This week, the Senate approved two significant bills that aim to reshape the technology and security relationship between the U.S. and China, specifically limiting the flow of advanced research and federal funding to companies with ties to China.
These measures are part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a yearly defense policy bill that proposes a hefty $879 billion budget for the U.S. military. With bipartisan support, legislation from Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee is set to address perceived security vulnerabilities between the U.S. and China.
Senator Cornyn’s bill, known as the “Guardrails for Foreign Investment in Support of Stopping the China Law in 2025 (FIGHT),” aims to prevent U.S. funds and expertise from bolstering China’s high-tech military initiatives, such as advancements in chips, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonic weapons, and supercomputing. This measure also enjoyed bipartisan backing.
“This is a transparency bill that seeks to provide insight into how much money is being invested in China and to what extent these investments are harming us,” Cornyn noted in Senate discussions. He emphasized that U.S. investments have ultimately fortified China’s military capabilities.
The legislation empowers federal agencies to block or impose penalties on investments that risk channeling American resources into critical areas in China. Additionally, there will be regular updates to Congress regarding U.S. financial activities in China’s high-tech sectors.
Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts expressed the need to cultivate sensitive, cutting-edge technologies domestically rather than supporting their development in nations that don’t align with American values. She believes this bill will safeguard national security while ensuring that U.S. ingenuity doesn’t inadvertently help adversarial nations advance in vital technology fields.
Similarly, Senator Hagerty’s BioSecure Act would prohibit federal contracts with “biotechnology companies of concern,” which he described as entities used by the Chinese Communist Party to collect and analyze vast amounts of global DNA data. This proposal also passed with bipartisan support.
“The BioSecure Act will prevent American taxpayer dollars from reaching these troubling biotechnology companies,” Hagerty told his colleagues. He expressed concern that doing so could endanger Americans’ genetic information and overall national security.
Hagerty’s amendment would, if enacted, bar the federal government from engaging with or funding companies tied to the Chinese military that handle genetic data, including genomics and DNA sequencing. He referenced alarming statements made by the Chinese military regarding biotechnology’s role in future warfare and the potential targeting of specific ethnic groups.
The Senate’s approval of the NDAA comes after a prolonged period of negotiations over the extensive $879 billion package and marks a rare instance of passing significant legislation during a government shutdown. With the bill now moving forward, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees will work to reconcile their differing versions of this legislation.
