WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and author of the bipartisan law to invest in domestic semiconductor manufacturing, today released a statement on the one-year anniversary of the CHIPS and Science Act: 

“I fought to pass the CHIPS and Science Act because it’s good for our supply chains, our families, and our national security to make semiconductors here at home. In the year since, the law has bolstered innovation, helped America to compete against countries like China for the technology of the future, and created good-paying manufacturing jobs that will grow the middle class.”

Nearly everything that has an “on” switch – from electric toothbrushes and calculators to airplanes and satellites – contains a semiconductor. One year ago, President Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act, a law co-authored by Warner to make a nearly $53 billion investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, research and development, and workforce, and create a 25 percent tax credit for capital investments in semiconductor manufacturing. 

Semiconductors were invented in the United States, but today we produce only about 12 percent of global supply – and none of the most advanced chips. Similarly, investments in research and development have fallen to less than 1 percent of GDP from 2 percent in the mid-1960s at the peak of the space race. TheCHIPS and Science Act aims to change this by driving American competitiveness, making American supply chains more resilient, and supporting our national security and access to key technologies. In the one year since it was signed into law, companies have announced over $231 billion in commitments in semiconductor and electronics investments in the United States.

Last month, Sen. Warner co-hosted the CHIPS for Virginia Summit, convening industry, federal and state government, and academic leaders for a series of strategic discussions on how to propel Virginia forward in the booming U.S. semiconductor economy.

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U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), applauded today’s Senate passage of the nation’s annual defense bill, which includes top priorities for Virginia, as well as a number of measures championed by Sen. Warner. 

“I’m pleased to see the Senate move forward on a defense bill that provides our military and Department of Defense with the resources needed to preserve our national security. This legislation includes critical measures to improve quality-of-life for servicemembers, advance critical military construction projects, strengthen Virginia’s shipbuilding industry, and support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression,” said Sen. Warner. “I was proud to vote in favor of this legislation and hope that my colleagues in the House of Representatives will work in good faith to reach a final compromise between the two chambers.” 

The legislation supports $886.3 billion in funding for our nation’s defense, and includes crucial measures supported by Sen. Warner.

Servicemembers and the civilian defense workforce:

• Authorizes a 5.2 percent pay raise for military servicemembers and Department of Defense (DoD) civilian workforce.
• Improves living conditions for enlisted servicemembers by greenlighting improvements to the quality and oversight of barracks. This provision specifically authorizes the replacement of substandard barracks and establishes new requirements that enlisted housing meet the same basic standards as all other military housing.
• Improves living conditions for junior Navy Sailors whose vessels are undergoing an extended maintenance overhaul. This legislation authorizes basic allowance for housing (BAH) payments that allow these servicemembers to live in commercial housing, rather than aboard the ship.
• Supports more equitable housing rates in markets with limited housing inventory by modifying the calculation of basic allowance for housing (BAH) rates.
• Allows for additional financial support for servicemembers, by reducing the threshold used to determine high cost-of-living areas for the purpose of providing a cost-of-living allowance to servicemembers assigned to locations in the continental United States.
• Requires a pilot program to assess the effectiveness of increased compensation for DoD childcare employees, in improving the ability to recruit and retain providers. To help address the overwhelming demand for childcare, last year Sen. Warner was able to secure $3.5 million in planning & design funding to support two new child development centers at Hampton Roads installations. This year’s Senate-passed NDAA would authorize $78 million in construction funding for additional facilities.
• Encourages a comprehensive review of the Navy’s efforts to prevent and respond to incidents of death by suicide, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideation in commands and organizations within the Navy that have not been reviewed by other studies.

Strengthening our nation’s defense and cyber defense capabilities:

• Authorizes $16.7 billion for military construction projects, including $625 million for 19 military construction projects in Virginia.
• Authorizes the Navy to enter into one or more contracts for the multiyear procurement of the next block of 10 Virginia-class submarines.
• Directs the Navy to schedule maintenance and repair activities for amphibious ships in order to ensure that 24 such warships are available for worldwide deployment at any given time.
• Requires the development of a regional cybersecurity strategy to support the operations of each geographic combatant command.
• Requires the establishment of a dedicated cyber intelligence capability to support information-sharing on technology developments, capabilities, operations, and intentions of actors who pose cyber threats.
• Directs DoD to support institutions of higher education on cyber workforce education and development efforts in the fields of cybersecurity, intelligence, data science, information security management, and quantum information science.
• Increases transparency surrounding the DoD’s investments in Artificial Intelligence by requiring DoD to provide an annual report to Congress detailing the categories of AI technologies and their respective investment amounts, and an analysis of how these investments support broader AI direction and strategies at the Department. This provision stems from an amendment by Sen. Warner.
• Strengthens the security of U.S. elections infrastructure by requiring that voting systems undergo simulated attacks as part of their standard certification process. This provision, written by Warner, would direct the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to require that systems seeking certification undergo penetration testing, a practice that allows researchers to search for vulnerabilities by attempting to attack a system with the same tools and techniques used by cybercriminals.

