Lawmakers Argue for More Investments, Tech Protections to Counter China

The U.S. should quickly pass a bipartisan bill that would increase U.S. investment in technology research and high-tech manufacturing, technology experts and academic leaders told the Senate April 14. Some lawmakers argued that the bill, which is partly aimed at boosting U.S. technology competition with China, should also include measures to better protect U.S. critical technologies from being stolen by the Chinese government.

“If we're going to massively increase the federal investment in science and technology,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing, “shouldn't we also be taking steps to safeguard that investment?”

The Endless Frontier Act, originally introduced last year (see 2006010011), would establish a U.S. “Technology Directorate” and provide it with $100 billion in funding over five years to help lead investment in emerging technologies. The legislation has received praise from the semiconductor industry, and experts said during the hearing that the bill is an important step toward boosting U.S. research and development and innovation in high-tech industries.

But the U.S. should first make sure it has the tools to protect that R&D, some lawmakers said. The U.S. needs to “ensure that the technologies that will arise” from these investments “aren't sold to the [Chinese Communist Party] or its proxies to be used in furtherance of human rights abuses and an ongoing genocide,” Cruz said. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., went further, saying the U.S. needs to “strategically decouple in critical technologies and cut communist China out of the American economy.”

Both said universities, which could benefit from the bill’s funding, have a role to play in preventing those technology transfers. The Justice Department recently said Chinese nationals are increasingly trying to steal export-controlled technology from U.S. universities and companies (see 2012030033).

Kelvin Droegemeier, a University of Oklahoma professor and former director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, said U.S. universities are working to strengthen guidance to researchers about disclosures relating to China and illegal technology transfers. “We need to make sure we have a balanced approach where we have the openness that is important for research, but we also protect our assets,” Droegemeier said. “We need to have a strong offense and a strong defense at the same time.”

Marie Lynn Miranda, provost at the University of Notre Dame, said colleges across the country are making “huge adjustments” regarding intellectual property guidance to researchers and how to better “safeguard” research. “We're sort of at the beginning of this process, but we're getting better,” Miranda said. “When I think of how we were five years ago compared to where we are now, it's light years ahead.”

While protecting U.S. technology is important, other lawmakers said the U.S. should focus on increasing domestic spending, which has fallen behind China. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said China plans to spend more than $1 trillion “over the next five to six years on new communications tech” and $150 billion to reduce its “microelectronic dependence on foreign firms.” Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said current U.S. federal investment is at historically low levels. “This comes as international competition has been increasing and other nations are ready to challenge our position,” Cantwell said.

Lawmakers hope the bill can be combined with other legislation as part of the “larger Chinese package envisioned by the leadership,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. (see 2102240052), the committee’s top Republican. “I would urge my colleagues to work with me to build consensus on this China proposal in a deliberative manner,” he said, “and make sure we get it right.”