Sec. 435. Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence review of visitors and assignees
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In this section: The term appropriate congressional committees means— the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate; and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives. The terms assignee and visitor mean a foreign national from a country identified in the report submitted to Congress by the Director of National Intelligence in 2024 pursuant to section 108B of the National Security Act of 1947 ( 50 U.S.C. 3043b ) (commonly referred to as the “Annual Threat Assessment”) as engaging in competitive behavior that directly threatens U.S. national security , who is not an employee of a National Laboratory, and has requested access to the premises, information, or technology of a National Laboratory.
The term Director means the Director of the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the Department of Energy (or their designee). The term foreign national has the meaning given the term alien in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101(a) ). The term National Laboratory has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 ( 42 U.S.C. 15801 ). The term non-traditional collector means an individual not employed by a foreign intelligence service, who is seeking access to sensitive information about a capability, research, or organizational dynamics of the United States to inform a foreign adversary or non-state actor.
The Senate finds the following: The National Laboratories conduct critical, cutting-edge research across a range of scientific disciplines that provide the United States with a technological edge over other countries. The technologies developed in the National Laboratories contribute to the national security of the United States, including classified and sensitive military technology and dual-use commercial technology. International cooperation in the field of science is critical to the United States maintaining its leading technological edge.
The research enterprise of the Department of Energy, including the National Laboratories, is increasingly targeted by adversarial nations to exploit military and dual-use technologies for military or economic gain. Approximately 40,000 citizens of foreign countries, including more than 8,000 citizens from China and Russia, were granted access to the premises, information, or technology of National Laboratories in fiscal year 2023. The Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the Department of Energy is responsible for identifying and mitigating counterintelligence risks to the Department, including the National Laboratories.
It is the sense of the Senate that, before being granted access to the premises, information, or technology of a National Laboratory, citizens of foreign countries identified in the 2024 Annual Threat Assessment of the intelligence community as engaging in competitive behavior that directly threatens U.S. national security should be appropriately screened by the National Laboratory to which they seek access, and by the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the Department, to identify and mitigate risks associated with granting the requested access to sensitive military, or dual-use technologies.
The Director shall promulgate a policy to assess the counterintelligence risk each visitor or assignee poses to the research or activities undertaken at a National Laboratory. The Director shall provide advice to a National Laboratory on visitors and assignees when 1 or more of the following conditions are present: The Director has reason to believe that a visitor or assignee is a non-traditional intelligence collector. The Director is in receipt of information indicating that a visitor or assignee constitutes a counterintelligence risk to a National Laboratory.
Advice provided to a National Laboratory in accordance with paragraph
(1)shall include— a description of the assessed risk; recommendations to mitigate the risk; and identification of research or technology that would be at risk if access is granted to the visitor or assignee concerned. Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter, the Director shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report, which shall include— the number of visitors or assignees permitted to access the premises, information, or technology of each National Laboratory; the number of instances in which the Director advised a National Laboratory in accordance with subsection (e); and the number of instances in which a National Laboratory admitted a visitor or assignee against the advice of the Director.
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Sec. 435
Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence review of visitors and assignees
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