Countering aggression by adversaries like Russia and China:

• Prohibits the purchase of drones from countries like China that pose a national security threat. This provision, championed in part by Warner, prohibits federal dollars from being used to procure commercial off-the-shelf drone or covered unmanned aircraft systems from countries identified as posing a national security threat. 
• Authorizes the full budget request for the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI) and the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI).
• Establishes the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative, a defense initiative with allies and partners of the United States, including Australia, Japan, and India.
• Underscores the United States’ commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and emphasizes the importance of maintaining a unified response to the Russian Federation’s unjust war in Ukraine. Sen. Warner has been a strong supporter of NATO, which conducts crucial work in Virginia at NATO Allied Command Transformation in Hampton Roads.
• Supports Ukraine in its fight against Russian attacks and aggression byextending the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) through fiscal year 2027 and authorizing the full budget request of $300 million in fiscal year 2024.The USAI is one of the main tools used by the U.S. in support of Ukraine’s defensive needs. This legislation also extends waivers for the streamlined acquisition of defense stocks related to Ukraine and authorizes additional munitions eligible for multiyear procurement contracts.
• Limits or prohibits Department of Defense funding for institutions or researchers that contract with Chinese or Russian institutions that engage in intellectual property theft or are linked to the Chinese or Russian military, or intelligence services.
• Provides support to Taiwan by establishing a comprehensive training, advising, and institutional capacity-building program for the military forces of Taiwan.

Now that both the Senate and the House of Representatives have passed their versions of the annual defense bill, negotiators from both chambers will have to participate in a conference process to negotiate a final bill to send to the President’s desk.  

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WASHINGTON – Members of Virginia’s congressional delegation, Governor Glenn Youngkin, and local leaders are making the case that Springfield remains the best location for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) new headquarters. Even with the General Services Administration’s (GSA) recent announcement of adjusted selection criteria, the lawmakers and local leaders expressed confidence that Springfield continues to perform strongly across each of the five criteria: FBI Proximity to Mission-Related Locations, Transportation Access, Site Development Flexibility and Schedule Risk, Promoting Sustainable Siting and Advancing Equity, and Cost.

In their letter to GSA and FBI, Governor Youngkin, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, and U.S. Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11), Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), Rob Wittman (R-VA-01), Don Beyer (D-VA-08), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10), Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02), and Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-04) highlighted Springfield’s proximity to Quantico and other law enforcement and national security assets, the region’s robust transportation network, and ways the site would save money for the federal government and taxpayers because it is already federally-owned. They also explained how selecting the Springfield site would advance equity, support underserved communities, and help address inequities that exist in the region.

“Virginia’s proposal for a consolidated FBI headquarters offers a reliable partnership, exceeding the site selection criteria across all categories. The optimized GSA Springfield site provides superior proximity to law enforcement and national security-related agency assets; an accessible, robust transportation and public transit network; significant site development flexibility as the only federally-owned site under consideration, with a commitment to expediting any permitting and construction processes, and minimizing schedule risk; a proven record of, and strong commitment to advancing equity in local communities and promoting sustainable siting; and a substantial cost benefit, with Virginia’s strong commitment to making this a responsible choice for the taxpayer,” wrote the lawmakers.

In addition to the Virginia congressional delegation letter, the Alexandria NAACP, All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) Interfaith & Government Committee, Asian American Chamber of Commerce, Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce, Northern Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Northern Virginia Urban League, Prince William NAACP, and Prince William Omega Psi Phi Fraternity sent a separate letter to GSA and FBI outlining how choosing the Springfield site would advance equity across the region. The local leaders wrote, “We fully support the Springfield bid and believe it will have a transformative impact for our communities.”

“Relocating to Springfield also offers the federal government the opportunity to help address inequities that exist in our region, particularly in the Franconia District, where the prospective FBI site is located,” they continued. “Choosing Springfield as the new home for the FBI headquarters will help close the gap and provide economic opportunity to historically disadvantaged and underserved communities.”

In March, Governor Youngkin and members of Virginia’s congressional delegation met with GSA and FBI and held a press conference to make the case that Springfield is the best location for the new FBI headquarters. In February, Governor Youngkin, Senators Warner and Kaine, Representatives Connolly, Beyer, and Spanberger, and local leaders held a press conference in Springfield. In February, members of Virginia’s congressional delegation and Governor Youngkin sent a letter to GSA and FBI laying out the case for the Springfield site.

Full text of the letter sent by Governor Youngkin and members of Virginia’s congressional delegation is available here. Full text of the letter sent by local leaders is available here.

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WASHINGTON– Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine released the following statement regarding the General Services Administration’s (GSA) announcement of adjusted selection criteria for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) new headquarters:

“The GSA didn’t pluck its initial criteria out of thin air—it spent years talking to experts and carefully deliberating on what is best for the mission of the FBI. While we are concerned that these changes to the criteria will further delay what has already been a drawn-out, decade-long process to select a new site to replace the dilapidated headquarters downtown, we remain confident that Virginia continues to be a home run in every category, and encourage the GSA to draw this process to a close sooner rather than later.”

