Thank you, Chairman McCormick, for holding this hearing on such an important topic.
Today, we are here to address a matter of growing concern for this Committee and the American people: the security of our federally funded research and development enterprise.
The United States leads the world in science and innovation because our research system is open, collaborative, and driven by excellence. But that openness—one of our greatest strengths—also makes us vulnerable to foreign actors seeking to bypass the hard work and costs of original innovation and infiltrate research programs.
These threats are real. They come from governments and organizations that do not share our commitment to openness, integrity, and reciprocal collaboration. Protecting American research from such exploitation is not a partisan issue¾it is a national security imperative.
The motivation for today’s hearing is clear: to ensure that the laws and directives Congress and the Executive Branch have already put in place to protect U.S. research are being implemented effectively and consistently across federal agencies.
In 2021, President Trump issued National Security Presidential Memorandum-33, directing federal agencies to safeguard the integrity of U.S. government–supported research and development. The following year, Congress built upon that foundation with the CHIPS and Science Act, which reinforced federal research security standards and required institutions to establish policies on foreign affiliations, conflicts of interest, and data protection.
Together, these measures form the backbone of our national research security framework. They are meant to defend American innovation against foreign espionage, cyberattacks, and intellectual property theft—threats that are neither hypothetical nor distant. We’ve seen individuals attempting to smuggle federally funded research, sensitive data, and even dangerous biological materials into and out of the country.
This Committee has already issued several letters to institutions seeking information on research security implementation. The responses we’ve received highlight significant confusion about expectations, timelines, and enforcement. These gaps are exactly what our adversaries exploit—and that is why congressional oversight is essential.
We are not here to point fingers—we are here to ensure accountability. The Federal Government has a duty to provide clear, actionable guidance, and the research community has a duty to follow it. Protecting taxpayer-funded research should not depend on which agency you work with or which grant you apply for. It must be streamlined, clear, and effective.
However, as implementation of these directives begins, we must ensure that agencies are not imposing unnecessary administrative burdens or conflicting requirements that make compliance harder rather than easier. Security and innovation are not mutually exclusive—but achieving both requires coordination, clarity, and commitment.
The goal of today’s discussion is to identify what is working, what is not, and what Congress can do to strengthen support for our research enterprise.
We all share the same objective: to protect American innovation, uphold the integrity of our research system, and ensure that taxpayer dollars advance U.S. interests—not those of our adversaries.
I want to thank our witnesses for being here this morning and for the work each of you is doing to address these challenges. This Committee is dedicated to working to secure the future of American science and technology for the benefit of all citizens. Thank you, and I yield back.