Sponsors (3)
The bill reduces risks of foreign influence and technology transfer in sensitive federally funded research, but at the cost of restricting grant access for institutions with certain foreign ties, potentially chilling collaboration, concentrating awards, and creating compliance burdens that could slow scientific progress and harm research communities.
Researchers, universities, and the public face a reduced risk that federally funded national-security R&D will be influenced or directed by hostile foreign governments, lowering chances of sensitive research benefiting adversaries.
Federal agencies gain clearer authority to limit transfers of sensitive AI, biotechnology, and quantum research to entities tied to designated foreign governments, reducing technology leakage.
Taxpayers are better protected because federal R&D awards can be restricted away from institutions that recently accepted foreign-government-linked funding for sensitive projects, helping ensure public funds don't support riskier arrangements.
Universities that accepted non-U.S. funding for covered sensitive projects can lose eligibility for federal R&D grants for five years, reducing research funding, jobs, and local economic activity.
Broad definitions of 'foreign source' and covered technical areas could chill open scientific collaboration and slow progress in AI, biotech, and quantum research by discouraging partnerships and information-sharing.
Concentrating federal R&D awards away from institutions with certain foreign ties may reduce the diversity of researchers, institutions, and ideas receiving funding, narrowing the research ecosystem.
Based on analysis of 1 section of legislative text.
Bars colleges from federal R&D awards for five years after taking covered foreign-source funds to perform specified national-security-related R&D (AI, biotech, quantum).
Official title: To 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 Elise M. Stefanik · Last progress April 28, 2026
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 tasks tied to national security or military applications (including AI, biotechnology, and quantum information science). "Foreign source" is narrowly defined to include listed foreign governments, entities tied to them (e.g., majority-owned or created under their law), and may be expanded by the Secretary of State. Creates new statutory definitions and a prohibition added to existing federal R&D-award law; the change targets foreign-funded work on sensitive technical areas and makes institutions ineligible for federal R&D awards for a set period after accepting such foreign funding.