WASHINGTON – Last week, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Tim Kaine (both D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent letters to the Air Force, Army, Navy, and to the Department of Defense (DoD) regarding their implementation of privatized housing reforms and tenant protections for servicemembers and their families. After hearing from military families in Virginia about the hazardous and unsafe living conditions in many privatized military housing units that included leaking roofs, mold, and rodents, Sens. Warner and Kaine championed housing reforms, including the “Tenant Bill of Rights” in the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and the Senators have continued to push for housing support in subsequent defense bills.

Despite passing legislation to improve these conditions, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found that while DoD has made progress in implementing provisions, “gaps in guidance and training remain.” The Senators are urging DoD and each military branch to take a range of steps, including the necessary actions outlined in the report, to ensure that they are meeting their obligations towards servicemembers and properly implementing all necessary reforms. Specifically, the GAO focused on implementation of three reforms in order to give servicemembers and their families more leverage when dealing with unsafe and inadequate living conditions:

• More detailed guidance on the formal dispute resolution process;
• Improved guidance on the role of tenant advocates;
• Better oversight of the condition of private housing units.

The Senators also called on DoD and the services to better incorporate resident feedback into the implementation process of the various protections, in order to inform continued progress and highlight areas for additional reform.

“Having spent years addressing privatized housing concerns from multiple fronts – hearing from families firsthand who are dealing with challenges, and helping them to address those; working with installation leadership to push for greater oversight and accountability for these housing projects; and demanding action from the privatized housing companies – we have been incredibly disturbed by some of the conditions that members of the military and their families have been subjected to,” the Senators wrote.

“The purpose of these reforms and continued Congressional oversight is to provide long-overdue improvement to the experience that military members and their families have with the privatized housing system,” they continued. “It is vital that the protections and reforms that we have put in place are implemented in a way that works for residents, and there must be a continual effort to examine the use of these reforms and processes.”

The letters include a series of questions aimed at better understanding the progress being made in implementation as well as better understanding what is causing certain delays. Among the questions are inquiries about the branches’ process when enacting these reforms as well as questions on what is being done to standardize implementation across the country so that all members of the military have access to, and can utilize, the same protections.

A copy of the letters can be found here. 

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the statement below on the official end of the nation’s Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19:

“When COVID-19 hit, Congress acted with force and urgency to save lives and livelihoods, taking actions that were made possible by the Public Health Emergency declaration, which opened the door to a wealth of additional tools and flexibilities. More than three years later, I’m proud to know that our nation has reached a point where we can move beyond the emergency stage of COVID-19 and the corresponding PHE declaration. Now, it’s up to Congress to adopt more permanent policies that reflect the valuable lessons we learned during this crisis, and that allow us to move forward rather than backwards. We must continue to strengthen our public health response capabilities, ensure that health care is affordable and easy to access through robust telehealth options, and improve the security of our southwest border while creating a better functioning asylum process and a reasonable path towards legal status for those who are undocumented. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress on these issues.”

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) today announced bipartisan legislation to reform the security classification system in order to reduce overclassification, prevent mishandling of classified information, promote better use of intelligence, and enhance public trust.

“The government systematically overclassifies too much information, at a dangerous cost to both the nation’s security and the public trust.  At the same time, we too often fail to protect the nation’s most important secrets.  As chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I think it is clear that our security classification system is badly in need of change,” said Sen. Warner. “Given the explosion in digital records, the status quo is no longer tenable.  We’ve got too many people with access to a system that is devoid of accountability and has grown increasingly byzantine, bureaucratic, and outmoded. We need to protect our national security secrets, and then declassify those secrets when protections are no longer necessary.  It’s time for Congress to take action and establish accountability.”

“Controlling access to sensitive information enables the U.S. to remain at least one step ahead of its adversaries, but declassification gives us the opportunity to work with our allies around the world and show the American people what their government is doing,” said Sen. Cornyn. “These bills would modernize the process for classification, ensure the safety and security of what should be classified, and make the declassification process more efficient as we seek to strike the delicate balance between transparency and secrecy.”

“Public access to government information is vital to a democratic society. Yet, as has been the case for many years, far too many records are classified. And, because of obsolete technology, far too few of those records ever see the light of day, even after they no longer meet the requirements for classification. One necessary step in addressing this crisis is to put someone in charge of modernizing the system so that records are tracked and then declassified and released when appropriate,” Sen. Wyden said. “This legislation accomplishes that goal by designating the DNI as the Executive Agent for Classification and Declassification, a reform that Senator Moran and I have been pushing for years.  It is also critical that the rules that govern declassification of records be updated and strengthened and that the entities responsible for oversight of the system be empowered.”

“In the digital age, our classification system is absorbing a flood of new, critical information,” said Sen. Moran. “When it comes to declassifying documents, our current analog declassification process is about as effective as using an eye dropper to drain a flood. These deficiencies undermine our national security, and a backlog of unnecessary classified material is harming our ability to protect what should be secret from our enemies. We are long overdue for an overhaul that begins with an up-to-date declassification system in order to better secure our national secrets, and it begins with the legislation introduced today.”

