foundation, through 
the Research Security and Integrity Information 
Sharing Analysis Organization, shall submit to Con-
gress and provide to the Director of the National 
Counterintelligence and Security Center an analysis 
and other information related to the information dis-
closed pursuant to subsection (a). 
(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than January 
15 of each year, the head of each covered agency shall 
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submit to Congress a report on compliance with the re-
quirements of this section for the previous fiscal year. 
(f) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies to any re-
search and development award issued on or after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
(g) ENFORCEMENT.— 
(1) ACTIONS FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.—The head 
of a covered agency shall take one or more of the 
following enforcement actions with respect to a re-
cipient of a research and development award made 
by that agency that is not in compliance with sub-
section (a): 
(A) Temporarily withhold cash payments 
pending correction of the deficiency by the non- 
Federal entity. 
(B) Disallow (that is, deny both use of 
funds and any applicable matching credit for) 
all or part of the cost of the activity or action 
not in compliance. 
(C) Wholly or partly suspend or terminate 
the Federal award. 
(D) Initiate suspension or debarment pro-
ceedings as authorized under part 180 of title 
2, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 
the date of enactment of this Act) and Federal 
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awarding agency regulations (or in the case of 
a pass-through entity, recommend such a pro-
ceeding be initiated by a Federal awarding 
agency). 
(E) Withhold further Federal awards for 
the project or program. 
(F) Place the covered individual into the 
integrity and performance system designated by 
the Office of Management and Budget acces-
sible through the System of Award Manage-
ment (‘‘SAM.gov’’) (currently the Federal 
Awardee Performance and Integrity Informa-
tion System (FAPIIS)). 
(G) Refer the failure to disclose under sub-
section (a) to the Inspector General of the 
agency concerned for further investigation or to 
Federal law enforcement authorities to deter-
mine whether criminal or civil laws were vio-
lated. 
(H) Take such other actions against the 
recipient as are authorized under applicable law 
or regulations. 
(I) Recoup all funding up to and including 
the full amount of the award. 
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(2) 
EVIDENTIARY
STANDARDS.—A 
covered 
agency seeking suspension or debarment under para-
graph (1) shall abide by the procedures and evi-
dentiary standards set forth in part 180 of title 2, 
Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 
date of the enactment of this Act). 
(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, 
United States Code. 
(2) COUNTRY OF CONCERN.—The term ‘‘coun-
try of concern’’ means the People’s Republic of 
China (including the Special Administrative Regions 
of China, including Hong Kong and Macau), the 
Russian Federation, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and 
Venezuela, including any agency or instrumentality. 
(3) COVERED
AGENCY.—The term ‘‘covered 
agency’’ means an agency that awards a research 
and development award. 
(4) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 
individual’’ means an individual who— 
(A) contributes in a substantive, meaning-
ful way to the scientific development or execu-
tion of a research and development project pro-
posed to be carried out with a research and de-
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velopment award from a Federal research agen-
cy (as such term is defined in section 10001 of 
the Research and Development, Competition, 
and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18901)); or 
(B) is designated as a covered individual 
by the Federal research agency concerned. 
(5) ENTITY OF CONCERN.—The term ‘‘entity of 
concern’’ means an entity organized under the laws 
of any country of concern, including any United 
States subsidiary of such entity or any entity that 
acts on behalf of any such entity. 
(6) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AWARD.— 
The term ‘‘research and development award’’— 
(A) means support provided to an indi-
vidual or entity by a covered agency to carry 
out research and development activities, which 
may include support in the form of a grant, 
contract, other transaction, or cooperative 
agreement; and 
(B) does not include a transaction for the 
procurement of goods or services to meet the 
administrative needs of a covered agency. 
(7) SUPPORT.—The term ‘‘support’’— 
(A) means a grant or other financial sup-
port made by an individual or entity; 
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(B) includes any in-kind contribution re-
quiring a commitment of time and directly sup-
porting the research and development efforts, 
such as the provision of office or laboratory 
space, equipment, supplies, employees, or stu-
dents; and 
(C) includes any other award or benefit, 
including any honorarium, prize, or paid travel 
for a speaking engagement or meeting, provided 
to any covered individual on a research and de-
velopment award or to an institution of higher 
education (as such term is defined in section 
101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1101)) on behalf of covered individual. 
Æ 
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