National Security

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) joined his colleagues in urging the Kansas City Aviation Department to reject any proposed sale of passenger boarding bridges to Kansas City International Airport (KCI) by CIMC-Tianda, a Chinese state-backed company. The lawmakers warn that CIMC-Tianda’s passenger bridges may allow the Chinese government to access the personal data of airport employees or to disrupt communications between ground control and aircraft.

Senator Hawley spoke out this morning against tech insiders’ attempts to gut provisions in the FY 2021 NDAA that would end the Department of Defense’s (DoD) dangerous overreliance on Chinese printed circuit boards (PCBs). “Tech insiders are trying to gut provisions of the defense funding bill that would restrict use of Chinese tech products. Senate negotiators, don’t give in! This is not the time to go soft on #China”

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) joined Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in introducing the Countering Chinese Attempts at Snooping Act (CCAS) to prohibit U.S. federal employees from conducting official business on platforms run by Tencent, Huawei, ZTE, and other companies the State Department determines cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In light of the United Nations’ (UN) recent consideration of a partnership with Tencent, the CCAS Act also ensures U.S. taxpayer dollars are not used to fund UN contracts with any such companies.

“TikTok is owned by a Chinese company that includes Chinese Communist Party members on its board, and it is required by law to share user data with Beijing. The company even admitted it collects user data while their app is running in the background – including the messages people send, pictures they share, their keystrokes and location data, you name it. As many of our federal agencies have already recognized, TikTok is a major security risk to the United States, and it has no place on government devices.”

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and a bipartisan group of Senators have sent a letter to Members of the House of Commons expressing significant concerns with the United Kingdom’s decision to allow Huawei Technologies to take part in its 5G network infrastructure. The letter highlights Huawei’s close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party’s intelligence-gathering authorities and steps the United States has taken to ban Huawei from its own network infrastructure. “Given the significant security, privacy, and economic threats posed by Huawei, we strongly urge the United Kingdom to revisit its recent decision, take steps to mitigate the risks of Huawei, and work in close partnership with the U.S. on such efforts going forward,” the Senators wrote.

In today’s “Dangerous Partners: Big Tech & Beijing” hearing, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, announced he would introduce legislation to ban all federal employees from the use of TikTok on government devices. Senator Hawley said, “TikTok is owned by a Chinese company that includes Chinese Communist Party members in leadership, and it is requires by Chinese law to share user data with Beijing. TikTok has admitted that it has sent user data to China. To put it bluntly, this is a major security risk for the American people. . . This legislation is a necessary step to protect the security of the United States and the data security of every American.”

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) will hold a hearing next Wednesday as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee, titled “Dangerous Partners: Big Tech & Beijing.” Members of law enforcement have agreed to testify, but TikTok and Apple have once again declined Senator Hawley’s invitation – just as they did in November. “This is a troubling pattern of secrecy from Apple and TikTok,” said Senator Hawley. “Doing business with Beijing poses great security risks, especially when it comes to Americans’ personal data. If these companies have nothing to hide, they need to quit stalling and testify before Congress.”

Hawley: “Pleased Mizzou is shutting down the #China Communist Party funded “Confucius Institute.” As the State Department warned Mizzou in July 2019, and as I have repeatedly stated, this program presented security risks for students & university as a whole”

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) along with Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) today introduced the Significant Transnational Criminal Organization Designation Act, legislation that would subject certain foreign criminal organizations like drug cartels to sanctions, including immigration, financial, and criminal penalties. The process...

“This $1.7 billion investment by the NGA will create thousands of good-paying jobs in St. Louis. The geospatial intelligence professionals at NGA West help us understand the physical world in a way that enhances our national security and strengthens our response to threats at home and around the world. This work is of the utmost importance to our nation and will continue to happen right here in St. Louis for years to come.”