The Classification Reform Act of 2023 will undertake significant reforms to the classification process. Among other steps, it will establish a new system of governance and accountability for the security classification system. It also provides that information may only be or remain classified where the harm to national security reasonably expected from disclosure outweighs the public interest. The legislation sets the maximum period for classification at 25 years, allowing only agency heads or the president to extend classification protections beyond that duration. In addition, the legislation also takes several other substantive steps to improve security while expanding transparency, including by establishing minimum standards for executive branch insider threat programs and mandating a security review of presidential and vice presidential records to ensure that records bearing classification markings are not improperly categorized as personal records and removed from secure facilities. In addition to Sens. Warner, Cornyn, Wyden and Moran, the legislation is co-sponsored by Sens. Angus King (I-ME), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Bob Casey (D-PA).

In addition, the Sensible Classification Act of 2023 will codify classification authority, streamline the processes for declassification, dedicate additional resources to the issue of declassification, invest in new technology to assist with classification reviews, and undertake an evaluation of existing security clearances and their justifications to identify potential areas for additional reforms. In addition to Sens. Warner, Cornyn, Wyden and Moran, the legislation is co-sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Angus King (I-ME), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Bob Casey (D-PA).

A one-pager is available here.

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U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner issued the following statement in regard to the ongoing violence in Sudan:

"It has been tragic to see the violence that has gripped Sudan – violence that has so far left hundreds dead, thousands injured, tens of thousands forcibly displaced from their homes, and so many more terrorized by indiscriminate conflict. My team has heard from many who have shared concerns for family and loved ones back in Sudan, some desperately looking for the opportunity to leave safely. 

"We continue to stay in close and regular communication with the Biden administration regarding the situation in Sudan. I fully support steps the administration has taken to deliver humanitarian assistance, as the recent events exacerbate already dire conditions on the ground, and I strongly back continued diplomatic efforts by the U.S., the African Union, and other international partners pressing for a durable cessation of the violence."

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CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD BROADCAST-QUALITY VIDEO OF SEN. WARNER SPEAKING ON THE FLOOR 

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement after the Senate voted to repeal the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for use of military force (AUMFs) against Iraq:

“It’s long past time that Congress re-assert its authority to responsibly wield the power to declare war, and I’m proud to support repealing the outdated authorizations for use of military force against Iraq.

“That we have reached this moment at all is thanks largely to the determined leadership of my friend and colleague Tim Kaine. Over years of steady, relentless focus, he has been a consistent and, at times lonely, voice of clarity calling for Congress to pay attention to its constitutional prerogatives, and through will and hard work, he and Sen. Young have corralled the bipartisan coalition that made today’s vote possible. Tim’s staunch stewardship of this legislation is a credit to his unwavering commitment to our troops and honoring the many sacrifices we ask of them in defense of our freedoms.”

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement ahead of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee tomorrow:

“While I appreciate Mr. Chew’s willingness to answer questions before Congress, TikTok’s lack of transparency, repeated obfuscations, and misstatements of fact have severely undermined the credibility of any statements by TikTok employees, including Mr. Chew. Congress needs to give the administration the tools to review and mitigate the harms posed by foreign technology products that come from adversarial nations. I’m proud to say that 20 senators have already signed on to the RESTRICT Act, our bipartisan legislation that would do just that.”

Sen. Warner recently introduced the RESTRICT Act along with Sen. John Thune (R-SD) to address the threat posed by the use of technology, like TikTok, from foreign adversaries. The legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Susan Collins (R-ME), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), and Thom Tillis (R-NC). 

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and John Thune (R-SD), ranking member of the Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Media and Broadband, led a group of 12 bipartisan senators to introduce the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act, legislation that will comprehensively address the ongoing threat posed by technology from foreign adversaries by better empowering the Department of Commerce to review, prevent, and mitigate information communications and technology transactions that pose undue risk to our national security.

“Today, the threat that everyone is talking about is TikTok, and how it could enable surveillance by the Chinese Communist Party, or facilitate the spread of malign influence campaigns in the U.S. Before TikTok, however, it was Huawei and ZTE, which threatened our nation’s telecommunications networks. And before that, it was Russia’s Kaspersky Lab, which threatened the security of government and corporate devices,” said Sen. Warner. “We need a comprehensive, risk-based approach that proactively tackles sources of potentially dangerous technology before they gain a foothold in America, so we aren’t playing Whac-A-Mole and scrambling to catch up once they’re already ubiquitous.”

“Congress needs to stop taking a piecemeal approach when it comes to technology from adversarial nations that pose national security risks,” said Sen. Thune. “Our country needs a process in place to address these risks, which is why I’m pleased to work with Senator Warner to establish a holistic, methodical approach to address the threats posed by technology platforms – like TikTok – from foreign adversaries. This bipartisan legislation would take a necessary step to ensure consumers’ information and our communications technology infrastructure is secure.”

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.

In addition to Sens. Warner and Thune, the legislation is co-sponsored by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Susan Collins (R-ME), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Mitt Romney (R-UT).

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.

