Press Releases

WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency (FACT) Act. The legislation would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to publish a list of companies that both hold FCC authorizations and have any ownership by foreign adversarial governments such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

“The Chinese Communist Party is using every tool at its disposal to conduct a coordinated campaign to surveil and collect information on Americans, including through infiltrating our telecommunications and technology markets,” said Rep. Wittman. “The FACT Act will help shine a light on the malign access and influence CCP-controlled companies have inside our technology and telecommunications markets. We simply cannot allow foreign adversaries to have unfettered access to our telecommunications infrastructure.”

U.S. Representatives Kathy Castor (D-FL-14), Thomas Kean (R-NJ-07), and Ro Khanna (D-CA-17) joined Congressman Wittman as original cosponsors of the bill.

U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) are leading companion legislation in the Senate.

“As our adversaries target our communication systems, it’s critical the U.S. take steps to protect America’s telecommunications infrastructure and strengthen our national security to keep Americans safe,” said Rep. Castor. “The bipartisan Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency (FACT) Act would shine a light on entities connected to foreign adversarial governments like the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Russia and others, and would ensure greater accountability and transparency in our critical communications networks. This policy was included in the bipartisan report on maintaining American economic dominance by my House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the US and the CCP in the last Congress. I’m thankful to my bipartisan, bicameral colleagues for supporting this effort to safeguard the privacy and security of American families and businesses while countering the damaging influence of foreign adversaries.”

“It is Congress’ responsibility to protect the privacy and security of Americans,” said Rep. Kean. “The FACT Act will enable the FCC to hold adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party accountable for surveilling and collecting data on Americans. This is a critical national security issue, and I’m proud to co-lead this bipartisan effort.”

“It is vital we work to protect American data from collection by the CCP and continue to strengthen our national security,” said Rep. Khanna. “Our bill will expose foreign adversarial governments’ inside access to our telecommunications infrastructure and proactively stop the exploitation of American data.”

Background:

Until now, there has been no mandated public disclosure of companies linked to foreign adversaries operating within U.S. technology and telecommunication markets. Although the FCC is prohibited from granting licenses or authorizations deemed a national security threat, some entities with ties to adversarial foreign governments continue to hold certain approvals. As a result, more transparency is necessary. 

Read the full text of the bill here.

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