Sponsor
Richard Lynn Scott
Senator · R-FL
The bill strengthens protections for U.S. national-security research by blocking federal R&D awards to institutions tied financially to certain foreign governments, at the cost of potentially harming university research funding, international collaboration, and creating uncertainty for institutions dependent on diverse funding.
Universities and U.S. federal research programs will be blocked from awarding federal R&D to institutions that accept military-related AI, biotech, or QIS funding from specified foreign governments for five years, reducing the risk that sensitive technologies or capabilities are transferred to adversary states.
Federal research agencies and institutions will have clearer limits on partnerships with institutions financially linked to adversary governments, helping agencies protect taxpayer-funded national-security research and standardize compliance expectations.
Researchers working in AI, biotechnology, and quantum information science will face clearer guardrails on foreign collaboration, making compliance expectations more explicit.
Universities, researchers, and staff that receive non-research financial support linked to listed foreign countries could lose federal R&D funding for five years, harming research programs and careers and disproportionately impacting smaller institutions and lower‑income communities that rely on diverse funding.
Students, faculty, and institutions engaged in non-sensitive international collaboration may be discouraged from partnerships or from hosting foreign students and scholars, reducing scientific exchange and innovation.
Universities and researchers face uncertainty because the Secretary of State can add countries to the covered list, making it unclear which foreign partners will trigger disqualification and complicating long-term planning.
Based on analysis of 1 section of legislative text.
Bars a college or university from receiving federal R&D awards for five years if it accepts foreign-source funds to perform specified national-security-related R&D (AI, biotech, QIS).
Senator · R-FL
Bars colleges and universities from receiving federal research and development awards for five years if the institution accepted funds from certain foreign sources to perform specified national-security-related research tasks. "Foreign source" includes named foreign governments (e.g., China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Turkey, Qatar) and related entities or agents, with authority for the Secretary of State to add others; "specified task" covers R&D tied to national security or military applications and explicitly lists artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and quantum information science.
Official title: Amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 to prohibit certain institutions of higher education from receiving research and development awards, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 28, 2026 by Richard Lynn Scott · Last progress April 28, 2026