“We need to protect Americans’ data and keep our country safe against today and tomorrow’s threats. While many of these foreign-owned technology products and social media platforms like TikTok are extremely popular, we also know these products can pose a grave danger to Wisconsin’s users and threaten our national security,” said Sen. Baldwin. “This bipartisan legislation will empower us to respond to our fast-changing environment – giving the United States the tools it needs to assess and act on current and future threats that foreign-owned technologies pose to Wisconsinites and our national security.”

“There are a host of dangerous technology platforms – including TikTok – that can be manipulated by China and other foreign adversaries to threaten U.S. national security and abuse Americans’ personal data. I’m proud to join Senator Warner in introducing bipartisan legislation that would put an end to disjointed interagency responses and strengthen the federal government’s ability to counter these digital threats,” said Sen. Fischer.

“Over the past several years, foreign adversaries of the United States have encroached on American markets through technology products that steal sensitive location and identifying information of U.S. citizens, including social media platforms like TikTok. This dangerous new internet infrastructure poses serious risks to our nation’s economic and national security,” said Sen. Manchin. “I’m proud to introduce the bipartisan RESTRICT ACT, which will empower the Department of Commerce to adopt a comprehensive approach to evaluating and mitigating these threats posed by technology products. As Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, I will continue working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this critical legislation across the finish line.”

“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 introducing 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.”

“We shouldn’t let any company subject to the Chinese Communist Party’s dictates collect data on a third of our population – and while TikTok is just the latest example, it won’t be the last. The federal government can’t continue to address new foreign technology from adversarial nations in a one-off manner; we need a strategic, enduring mechanism to protect Americans and our national security. I look forward to working in a bipartisan way with my colleagues on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee to send this bill to the floor,” said Sen. Bennet.

“Our modern economy, communication networks, and military rely on a range of information communication technologies. Unfortunately, some of these technology products pose a serious risk to our national security,” said Sen. Gillibrand. “The RESTRICT Act will address this risk by empowering the Secretary of Commerce to carefully evaluate these products and ensure that they do not endanger our critical infrastructure or undermine our democratic processes.”

“China’s brazen incursion of our airspace with a sophisticated spy balloon was only the most recent and highly visible example of its aggressive surveillance that has targeted our country for years.  Through hardware exports, malicious software, and other clandestine means, China has sought to steal information in an attempt to gain a military and economic edge,” said Sen. Collins. “Rather than taking a piecemeal approach to these hostile acts and reacting to each threat individually, our legislation would create a wholistic, government-wide response to proactively defend against surveillance attempts by China and other adversaries.  This will directly improve our national security as well as safeguard Americans’ personal information and our nation’s vital intellectual property.”

"Cybersecurity is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation. The future of conflict is moving further away from the battlefield and closer to the devices and the networks everyone increasingly depends on. We need a systemic approach to addressing potential threats posed by technology from foreign adversaries. This bill provides that approach by authorizing the Administration to review and restrict apps and services that pose a risk to Americans’ data security. I will continue to push for technology defenses that the American people want and deserve to keep our country both safe and free,” said Sen. Heinrich.

“The Chinese Communist Party is engaged in a multi-generational, multi-faceted, and systematic campaign to replace the United States as the world’s superpower. One tool at its disposal—the ability to force social media companies headquartered in China, like TikTok’s parent company, to hand over the data it collects on users,” said Sen. Romney. “Our adversaries—countries like China, Russia, Iran—are increasingly using technology products to spy on Americans and discover vulnerabilities in our communications infrastructure, which can then be exploited. The United States must take stronger action to safeguard our national security against the threat technology products pose and this legislation is a strong step in that direction.”

A two-page summary of the bill is available here. A copy of the bill text is available here.

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WASHINGTON – Today, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) appeared on FOX News Sunday to discuss the how the U.S. needs to tackle rising threats posed by the Communist Party of China. 

On the how the United States needs to address the rise of the Chinese Communist Party on the world stage:

“We have never had a potential adversary like China. The Soviet Union, Russia, was military or ideological, China is investing in economic areas. They have $500 billion in intellectual property theft, and we are in a competition not just on a national security basis but on a technology basis. That's why national security now includes telecommunications, satellites, artificial intelligence, quantum computing. Each of these domains, we have got to make the kind of investments to stay ahead. I think we are starting that in a bipartisan way. We did the CHIPS bill to try to bring semiconductor manufacturing back, we have kicked out Huawei out of our telecom systems. This week, I have a broad bipartisan bill that I am launching with my friend John Thune, the Republican lead, where we are going to say, in terms of foreign technology coming into America, we’ve got to have a systemic approach to make sure we can ban or prohibit it when necessary.”

On the influence of TikTok:

“Listen, you have 100 million Americans on TikTok, 90 minutes a day…They are taking data from Americans, not keeping it safe, but what worries me more with TikTok is that this could be a propaganda tool. The kind of videos you see would promote ideological issues. If you look at what TikTok shows to the Chinese kids, which is all about science and engineering, versus what our kids see, there’s a radical difference.”

