[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 929 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 929
To prohibit National Laboratories from admitting certain foreign
nationals, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 11 (legislative day, March 10), 2025
Mr. Cotton (for himself, Mr. Lee, Ms. Collins, Mr. Barrasso, Mr.
Lankford, and Mr. Risch) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit National Laboratories from admitting certain foreign
nationals, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Guarding American Technology from
Exploitation Act of 2025'' or the ``GATE Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON NATIONAL LABORATORIES ADMITTING CERTAIN FOREIGN
NATIONALS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Assignee.--The term ``assignee'' means an individual
who is seeking approval from, or has been approved by, a
National Laboratory to access the premises, information, or
technology of the National Laboratory for a period of more than
30 consecutive days.
(2) Covered foreign national.--
(A) In general.--The term ``covered foreign
national'' means a foreign national of any of the
following countries:
(i) The People's Republic of China.
(ii) The Russian Federation.
(iii) The Islamic Republic of Iran.
(iv) The Democratic People's Republic of
Korea.
(v) The Republic of Cuba.
(B) Exclusion.--The term ``covered foreign
national'' does not include an individual that is--
(i) lawfully admitted for permanent
residence (as defined in section 101(a) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1101(a))); or
(ii) a citizen of the United States.
(3) Foreign national.--The term ``foreign national'' has
the meaning given the term ``alien'' in section 101(a) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)).
(4) National laboratory.--The term ``National Laboratory''
has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
(5) Senior counterintelligence official.--The term ``senior
counterintelligence official'' means--
(A) the Director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation;
(B) the Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation;
(C) the Executive Assistant Director of the
National Security Branch of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation; and
(D) the Assistant Director of the
Counterintelligence Division of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
(6) Visitor.--The term ``visitor'' means an individual who
is seeking approval from, or has been approved by, a National
Laboratory to access the premises, information, or technology
of the National Laboratory for any period shorter than a period
described in paragraph (1).
(b) Prohibition.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2),
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, a National
Laboratory--
(A) shall not admit as a visitor or assignee any
covered foreign national; and
(B) shall prohibit access to any visitor or
assignee that is a covered foreign national and has
sought or obtained approval to access the premises,
information, or technology of the National Laboratory
as of that date.
(2) Waiver.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a National
Laboratory with respect to a covered foreign national if the
Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Director of the
Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the
Department of Energy and a senior counterintelligence
official--
(A) certifies that the benefits to the United
States of admittance or access to the National
Laboratory by the covered foreign national outweigh the
national security and economic risks to the United
States; and
(B) issues to the National Laboratory, in writing,
a waiver of paragraph (1) with respect to the covered
foreign national.
(3) Notification to congress.--Not later than 30 days after
the date on which a waiver is issued under paragraph (2), the
Secretary of Energy shall submit to the Select Committee on
Intelligence of the Senate, the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate, the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation of the Senate, the Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives, and the Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology of the House of Representatives a notification
describing the waiver, including--
(A) the country of origin of the covered foreign
national who is the subject of the waiver;
(B) the date of the request by the covered foreign
national for admission or access to the National
Laboratory;
(C) the date on which the decision to issue the
waiver was made; and
(D) the specific reasons for issuing the waiver.
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