S.Amdt. 586

SA 586. Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina submitted an amendment intended
to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations
for fiscal year 2024 for military activities of the Department of
Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the
Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for

[[Page S2704]]

such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on
the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place in subtitle D of title XII, insert
the following:

SEC. ___. REPORT ON VISA VETTING FOR STUDENTS FROM SEVEN SONS
OF NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER
ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC
OF CHINA.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The Government of the People's Republic of China is the
greatest infringer of intellectual property rights in the
world and uses laws and regulations to disadvantage foreign
companies.
(2) The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that the
annual cost to the United States economy of counterfeit
goods, pirated software, and theft of trade secrets is
between $225,000,000,000 and $600,000,000,000.
(3) The Government of the People's Republic of China
recruits students, mostly postgraduate students and
postdoctoral researchers studying science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics, as collectors of intellectual
property to benefit academic institutions, businesses, and
defense industries in the People's Republic of China.
(4) The students or graduates of the universities may visit
the United States on an exchange program or for postgraduate
education and then return to the People's Republic of China
to contribute to the military modernization of the country.
(5) In 2022, four Chinese nationals were indicted by the
Department of Justice for participation in an intelligence
campaign aimed to convert United States citizens into agents
of the People's Republic of China.
(6) The four Chinese nationals operated through an academic
institute at Ocean University of China, one of the academic
institutes identified by the Department of Defense in
accordance with section 1286(c)(8) of the John S. McCain
National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 (Public Law 115-
232; 10 U.S.C. 2358 note).
(7) The Seven Sons of National Defense are the 7 top-ranked
universities administered by Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology of the People's Republic of China.
(8) The primary purpose of the universities, commonly
referred to as ``military academies'', is to support defense
research and development and the defense industrial base of
the People's Republic of China.
(9) Approximately 75 percent of the graduates of such
universities are recruited by state defense industries of the
People's Republic of China.
(b) Report.--Not more than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in
consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report
that includes--
(1) an evaluation of the screening process, including a
review of social media as part of the process, of foreign
nationals entering the United States from the People's
Republic of China who attend or have attended--
(A) a Seven Sons of National Defense university; or
(B) an academic institution of the People's Republic of
China identified on the list required by section 1286(c)(8)
of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act of
2019 (Public Law 115-232; 10 U.S.C. 2358 note);
(2) an assessment of the current vulnerabilities in the
screening process, and recommendations for legal, regulatory,
or other changes or steps to address such vulnerabilities;
and
(3) a confirmation of the number of visas approved and the
number of visas denied by the Department of State for
students from the People's Republic of China in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, including
the number of such students who are pursuing an advanced
degree or repeating a degree in such fields.
(c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Committee
on the Judiciary of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on
Homeland Security, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives.
______