On China’s support for Putin’s war in Ukraine:

“…if China moves forward to support Russia in Ukraine, I can't understand some of my colleagues who are willing to say, ‘I don't really care about Ukraine, but I'm concerned about China.’ Well, China and Russia, these authoritarian regimes, are linked, and we have to make sure Putin is not successful in Ukraine and that Xi doesn't further his expansion plans around Taiwan.”

Video of Sen. Warner on FOX News Sunday can be found here. A transcript follows.

FOX News Sunday 

SHANNON BREAM: Joining is now, Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, welcome back. This week, you all have a hearing on worldwide threat assessments. You will have the DNI, the director of the CIA there. You have long been warning about China on multiple fronts. Do you think that we have lost valuable time in assessing the threat accurately? Will you talk about that this week?

SENATOR MARK WARNER: Well I think for a long time conventional wisdom was, the more you bring China into the world order, the more they’re going to change. That assumption was just plain wrong. China even changed their laws in 2016 to make it explicitly clear that every company in China, their first obligation is to the Communist Party. So we have never had a potential adversary like China. The Soviet Union, Russia, was military or ideological, China is investing in economic areas. They have $500 billion in intellectual property theft, and we are in a competition not just on a national security basis but on a technology basis. That's why national security now includes telecommunications, satellites, artificial intelligence, quantum computing. Each of these domains, we have got to make the kind of investments to stay ahead. I think we are starting that in a bipartisan way. We did the CHIPS bill to try to bring semiconductor manufacturing back, we have kicked out Huawei out of our telecom systems. This week, I have a broad bipartisan bill that I am launching with my friend John Thune, the Republican lead where we are going to say, in terms of foreign technology coming into America, we’ve got to have a systemic approach to make sure we can ban or prohibit it when necessary.

BREAM: Does that mean TikTok?

SEN. WARNER: That means TikTok is one of the potentials. Listen, you have 100 million Americans on TikTok, 90 minutes a day. Even you guys would like that kind of return, 90 minutes a day. They are taking data from Americans, not keeping it safe, but what worries me more with TikTok is that this could be a propaganda tool. The kind of videos you see would promote ideological issues. If you look at what TikTok shows to the Chinese kids, which is all about science and engineering, versus what our kids see, there’s a radical difference.

BREAM: We will watch that, because that's a bipartisan offering potentially this week. This past week we got information, it was revealed that both the Department of Energy and FBI believe that the origins of COVID were most likely a leak from the Wuhan Institute for Virology. This is something that early on this was called a conspiracy theory, you were racist if you talked about it. The Senate has actually unanimously passed a measure that would call on this administration to declassify information that we have about the origins. The White House won't say whether the president will veto it or not if it gets to his desk. Do Americans, worldwide, do people not have a right to see that information?

SEN. WARNER: Shannon, here is again an example of what we are dealing with, with the Communist Party in China. If this virus had originated virtually anywhere else, we would have had world scientists there. The Chinese Communist Party has been totally opaque about letting in outside scientists to figure this out. Now, you’ve still got of some parts of the intelligence community that think it originated in a wet market, others saying that it could have gotten out from a lab, although I would say that one entity says it came from one lab in Wuhan, another said from another. At the end of the day, we’ve got to keep looking and we've got to make sure, in terms of future pandemics, that we can have access to the source of where these diseases originate a lot earlier on in the system. We’re three and half later, we still don't have access to Wuhan.

BREAM: They're not going to cooperate with that, especially if they assess internally they were at fault. How do they pay for this? Now, billions probably trillions in damages and losses for people, millions and millions of lives. How do they pay?

SEN. WARNER: Well I think again, this is where we’ve got to have that united front of countries all around the world, that there has to be consequences. There has to be consequences potentially in terms of sanctions, it’s one of the reasons why, if China moves forward to support Russia in Ukraine, I can't understand some of my colleagues who are willing to say, “I don't really care about Ukraine, but I'm concerned about China.” Well, China and Russia, these authoritarian regimes, are linked, and we have to make sure Putin is not successful in Ukraine and that Xi doesn't further his expansion plans around Taiwan.

BREAM: Well, we know that even if they are not sending bullets over to Russia, they are buying up copious amounts of Russian oil. They are sending dual-use products that could actually be used on the battlefield. Xi doesn't seem very worried about the warnings from the U.S. at this point. They haven't even acknowledged or apologized for the balloon that went across America, we think capturing information as it went. It Xi afraid of this administration? To our warnings mean anything?

SEN. WARNER: Well I think Xi, as Putin thought, thought that with the invasion of the Ukraine, that the West would basically throw in the towel. The fact that we’ve not, the fact that you've got, for example, the German chancellor here just this past week, Germany’s dramatically increasing their defense budget. The fact that we've got nations like Finland and Sweden trying to join NATO. I think Putin made a major miscalculation and I do think Xi is watching the West stand up against Putin and is taking some lessons from that.

BREAM: You're just back from India, among many other countries you visited. They abstained from the U.N. vote that condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and called for an end to this. How important is it, a critical place like India, that they choose a side, and with the West?

