HR6487-119

Introduced

To prohibit the issuance of certain visas to nationals of the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes.

119th Congress Introduced Dec 5, 2025

Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.

Summary

What This Bill Does

The bill requires the Secretary of State to submit biannual reports to Congress detailing waivers granted under the visa prohibition, including justifications and biographical information about recipients and their affiliations and defines three key terms for the Act: (1) 'covered visa category' includes H-1B, O-1, J-1 visas and F/J/M student visas. It relies on reporting requirements and definition changes. The main policy areas are Labor, Immigration, Foreign Policy, and Science & Space.

Who Benefits and How

Congressional oversight committees would be affected and U.S. domestic STEM workers could face fewer barriers.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Russian nationals seeking STEM visas or employment could face higher barriers, North Korean nationals seeking STEM visas or employment could face higher barriers, and Iranian nationals seeking STEM visas or employment could face higher barriers.

Key Provisions

  • Requires the Secretary of State to submit biannual reports to Congress detailing waivers granted under the visa prohibition, including justifications and biographical information about recipients and their affiliations...
  • Defines three key terms for the Act: (1) 'covered visa category' includes H-1B, O-1, J-1 visas and F/J/M student visas.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

The bill requires the Secretary of State to submit biannual reports to Congress detailing waivers granted under the visa prohibition, including justifications and biographical information about recipients and their affiliations and defines three key terms for the Act: (1) 'covered visa category' includes H-1B, O-1, J-1 visas and F/J/M student visas.

Key Policy Areas

Labor, Immigration, Foreign Policy, Science & Space

Primary Purpose

The bill requires the Secretary of State to submit biannual reports to Congress detailing waivers granted under the visa prohibition, including justifications and biographical information about recipients and their affiliations and defines three key terms for the Act: (1) 'covered visa category' includes H-1B, O-1, J-1 visas and F/J/M student visas.

Policy Domains

Labor Immigration Foreign Policy Science & Space

SECURE STEM Act

Identified Gains
  • Congressional oversight committees
  • U.S. domestic STEM workers
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
U.S. domestic STEM workers:
Congressional oversight committees:
Identified Costs
  • Russian nationals seeking STEM visas or employment
  • North Korean nationals seeking STEM visas or employment
  • Iranian nationals seeking STEM visas or employment
  • Cuban nationals seeking STEM visas or employment
  • Chinese nationals seeking STEM visas or employment
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Cuban nationals seeking STEM visas or employment:
Chinese nationals seeking STEM visas or employment:
Iranian nationals seeking STEM visas or employment:
Russian nationals seeking STEM visas or employment:
North Korean nationals seeking STEM visas or employment:

Legislative Progress

Introduced
Introduced Committee Passed
Dec 5, 2025

Mr. Harrigan (for himself and Mr. Moolenaar) introduced the following …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Labor
6 mentions across 1 clause
+1 positive -5 negative

Chinese nationals seeking STEM visas or employment, Cuban nationals seeking STEM visas or employment, Iranian nationals seeking STEM visas or employment

Positive-direction: U.S. domestic STEM workers

Negative-direction: Chinese nationals seeking STEM visas or employment, Cuban nationals seeking STEM visas or employment, Iranian nationals seeking STEM visas or employment, North Korean nationals seeking STEM visas or employment, Russian nationals seeking STEM visas or employment

Government
3 mentions across 1 clause
+1 positive -2 negative

Congressional oversight committees, Department of Homeland Security, Department of State

Positive-direction: Congressional oversight committees

Negative-direction: Department of Homeland Security, Department of State

Education
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

U.S. universities with international STEM programs

Research & Science
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

National research laboratories (DOE labs, etc.)

Technology
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

Technology companies relying on H-1B workers from affected countries

2/5
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Labor Immigration Foreign Policy Science & Space
Actor Mappings
"the_secretary_of_state"
→ Secretary of State
"the_secretary_of_homeland_security"
→ Secretary of Homeland Security

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

3 terms
"covered visa category" §4(a)

Nonimmigrant visas under INA sections: H-1B (specialty occupations), O-1 (extraordinary ability), J-1 (exchange visitors), and F/J/M (student visas)

"covered foreign national" §4(b)

An alien who is a national of: People's Republic of China, Russian Federation, Islamic Republic of Iran, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or Republic of Cuba

"national research laboratory" §4(c)

A Federal laboratory as defined in section 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703)

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology