Source: United States Senator for Nebraska Ben Sasse
U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Protecting American Intellectual Property Act. Sasse (R-NE) worked with Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) to introduce the legislation. Earlier this week, the legislation passed the Senate. It now heads to the President’s desk.
“There are only a few days left on the calendar, but that’s plenty of time to finally get this done. Sanctioning thieves for stealing American intellectual property is simple, common sense. We can’t sit back and keep acting like this isn’t a problem — we need to go after these hackers. This legislation is a good start, but in the coming decades we have to do more to use our economic tools to slam the door on the CCP and other adversaries who keep trying to undercut our strength. The President needs to sign this legislation into law.” — U.S. Senator Ben Sasse
Background on the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act is below:
The Protecting American Intellectual Property Act requires a report to Congress within six months, and annually thereafter, identifying:
Any individual or firm that has engaged in, benefitted from, or provided support for the significant theft of U.S. trade secrets, if that theft constitutes a major threat to the national security, foreign policy, economic health, or financial stability of the United States; and,
The chief executive officers and board members of the reported firms and whether those individuals have benefitted from the significant theft of U.S. trade secrets.
Subsequently, the bill requires:
- For any firm identified in the report to Congress, the President must impose at least five sanctions from a comprehensive menu consistent with the Countering America’s
- Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. Among others, the menu includes property blocking sanctions, export prohibitions, the prohibition of loans from U.S. and international financial institutions, procurement sanctions, and prohibition of banking transactions.
- For any individual identified in the report to Congress, the President must impose property blocking sanctions and must prohibit the individual’s entry into the United States.
The legislation also includes a national interest waiver.
The Senators first introduced this bill in June 2020 and later reintroduced this legislation in April 2021.