ICYMI: Moolenaar and Sen. Banks on Countering the CCP's Exploitation of U.S. Academic Research

Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) of the Select Committee on China and Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) participated in a public event hosted by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) on Capitol Hill to discuss how Congress, federal agencies, and universities have a responsibility to protect research security and promote transparency in U.S.-China research partnerships, talent programs, and funding disclosures. The event was moderated by Craig Singleton, China Program Director and Senior Fellow at FDD.

"Michigan has been ground zero for some of this activity, we've had situations where the University of Michigan had a partnership with a Chinese entity that we brought to light. And [the University of Michigan], to their credit, broke off that partnership... In the last two years, we've had five Chinese nationals who were caught outside Camp Grayling with sophisticated surveillance equipment and said they were there 'stargazing.'

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One of the things that Jim Banks and I have been working on is research security, and trying to provide a baseline that protects our taxpayer dollars from going to fund projects that would benefit the military or human rights abusers, or the surveillance society that the CCP is operating," said Chairman Moolenaar.

In May 2026, Moolenaar and Banks introduced the Securing Innovation and Research from Adversaries Act (SIRA). This legislation is aimed at safeguarding federally funded research from exploitation by China and other foreign adversaries.

Watch the full video here.