SEN. WARNER: I think it’s time. Look, India is a great nation, as a matter of fact, I’m chair of the India Caucus, I'm a big supporter of India. India is now a major, major power. Fifth-largest economy in the world, and a place where remarkable things are happening. My message to the Indians has been, we understand that you have historic ties to Russia, and you still get a lot of your arms, but you cannot be a world leader, and attempt to be a moral world leader, without picking a side. And in this case, I think the younger Indians get that. Some of the older generation, I think we still have work to do.

BREAM: Okay, let's turn to continued funding for Ukraine. Another $400 million was announced on Friday. There are questions, there'll be more requests from Congress no doubt in the coming weeks about that. While there is strong support, here across the U.S. and across the West, the polls show that it's pulling back a little bit. Here's the reality from one analyst, “funding for the Ukrainian government has not demanded any tough bureaucratic trade-offs between funding priorities. It's not requiring bouncing needs for Ukraine against a domestic spending.” We’ve hit our ceiling, we have some kind of negotiation that’s got to happen very shortly. There are competing needs and they are very real, so where do we assess our financial commitment?

SEN. WARNER: Well Shannon, let's look at this. We have allocated $113 billion to Ukraine. We have actually only given them actually less than half of that, and on the military side, about $30 billion of roughly $60 billion. We’ve still got some runway to go there. But I think we need to keep that commitment, and the truth is the Russian army is being chewed up by the Ukrainians. We spent $800 billion a year on defense, in most of my lifetime to prevent Russia from exploiting that. We are having Ukrainians do that right now, in a sense, for us. I think we need to continue that. I think we will see the vast majority of members of Congress in both parties, there are some loudmouths on both sides that are pulling back, but if we are going to keep in this competition against Russia and China, Putin cannot be successful. At the same time, we have to realize as we look at China that national security is no longer simply tanks and trucks and guns and ships. It's also telecom and AI and quantum computing and advanced synthetic biology. We have to make investments in those domains, as well, which is both an economic investment and I believe, national security investment.

BREAM: Speaking of another national security interest, Iran, this report on their nuclear capabilities came out this week and it’s kind of getting lost in all the other foreign policy headlines, but basically what the International Atomic Energy Agency told us is that they have hit 84% as far as enriching uranium. They said that’s just short of the 90% that you would need for a weapon. Britain, France, and Germany say they want to censure Iran over this. The U.S. is kind of hesitant. The reporting is that the Biden administration doesn’t want to go there. Are we now then softer on Iran's new program then Europe?

SEN. WARNER: I do not believe that. We have made it explicitly clear – and I was just in Israel recently with a group of senators  – that we agree with Israel. Iran cannot be a nuclear power. I think, that has been our policy it will continue to be our policy. There are two steps in this process, one is the enrichment issue, and I believe we will be tougher than the Europeans. We always historically always have been –

BREAM: So then why are we against censuring, reportedly?

SEN. WARNER: We have already sanctioned and censured more Iranian companies by far than our European friends. But there is also a question around delivery systems. Again, I think we and our Israeli friends are following this very closely. Again, we will not allow Iran to become a nuclear power.

BREAM: I've got to hit this, Havana Syndrome. The reporting out this week, an assessment from several intelligence agencies that they don't think –  that it's unlikely there was a foreign adversary carrying out these attacks, whatever they were, where our people, diplomats or Intel officers around the world in U.S. missions have suffered really debilitating symptoms from this. Senator Rubio, your colleague tweeted this: “The CIA took the investigation of Havana syndrome seriously. But when you read about the devastating injuries it's hard to except that it was by AC units and loud cicadas. Something happened here and just because we don’t have all the answers doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.” Will you continue trying to pursue answers?

SEN. WARNER: Absolutely. First of all, the most important thing is anyone who got sick, whatever the source was, whether they are CIA, DoD, State Department officials, we owe them the world's best health care and I think we are providing that now. Initially frankly, under the last administration, this whole issue was attempted to be swept under the rug. We are now making sure that health care is provided. I know how, particularly the CIA, how extensive the investigation has been. And I've made very clear to them, if they need to continue that investigation, if new facts come to light, they ought to pursue that. But at this moment in time, I know how thorough they have been, and they have not found the evidence that I think perhaps they thought they would have found. We've got to follow the facts. At the end of the day that's what we owe the members of this intel community, who protect our nation, and that means giving them the health care. If it ends up sensing some other source then what has been discovered so far, we have to pursue it.

BREAM: Senator, Chairman, thanks for coming back to Fox News Sunday.

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WASHINGTON – Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mark R. Warner (D-VA) sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, pressing the company on its efforts to combat the spread of misinformation,  hate speech, and incitement content around the world. Reporting indicates that Facebook devotes 84 percent of its misinformation budget to the United States, where only ten percent of its users reside.  

“In its pursuit of growth and dominance in new markets, I worry that Meta has not adequately invested in the technical, organizational, and human safeguards necessary to ensuring that your platform is not used to incite violence and real-world harm,” wrote Sen. Warner, pointing to evidence, acknowledged by Meta, that the platform as used to foment genocide in Myanmar. “I am concerned that Meta is not taking seriously the responsibility it has to ensure that Facebook and its other platforms do not inspire similar events in other nations around the world.”

