The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“SAFEGUARDING AMERICAN INNOVATION ACT” mentioning Gary C. Peters was published in the Senate section on page S2349 on April 29.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SAFEGUARDING AMERICAN INNOVATION ACT
Mr. PETERS. Madam President, I would like to thank my colleague from Ohio for working together on a bipartisan package of legislation that will increase our economic competitiveness and strengthen our national security. As chairman and ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, we are preparing legislation that will help our country respond to major cyber incidents, solidify our global leadership on artificial intelligence, incentivize domestic production of personal protective equipent to increase our ability to respond to pandemics, and strengthen ``Buy American'' laws to make sure Federal dollars support American workers and small businesses.
I would like to briefly discuss one of the bills we are working on--
my colleague's Safeguarding American Innovation Act, which takes on the threat of foreign governments stealing American taxpayer-funded research and intellectual property developed at U.S. colleges and universities. This is a serious, complex problem, and we need to make sure we get the response right. This is why we plan to advance this bill out of committee and continue working through additional changes before this bill is incorporated to the Endless Frontier Act on the Senate floor.
We intend to move a number of bills out of our committee, including the Safeguarding American Innovation Act after the recess and include them in bipartisan competitiveness legislation. If this broader package is considered on the Senate floor during the first week of the next work period, we will focus on preparing a bipartisan package from our committee's jurisdiction to be added during floor consideration.
I know my colleagues and the administration have concerns about potential overlapping authorities, visa restrictions, and the reporting requirements for foreign gifts to colleges and universities, among other issues, I believe we must work through these in a bipartisan manner. As a result of Senator Portman' s important work and others in Congress, there has been positive movement already to address these issues by both the U.S. Government and institutions of higher education, which have been educating their staff and faculty about their serious responsibilities to disclose any foreign research support they receive. I will yield to Senator Portman to discuss the process we have agreed to undertake in the coming weeks and thank him again for engaging in this collaborative process.
Mr. PORTMAN. Thank you. I am committed to advancing our committee's competitiveness legislation in the manner laid out by my colleague from Michigan. I appreciate the work we have put into this package to date. As we prepare to dramatically increase investment in our research institutions and emerging technologies, the Safeguarding American Innovation Act must be a part of any competitiveness legislation. We must protect the intellectual property behind the revolutionary discoveries and advances being made across our Nation. This whole-of-
government approach to get the Federal Government's house in order addresses a far-ranging problem and implicates the jurisdiction of other committees including the HELP Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee. I appreciate that the chairs and ranking members of those committees want to continue negotiations on this bill. I understand some changes to this legislation will be needed before it passes the Senate floor. That said, this legislation is the result of several years of bipartisan investigatory work by Senator Carper and myself during our time as chair and ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
I am committed to working with committees of jurisdiction, the majority leader, Chairman Peters, and the administration to reach an agreement on this text in the coming weeks before it will be added to the Endless Frontier Act. I am also committed to continuing to engage with key stakeholders including our institutions of higher education. I am ready to put in the work and find a path forward here. The threat is real, and we need to address it now. I look forward to working with my colleague from Michigan to pass this legislation, along with other important measures before our committee, as soon as possible.
While I am a cosponsor of Endless Frontier Act and believe it provides an important increase in funding to the National Science Foundation, if we don't take the basic steps outlined in the Safeguarding American Innovation Act, these funds may contribute to China's rise instead of improving the competitiveness of the United States, as intended.
Mr. PETERS. Thank you, Senator Portman. You have my commitment to work closely together on this multi-committee process. I believe we can find common ground with our colleagues and an agreement with the administration and Leader Schumer in the coming weeks. Thank you for your partnership on these important issues. I look forward to advancing an important, bipartisan Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee package and ensuring our priorities are included in the final bill passed by the Senate.
Mr. SCHUMER. Let me take a moment at the end to make a few points. First, the issue of China's predatory actions against American intellectual property is one that we must address as part of the competition bill. Second, my friends from Ohio and Delaware, Senators Portman and Carper, are to be commended for their work on this issue in the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Third, I have committed to work with Chairman Peters, Ranking Member Portman, and other relevant committee chairs and ranking members to reach an agreement on the text of the Safeguarding American Innovation Act so that it can be included in the Endless Frontier legislation.
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