To prohibit the Secretary of Defense from entering into software source code contracts with entities with certain relationships with China, and for other purposes.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3961 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3961

To prohibit the Secretary of Defense from entering into software source 
code contracts with entities with certain relationships with China, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 12, 2025

  Mr. Fallon (for himself, Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia, Mr. McGuire, Mr. 
  Higgins of Louisiana, Mr. McCormick, and Mr. Gooden) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the Secretary of Defense from entering into software source 
code contracts with entities with certain relationships with China, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON SOFTWARE SOURCE CODE CONTRACTS WITH ENTITIES 
              WITH CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS WITH CHINA.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense may not enter into, 
renew, or extend a contract for the provision of software source code 
with a person described in subsection (b).
    (b) Person Described.--A person described in this subsection is a 
person that--
            (1) owns, operates, substantially funds, or has a material 
        interest in a facility located in covered country, if such 
        facility has a primary purpose (as determined by the Secretary) 
        of researching or developing artificial intelligence;
            (2) has allowed a covered country to access to the 
        software, or the source code relating to such software, that is 
        the subject of the contract, where such access could allow the 
        covered country to reverse engineer such software source code; 
        or
            (3) operates a data center (as such term is defined in 
        section 453 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 
        (42 U.S.C. 17112)) in a covered country with respect to such 
        software source code, including a data center operated--
                    (A) by a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of an 
                entity seeking to enter into, renew, or extend a 
                contract with the Secretary; or
                    (B) on behalf of such an entity by a covered 
                country.
    (c) Waiver Authority.--The Secretary may waive the prohibition 
under this section if the Secretary determines such a waiver is in the 
national security interests of the United States.
    (d) Applicability.--This section shall apply only with respect to 
contracts entered into, renewed, or extended within three years after 
the date of the enactment of such section.
    (e) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) The term ``covered country'' has the meaning given the 
        term ``covered foreign entity'' in section 812 of the National 
        Defense AuthorizationAct for Fiscal Year 2024 (Public Law 118-
        31; 10 U.S.C. 4501 note prec.).
            (2) The term ``material interest'' means a financial or 
        other interest that the Secretary determines is significant 
        enough to influence a decision or action of an individual.
                                 <all>