{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-introduce-legislation-to-restrict-chinese-access-to-american-visas", "Cotton, Colleagues, Introduce Legislation to Restrict Chinese Access to American Visas", "2021-06-17", "2021", "2021-06", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: James Arnold or Mary Collins Atkinson (202) 224-2353\n\nJune 17, 2021\n\nCotton, Colleagues, Introduce Legislation to Restrict Chinese Access to American Visas\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Mike Braun (R-Indiana) introduced the People\u2019s Liberation Army (PLA) Visa Security Act, legislation to prohibit individuals currently or previously employed or sponsored by Chinese military institutions from receiving student or research visas to the United States. This bill would also establish a list of research institutions affiliated with the PLA and mandate that the State Department conduct background checks on Chinese nationals applying for research visas in the United States. Bill text may be found here.\n\n\u201cAllowing members of the People\u2019s Liberation Army unfettered access to research visas is an open invitation to steal American research, ingenuity, and intellectual property. The United States shouldn\u2019t be arming our greatest adversary\u2014our bill will block Chinese military affiliated people from receiving student and research visas to the United States,\u201d said Cotton.\n\n\u201cThe Chinese Communist Party exploits our visa system to infiltrate American institutions at every level. The People\u2019s Liberation Army systematically sends Chinese engineers and scientists abroad to exploit research projects to access sensitive data and technology. The PLA Visa Security Act provides an additional screening layer to ensure applicants are not affiliated with the Chinese military. I am proud to again join Sen. Cotton on this important bill,\u201d said Cruz.\n\n\u201cCOVID-19 has made it clear just how vulnerable we are to the global threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party,\u201d said Rubio. \u201cWe must ensure that individuals linked to the CCP\u2019s People\u2019s Liberation Army are not able to obtain research and student visas, which enable the theft of American technology. It is in our national security interest to ensure the CCP isn\u2019t taking advantage of our open system to steal American intellectual property.\u201d\n\n\u201cAmerican innovation and ingenuity are our nation\u2019s greatest assets and the envy of adversaries around the globe including China,\u201d said Tuberville. \u201cWithout a hardline approach to safeguard our research, Chinese military institutions will continue to steal our intellectual property for their own benefit. Restricting Chinese military institution\u2019s access to American visas ensures our innovation and research cannot be used against us.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Chinese Communist Party exploits the student visa system to build its military on the backs of American research and ingenuity. Our universities and tech companies have become targets of Chinese espionage and intellectual property theft. We must secure American research and development against the Chinese Communist Party and their military,\u201d said Hawley.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve seen time and again how the communist Chinese government has sought to infiltrate and exploit U.S. research and academic institutions. This bill ensures that visa applicants are thoroughly vetted and Chinese nationals affiliated with the People\u2019s Liberation Army aren\u2019t granted access to our most sensitive research and intellectual property,\u201d said Grassley.\n\n\u201cThe Chinese Communist Party doesn\u2019t play by the rules, and there is a serious risk to American national security and our intellectual property by allowing those who are currently or have previously been involved with Chinese military institutions to study in the United States. I\u2019m proud to join Senator Cotton to stop the U.S. from arming China\u2019s People\u2019s Liberation Army with American innovation,\u201d said Braun.\n\nIn a recent think tank report, the PLA Visa Security Act was endorsed by President Biden\u2019s current NSC Senior Director for International Economics and Competitiveness Peter Harrell, NSC Senior Director for China Rush Doshi, nominee to serve as Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Indo-Pacific Ely Ratner, and nominee to serve as DoD Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Susanna Blume, and nominee to serve as Assistance Secretary for Terrorist Financing Elizabeth Rosenberg.\n\nBackground:\n\nSenator Cotton advocated for a similar provision in his recently released report, \u201cBeat China: Target Decoupling and the Economic Long War.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:57:00Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-introduce-legislation-to-restrict-chinese-access-to-american-visas"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1264211498200893, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}