WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), a senior member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, released the following statement after voting for H.R.7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which will protect American national security and American’s sensitive data from the Chinese Communist Party.
“This morning, I voted to require TikTok to be divested from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controlled company ByteDance, or be prohibited from operating in the United States. To be clear, the bill passed today does not ban TikTok. I was proud to vote to protect American national security from one of our greatest threats and adversaries. The CCP has used companies it controls, like ByteDance, to covertly target, surveil, and influence the American people and our way of life. Congress must stay vigilant in protecting American national security and not allow crucial American data to fall into the hands of our adversaries. I am proud of the work the Energy & Commerce Committee has done to protect our national security, and I call on the Senate to immediately take up this legislation to protect our nation’s data,” said Congressman Guthrie.
Background
This bill:
- Promotes U.S. National Security: The Act prohibits marketplaces—like app stores and web hosting services—from hosting applications controlled by foreign adversaries of the United States, including the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea. This includes applications like TikTok, which is owned by CCP -controlled ByteDance.
- Establishes a Narrow Framework to Protect Against Future Applications Controlled by Foreign Adversary Covered Companies: The Act allows the President, after notice to the public and to Congress, to require divestment of an application subject to the control of a covered company controlled by a foreign adversary—or face a prohibition on app stores and be denied access to web hosting services in the United States. The President may exercise this authority only if an application presents a national security threat, has over one million annual active users, and is under the control of an adversarial foreign entity
- Incentivizes Divestment from the CCP or TikTok Will Face a Ban: Unless TikTok is divested, such that it is no longer controlled by a CCP-based entity that poses a national security risk, the application will face a prohibition in the U.S. from app store availability and web hosting services. If TikTok is divested, it can continue to operate in the U.S. If the restrictions are already in effect and TikTok is divested later, the restrictions will be lifted. The President, in coordination with all Executive branch agencies, including the national security and intelligence agencies and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), decide when a divestment is complete. This is a tailored solution to address the national security threat presented by TikTok’s ownership by a covered company controlled by a foreign adversary that minimizes impacts on users and provides an opportunity for ByteDance to divest.
- Empowers Users and Small Businesses to Switch Platforms: If an application controlled by a foreign adversary covered company is not divested, it must provide users with a copy of their data. All users will be able to download their data and content and then utilize another platform.
- Protects Individual Users: No enforcement action can be taken against individual users of a banned application. Civil enforcement actions may only be initiated against companies that violate the Act.
- Only Foreign Adversary Entities Impacted: The Act only applies to covered applications subject to the control of foreign adversaries, including the CCP, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea. This Act does not provide any authority related to domestic entities that are not controlled by a foreign adversary.
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