Remote Access Security Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2683, as amended.

I thank Representative Lawler for introducing the Remote Access Security Act, as well as Chairman Mast and Ranking Member Meeks for working together to get this through our committee.

President Joe Biden imposed unprecedented export controls on China and Russia to restrict their access to critical U.S. technologies that could enhance their military capabilities. We know these controls were working because both nations have worked vigorously to try to circumvent our restrictions.

Right now, our laws do not explicitly cover the remote access of technologies via network connections, including the internet or cloud computing services.

H.R. 2683 would close this gap by giving the Bureau of Industry and Security statutory authority to control the remote access of items by bad actors who aim to jeopardize our national security or foreign policy interests.

While this bill passed the House last year, it is even more critical today. President Biden took steps to prevent the remote access of U.S. chips by our adversaries in his Artificial Intelligence Diffusion Rule. That rule is not perfect, but President Trump rescinded it and failed to replace it with any new policy framework.

Thanks to Donald Trump repealing the rule, there are currently no clear or consistent safeguards in place to protect American chips from being accessed remotely by our adversaries, and the safeguards are even less clear once they are exported abroad.

For the sake of enriching himself and his billionaire friends, Trump went further to undermine our national security by loosening President Biden's export controls on advanced chip sales to build data centers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He is auctioning off our chips to the highest bidder without a care for the national security implications. Without strong guardrails in place, this puts American IP and technology at risk.

H.R. 2683 provides BIS with the authority to control remote access to critical American technology and demands that the administration act to protect our interests.

As technology evolves, so must our technology security policies. Our export control regulations were written at a time when remote access of controlled technologies was not an acute threat.

Today, as Russian and PRC entities find more and more creative ways to evade our sanctions and export controls, we must update our regulations to keep pace with their tactics.

By passing this bill, Congress can make it harder for problematic PRC companies and military-aligned entities to obtain access to U.S. technologies and exploit them to hurt U.S. national security. By passing this bill, this body can send a clear message to Donald Trump that he must do more to protect American technology and safeguard U.S. national security.

Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me and support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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