Two Senate Commerce Committee Republicans -- Rick Scott of Florida and Dan Sullivan of Alaska -- were among five Republican senators who wrote Senate members of the conference committee negotiating how to marry elements of the House-passed America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act (HR-4521) and Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260) to recommend changes aimed at strengthening the U.S.’ ability to compete with China. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., complicated negotiations on HR-4521/S-1260 last week by tweeting “there will be no bipartisan USICA as long as Democrats are pursuing a partisan reconciliation bill.” “Economic competition with China is the single most important geo-political issue facing” the U.S., the five Republican senators said in a letter to the conferees. The other signers were Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Marco Rubio of Florida, Mike Braun of Indiana and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. “We remain deeply concerned that several provisions germane to the conference would substantially weaken” the U.S.’ ability “to combat malicious Chinese economic influence,” the senators said. They cited language in S-1260 that would amend the 1974 Trade Act “to create a rigid exclusion process under Section 301 which we fear would eliminate it as a tool to combat unfair and malicious Chinese trade practices.” It would create “a statutory exclusion process so broad that” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative “would be incapable of implementing an effective strategy,” the senators said: “The provision requires USTR to conduct a detailed analysis of each exclusion request and, for exclusions that it intends to deny, requires USTR to demonstrate both that the tariffs do not impact the internal finances of a business unit, and do not create an anticompetitive market structure. This burden is nearly impossible for USTR to meet.” The senators urged their conferees to accept language from HR-4521 that “we believe would be a substantial improvement over current law,” including “improvements to U.S. trade remedy laws which would help domestic manufacturers compete against unfair trade practices,” including the Chinese government-subsidized Belt and Road Initiative.

A bipartisan group of House Science Committee members announced the introduction of a bill meant to grow and retain a “diverse, flexible, and sustainable chips workforce.” Introduced Wednesday by House Research and Technology Subcommittee Chair Haley Stevens, D-Mich., with Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Mich.; Mike Waltz, R-Fla.; and Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, the Chipping in Act would establish National Science Foundation awards for “institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations and consortia to advance innovative approaches to developing, improving, and expanding evidence-based microelectronics education and workforce development activities.” The bill creates training programs for students who pursue microelectronics in post-graduate programs, prioritizing historically black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and other minority-serving schools.

Federal agencies, particularly those in law enforcement, need to better assess privacy risks and protections for facial recognition technology, GAO Director-Science, Technology Assessment and Analytics Candice Wright told the House Oversight Subcommittee Wednesday. GAO shared results with the subcommittee showing 13 of 14 agencies that reported using nonfederal, face-scanning technologies didn’t have “complete, up-to-date information on what non-federal systems were used by employees because they did not track this information.” Agency headquarters often didn’t have a good understanding of what was happening in regional and local offices, said Wright: Using face-scanning systems without assessing privacy risks and protections can result in agencies running afoul of state and federal regulations, she said. The most common use of the technology within agencies is unlocking smartphones. Other uses include domestic law enforcement generating leads for investigations and agencies monitoring access to buildings and facilities, she said.

The House voted 234-193 Friday to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (S-2938), which requires the Department of Health and Human Services to provide technical assistance and issue guidance to state governments on “improving access to telehealth for services covered under Medicaid” and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The Senate passed S-2938 Thursday night 65-33. President Joe Biden intends to sign the measure. The House didn’t hold a requested vote on the Promoting U.S. International Leadership in 5G Act (HR-1934), which would direct the secretary of state to assist in enhancing U.S. leadership at international standards-setting bodies that handle 5G and other telecom issues (see 2206210048).

Bipartisan legislation introduced Thursday would “create new protections against selling or transferring Americans’ sensitive personal information to high-risk foreign countries.” Introduced by Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Surveillance Act would block bulk export of private data to countries like China. The bill would direct the Commerce Department to identify low-risk countries that would be exempted.

The House voted 259-162 Wednesday for the Active Shooter Alert Act (HR-6538), short of the two-thirds majority of present lawmakers needed to pass the measure under suspension of the rules. HR-6538 would direct DOJ to create a national active shooter alert system. The measure would direct DOJ to coordinate with the FCC, Transportation Department and FEMA to use the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System to issue active shooter alerts (see 2206210048). HR-6538 drew support from 215 Democrats and 44 Republicans, including House Commerce Committee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. The chamber "will take up this legislation again and pass it -- making clear that Democrats are on the side of protecting our families and supporting our courageous first responders," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. The bill "would help law enforcement send out AMBER-style alerts when a gunman opens fire," ensuring "passersby do not unknowingly walk into a dangerous area." House Republicans "overwhelming and inexplicably voted to oppose the needs of law enforcement heroes and to keep this crucial, life-saving information away from our communities,” Pelosi said.

The Senate voted 64-34 Tuesday on a motion to proceed to consider the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act as an amendment to shell bill S-2938. The measure includes language requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to provide technical assistance and issue guidance to state governments on “improving access to telehealth for services covered under Medicaid” and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The Senate’s Tuesday vote set up potential votes later this week on S-2938.

Congress should be able to pass its chips package in July, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday (see 2206150075). They issued a joint statement after a bipartisan, bicameral four corners meeting on Congress’ China bill. “We expressed our belief that there is no reason that we should not pass this bill through Congress in July,” they said. “Democrats have already made accommodations in the name of reaching an agreement, which we are optimistic can happen soon.”

The House planned votes as soon as Tuesday night under suspension of the rules on two communications-oriented bills: the Promoting U.S. International Leadership in 5G Act (HR-1934) and Active Shooter Alert Act (HR-6538). HR-1934, first filed during the last Congress (see 2001030049), would direct the secretary of state to assist in enhancing U.S. leadership at international standards-setting bodies that handle 5G and other telecom issues. HR-6538 would direct DOJ to create a national active shooter alert system. The measure directs DOJ to coordinate with the FCC, Transportation Department and FEMA to use the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System to issue active shooter alerts.

Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., urged the Commerce Department to develop “a comprehensive strategy to address unnecessary consumer costs, mitigate e-waste, and restore sanity and certainty to the process of purchasing new electronics.” Such a move would “follow the EU’s lead” after the European Commission’s recent ruling “obligating electronics manufacturers to adopt a common charger for mobile devices” by 2024 (see 2206090048), the senators said in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo released Friday. “Consumers frequently must pay for new specialized charging equipment and accessories for their different devices. This is not merely an annoyance; it can be a financial burden.” As “specialized chargers become obsolete with the introduction of new products, or as consumers change the brand of phone or device that they use, their outdated chargers are usually just thrown away,” the senators said: “When electronics are not disposed of properly, e-waste can spread toxins in water, pollute soil, and degrade the air we breathe.” The EU “has wisely acted in the public interest by taking on powerful technology companies over this consumer and environmental issue,” the senators said: The U.S. “should do the same.”