H.R. 3961

119 HR 3961 IH: To prohibit the Secretary of Defense from entering into software source code contracts with entities with certain relationships with China, and for other purposes.
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-06-12
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 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 3961  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.
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.