Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Dingell for yielding the time, and I thank Chairman Bilirakis for moving the bill forward to the floor today.

I rise in strong support of H.R. 906, the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act. This bill would require the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, to publish a public list of entities with ties to foreign adversarial governments, such as China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, especially if they have a license or authorization that is tied to our communications networks.

Along with Representative Wittman, I serve on the bipartisan Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. Last Congress, the committee released a bipartisan report on maintaining America's economic and national security interests. The report found that the widespread adoption of certain People's Republic of China-developed technologies in the United States poses a significant risk to national security and threatens long-term U.S. technological competitiveness.

Our committee report recommended that we enact the FACT Act to shine a light on companies connected to foreign adversarial governments like the CCP and to ensure greater accountability and transparency in our critical communications networks.

Our bill passed the House unanimously by voice vote in the last Congress, but it didn't quite get over the finish line. We really have no more time to wait, Mr. Speaker. Our adversaries continue to target our communications systems, so Congress must take steps now to protect our communications, telecommunications infrastructure and strengthen our national security to keep Americans safe. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the bill.

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