To amend the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act to clarify the definition of foreign country for purposes of malign foreign talent recruitment restriction, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedReported by Mr. Cruz, without amendment
Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Padilla, and Mr. Curtis) introduced …
Mr. Cornyn (for himself and Mr. Padilla) introduced the following …
Summary
What This Bill Does
Amends the CHIPS and Science Act to clarify that malign foreign talent recruitment restrictions cover indirect as well as direct funding from foreign countries of concern. Tightens existing prohibitions on researchers participating in foreign talent programs.
Who Benefits and How
- U.S. national security agencies gain clearer authority to restrict foreign influence in research
- Domestic research institutions receive clearer compliance guidance on talent program restrictions
Who Bears the Burden and How
- Researchers with foreign affiliations face stricter scrutiny of indirect funding sources
- Universities and labs must expand due diligence on researcher foreign connections
- Collaborative international researchers may face additional barriers to legitimate cooperation
Key Provisions
- Clarifies foreign country of concern applies throughout talent recruitment definition
- Covers both direct and indirect provision of funding or support
- Removes ambiguous subparagraph structure in existing law
- Maintains list of 9 prohibited program characteristics
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Clarifies that foreign talent recruitment restrictions apply to programs from countries of concern regardless of whether funding is direct or indirect
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Close loophole allowing indirect foreign funding to evade talent program restrictions"
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Program from country of concern providing direct or indirect support with prohibited characteristics
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