WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Committee on Commerce – joined U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) to introduce the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act. This legislation will comprehensively address the ongoing threat posed by technology from foreign adversaries by further empowering the Department of Commerce to review, prevent and mitigate information communications and technology transactions that pose undue risk to America’s national security.

“Foreign adversaries are increasingly using products and services to collect information on American citizens, posing a threat to our national security,” said Sen. Moran. “This legislation would give the Department of Commerce the authority to help prevent adversarial governments from controlling harmful products and services in the U.S., providing us the long-term tools necessary to combat the infiltration of our information and communications systems. The government needs to be vigilant against these threats, but a comprehensive data privacy law is needed to ensure Americans are able to control who accesses their data and for what purpose.”

The RESTRICT Act establishes a risk-based process, tailored to the rapidly changing technology and threat environment, by directing the Department of Commerce to identify and mitigate foreign threats to information and communications technology products and services.

This legislation is also cosponsored by U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah).

Click HERE to Watch Sen. Moran’s Full Remarks

The Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act would:

• Require the Secretary of Commerce to establish procedures to identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit and mitigate transactions involving information and communications technology products in which any foreign adversary has any interest and poses undue or unacceptable risk to national security;
• Prioritize evaluation of information communications and technology products used in critical infrastructure, integral to telecommunications products or pertaining to a range of defined emerging, foundational and disruptive technologies with serious national security implications;
• Ensure comprehensive actions to address risks of untrusted foreign information communications and technology products by requiring the Secretary to take up consideration of concerning activity identified by other government entities;
• Educate the public and business community about the threat by requiring the Secretary of Commerce to coordinate with the Director of National Intelligence to provide declassified information on how transactions denied or otherwise mitigated posed undue or unacceptable risk.

A two-page summary of the bill is available HERE. Full text of the legislation can be found HERE.

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