Congress has given final approval and sent to President Biden a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Nebraska Republican Senator Ben Sasse aimed at international hackers who steal intellectual property from American businesses and individuals.
Sasse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, introduced the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act with Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.
The bill requires a yearly report to Congress identifying any individual or firm involved in the theft of U-S trade secrets that pose a major threat to the national security, foreign policy, economic health, or financial stability of the country.
It also requires the President to impose at least 5 sanctions from a comprehensive list on any firm identified in the annual report and to impose property-blocking sanctions against any individual violator and bar their entry into the United States.
Sasse says “sanctioning thieves for stealing American intellectual property is simple common sense. We can’t sit back and keep acting like this isn’t a problem – we need to go after these hackers.
The 2-term Senator says the bill “is a good start, but in the coming decades we have to do more to slam the door” on China and others who try to undercut our strength.
Sasse, who leaves office next week with 4 years left in his term to become president of the University of Florida, originally introduced his bill in June 2020, then reintroduced it in April of last year.