A bipartisan group of Senate lawmakers has called on congressional leaders to add language in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act to prevent adversaries like China from acquiring sensitive U.S. technologies with dual-use applications.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, joined colleagues in writing a letter to chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees to include an outbound investment screening measure in the defense spending bill, King’s office said Tuesday.
According to the lawmakers, the Senate has voted to include Amendment No. 931 in the NDAA to create an outbound investment screening program led by the Departments of the Treasury and Commerce.
The measure would require U.S. organizations to notify the government of outbound investments in specific technology sectors in foreign countries of concern.
“In order to protect our interests, we need to evaluate the full scope of our vulnerabilities and use the data and insight provided by outbound investment screening to implement tools that ensure sensitive technologies with dual-use applications are not further ceded to adversaries,” the letter reads.
