Every year, the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) recognizes Members of Congress for their non-legislative achievements in operations, communications, and constituent services. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) was awarded the 2024 Democracy Award for...
News
Latest News
Rubio sobre la Toma de Posesión del Presidente Panameño
El senador estadounidense Marco Rubio (R-FL) emitió el siguiente comunicado sobre la toma de posesión del presidente panameño José Mulino: “A principios de este año, tras un proceso electoral pacífico y democrático, el pueblo de Panamá eligió al Presidente José...
Rubio Statement on Panamanian President’s Inauguration
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the following statement regarding the inauguration of Panamanian President José Mulino: “Earlier this year, following a peaceful and democratic electoral process, the people of Panama elected President José Mulino as their new...
Rubio on State Department’s 2023 International Religious Freedom Report
Each year, the U.S. Department of State releases to Congress its International Religious Freedom Report. This report highlights the status of religious freedom in countries worldwide. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the following statement regarding the release...
Next Week: Rubio Staff Hosts Mobile Office Hours
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host in-person and virtual Mobile Office Hours next week to assist constituents with federal casework issues in their respective local communities. These office hours offer constituents who do not live close to one of...
ICYMI: Rubio: Biden Houthi Policy Hurts Americans
President Biden’s Misguided Policy toward the Houthis Hurts Americans U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) June 27, 2024 National Review …Two weeks into his presidency, President Biden removed the Houthis from the foreign terrorist organization list…. [He] also ended...
Rubio, Cotton, Colleagues Call on Secretary Raimondo to Blacklist Companies that Provide AI Technology to the Chinese Military
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) urged U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to blacklist Chinese Artificial Intelligence companies that help arm the People’s Liberation Army. In a letter, the senators criticized the Biden Administration’s inadequate efforts at blocking Beijing’s attempts to overcome American supremacy in critical technologies such as AI.
“Despite the pressing need to restrict the PLA’s advancement in key technology areas, our government has done little to impede the flow of U.S. exports and investment to Chinese AI companies with PLA ties,” the senators wrote.
“Given these troubling gaps in the United States’ strategy to protect its core technologies, we urge BIS to emulate the Intelligence Community by identifying key American technologies that need to be safeguarded from the Chinese Communist Party,” the senators continued.
The full text of the letter is below.
Dear Secretary Raimondo,
We write to urge the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to follow the examples set by other U.S. government entities and identify core technologies essential to U.S. national security. We further urge BIS to take all steps necessary to prevent key technologies from falling into the hands of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
As you may be aware, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) recently identified five technology areas key to America’s strategic competition with China: artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, semiconductors, biotechnology, and autonomous systems. NCSC is using this framework to guide its efforts to prevent U.S. adversaries like China from acquiring technologies necessary for America’s future economic growth and military advantage.
Despite the pressing need to restrict the PLA’s advancement in key technology areas, our government has done little to impede the flow of U.S. exports and investment to Chinese AI companies with PLA ties. These Chinese companies with PLA ties have been readily identified through open-source analysis. A recent report from Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) revealed that only eight percent of the 273 companies that supply AI equipment to the PLA are on the Department of Commerce’s Entity List. The remaining 92% of Chinese AI companies are free to purchase key U.S. technology for use in military applications.
Given these troubling gaps in the United States’ strategy to protect its core technologies, we urge BIS to emulate the Intelligence Community by identifying key American technologies that need to be safeguarded from the Chinese Communist Party. Congress has already mandated the creation of such lists in the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA). We further urge BIS to expeditiously review and then add all the PLA AI suppliers listed in the CSET report to the Entity List. Both of these actions will help bolster our national security and assure Congress that the Department of Commerce takes its duties seriously.
With these concerns in mind, we request that you answer the following questions:
- If the intelligence community can identify core technologies vital to the United States’ competition with China, why has BIS failed to identify foundational technologies and a comprehensive range of emerging technologies, as required by law?
- Why weren’t all of the PLA’s 273 AI suppliers listed in the CSET report already on the Entity List, given that these companies’ ties to the PLA were apparently open-source information?
- Now that these PLA AI supplier firms have been identified, will BIS add these Chinese AI companies to the Entity List?
Thank you for your attention to this matter of national security. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,