Passed by Senate Commerce Committee: Fischer’s Bill to Strengthen U.S. Telecommunications Against Foreign Adversaries

FACT Act
now eligible for Senate Floor vote
Today,
U.S. Senator Deb Fischer
’s
(R-Neb.)
legislation to strengthen American telecommunications against foreign adversaries passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee. The
Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency (FACT) Act
now awaits consideration on the Senate floor. Fischer
introduced
the bill in January of this year.
If signed into law, the
FACT Act
would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to publicly identify entities that hold FCC licenses, authorizations, or other grants of authority that are owned, wholly or partially, by foreign adversarial governments. This includes the governments of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. In addition to Fischer, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.).
“We cannot let authoritarian and adversarial regimes like China and Russia continue to have silent footholds in our tech and telecommunications markets. My bill will direct the FCC to evaluate the communications risks foreign ownership ties pose to America’s
national securityand ensure that we can respond to these threats. I’m grateful a bipartisan group of my colleagues voted yes on this legislation, and I look forward to its passage on the Senate Floor,”
said Fischer.
“We must protect our nation in every way we can from global adversaries who are trying to hack our systems and access our information.
I’m glad to see that our bipartisan bill to help protect our telecommunications systems from adversarial nations, including China, Russia, and Iran, passed out of committee today. I’ll keep pushing to secure our networks and strengthen our national security,"
said Rosen.
Click
here
to view Fischer’s remarks in support of her
FACT Act
in today’s hearing.