Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, the House Energy and Commerce held a Full Committee Legislative Hearing and Markup on the Prohibition of Foreign Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521) and the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024 (H.R. 7520). Dr. Bucshon released the statement below after the Committee passed both pieces of legislation with bipartisan votes of 50-0 and 50-0:

“One of the most important duties the Constitution assigns to Congress is to protect the American people and to safeguard our national security.  National security experts at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) have provided a sobering assessment regarding the grave security threat posed by TikTok and other platforms controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and other foreign adversaries,” said Dr. Bucshon. “Make no mistake, the CCP is the most significant threat to our national security that we have faced since the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union.  I am glad the committee is taking a bipartisan approach and proactively acting to protect the American people from foreign interference and manipulation and to protect their sensitive data by prohibiting malicious actors from operating in the United States. There are numerous threats to our national security around the globe and both pieces of legislation take an important step in ensuring we are ready to meet these challenges.” 

BACKGROUND

The Prohibition of Foreign Controlled Applications Act:

• Promotes U.S. national security by prohibiting marketplaces from hosting applications controlled by specific foreign adversaries of the United States.
• Establishes a narrow framework to protect the U.S. against future applications controlled by foreign adversary covered companies. 
• Incentivizes divestment from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or TikTok will be prohibited in the U.S.
• Empowers users and small businesses to switch platforms if an application controlled by a foreign adversary does not divest. 
• Only impacts entities controlled by foreign adversaries – does not provide authority related to domestic entities that aren’t controlled by a foreign adversary. 

The Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024:

• Protects Americans’ sensitive personal data by prohibiting data brokers from profiting off our data, and especially that of our U.S. military service members, by selling such data to foreign adversaries or entities controlled by foreign adversaries.
• Provides the Federal Trade Commission with enforcement authority to seek civil penalties of more than $50,000 for every instance in which a data broker violates this prohibition. 

Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D. represents Indiana’s 8^th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives and is a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

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