No Research Funding of US-China Research

[ABS News Service/14.10.2026]

House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar (R-Mich) is seeking to find support for legislation restricting federally funded research collaborations with entities on US government restricted lists, releasing a report that challenges objections to stronger safeguards and a supplemental collection of historical investigative records.

Mr. Moolenaar said the report supports passage of the Securing Innovation and Research from Adversaries Act, or SIRA, saying the legislation is a means of establishing consistent federal restrictions and preventing taxpayer-funded research from benefiting organizations identified as national security risks.

The committee report disputes the arguments that stronger restrictions would impair academic freedom, slow innovation, impose excessive administrative burdens or duplicate adequate university controls. It also recommends stronger monitoring after awards, consistent federal standards, incentives for institutions that adopt safeguards and greater use of suspension and debarment when supported by investigative findings.

“Congress must pass the SIRA Act to establish clear, consistent safeguards across the federal government,” Mr. Moolenaar said in the release.

The House proposal would prohibit federal research funds from supporting collaborations with listed entities or individuals associated with them.

Its definition of collaboration extends to co-authorship, data and material sharing, joint laboratories, visiting scholars, personnel exchanges, and joint supervision of students. Agency heads could grant case-specific waivers for specified national security, scientific, or public health purposes.

For participants, that scope would bring routine research relationships within the proposed restrictions. Universities and other recipients would need to examine collaborators’ institutional affiliations and determine whether activities conducted under federal awards involved covered entities. Government-wide implementation guidance would establish compliance requirements and enforcement mechanisms.

Academic organizations have raised concerns about international collaboration restrictions, although their statements address different proposals.