In his letter, Sen. Warner noted that Facebook supported more than 110 languages on its platform as of October 2021, and users and advertisers posted on the platform in over 160 languages. However, Facebook’s community standards, the policies that outline what is and isn’t allowed on the platform, were available in less than half of the languages that Facebook offered at that time. Facebook has previously said that it uses artificial intelligence to proactively identify hate speech in more than 50 languages and that it has native speakers reviewing content in more than 70 languages.

“Setting aside the efficacy of Facebook’s AI solutions to detect hate speech and violent rhetoric in all of the languages that it offers, the fact that Facebook does not employ native speakers in dozens of languages officially welcomed on its platform is troubling – indicating that Facebook has prioritized growth over the safety of its users and the communities Facebook operates in,” Sen. Warner wrote, citing documents provided by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. “Of particular concern is the lack of resources dedicated to what Facebook itself calls ‘at-risk countries’ – nations that are especially vulnerable to misinformation, hate speech, and incitement to violence.”

Warner noted that in Ethiopia, Facebook reportedly did not have automated systems capable of flagging harmful posts in Amharic and Oromo, the country’s two most spoken languages.  A March 2021 internal report said that armed groups within Ethiopia were using Facebook to incite violence against ethnic minorities, recruit, and fundraise.

“In the wake of Facebook’s role in the genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar – where UN investigators explicitly described Facebook as playing a ‘determining role’ in the atrocities  – one would imagine more resources would be dedicated to places like Ethiopia. Even in languages where Meta does have experience, the systems in place appear woefully inadequate at preventing violent hate speech from appearing on Facebook,” observed Sen. Warner, citing an investigation conducted by the non-profit Global Witness, which was able to post ads in Swahili and English ahead of the 2022 general elections in Kenya that violated Facebook’s stated Community Standards for hate speech and ethnic-based calls to violence.

“Unfortunately, these are not isolated cases – or new revelations. For nearly six years, Facebook’s role in fueling, amplifying, and accelerating racial, religious, and ethnic violence has been documented across the globe – including in Bangladesh, Indonesia, South Sudan, and Sri Lanka. In other developing countries – such as Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines  – Facebook has reportedly courted autocratic parties and leaders in order to ensure its continued penetration of those markets,” wrote Sen. Warner. “Across many of these cases, Facebook’s global success – an outgrowth of its business strategy to cultivate high levels of global dependence through efforts like Facebook Free Basics and Internet.org – has heightened the effects of its misuse. In many developing countries, Facebook, in effect, constitutes the internet for millions of people, and serves as the infrastructure for significant social, political, and economic activity.”

“Ultimately, the destabilizing impacts of your platform on fragile societies across the globe poses a set of regional – if not global – security risks,” concluded Warner, posing a series of questions to Zuckerberg about the company’s investments in foreign language content moderation and requesting a response by March 15, 2023.

A full copy of the letter is available here.

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WASHINGTON – Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL) wrote to the Biden administration to request that it expand the use of existing tools and authorities at the Departments of Treasury and Commerce to prevent China’s military industrial complex from benefiting from U.S. technology, talent and investments.

In a pair of letters, the Senators expressed concern with the flow of U.S. innovation, talent, and capital into the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which seeks to exert control over global supply chains, achieve technological superiority, and rise as the dominant economic and military power in the world. They also stress the need to utilize the authorities at the government’s disposal to protect U.S. interests and ensure that American businesses, investors, and consumers are not inadvertently advancing China’s authoritarian interests or supporting its ongoing genocide in Xinjiang and human rights abuses in Tibet and Hong Kong.

In their letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the Senators wrote, “It is widely known that the PRC’s Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) program targets technological advancements in the U.S., as well as university and research partnerships with the U.S., for the PRC’s military development.  U.S. technology, talent, and capital continue to contribute—through both lawful and unlawful means, including theft—to the PRC’s development of critical military-use industries, technologies, and related supply chains. The breadth of the MCF program’s ambitions and reach creates dangerous vulnerabilities for U.S. national and economic security as well as undermines respect for democratic values globally.”

The Senators also posed a number of questions for Sec. Yellen regarding Treasury’s internal Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) lists, which do not include a number of entities and individuals who have been identified by the U.S. Government as posing national security risks or human rights concerns.  

In their letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the Senators wrote, “Despite recent restrictions on the export of sensitive technologies critical to U.S. national security, we remain deeply concerned that American technology, investment, and talent continue to support the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) military industrial complex, intelligence and security apparatus, its ongoing genocide, and other PRC efforts to displace United States economic leadership. As such, we urge the Department of Commerce to immediately use its authorities to more broadly restrict these activities.”

The Senators also requested answers from Sec. Raimondo regarding America’s most critical high-technology sectors, the Department’s ability and authority to evaluate companies’ reliance on China and assess the flow of U.S. innovation to PRC entities.  

A copy of the letter to the Department of Treasury is available here. A copy of the letter to the Department of Commerce is available here.  

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