Moolenaar: NSF’s Commonsense Reforms Protect Taxpayer-Funded Research

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced a new research security policy that will prohibit NSF funds from being used to conduct research in collaboration with entities on U.S. government restricted party lists. The forthcoming policy also prohibits senior and key personnel on NSF awards from holding appointments or positions at, receiving research support from, or collaborating on NSF-funded research with these restricted entities.

"The National Science Foundation’s commendable and commonsense security policy reforms will protect taxpayer-funded research and innovation. Prohibiting federal funding from being used to collaborate with Chinese entities that are national security risks or human rights abusers is straightforward and all federal agencies should follow the lead of the Pentagon and NSF,” said Chairman John Moolenaar of the Select Committee on China. “My Securing Innovation and Research from Adversaries Act would codify these Trump Administration reforms and Congress should pass it to implement this standard across the federal government.”

NSF's policy aligns with the Department of War’s action earlier this year, and represents a significant step toward protecting taxpayer-funded research from benefiting foreign adversaries and other entities the U.S. government has determined pose national security or other foreign policy risks.

Over the past two years, the Select Committee has published multiple investigative reports documenting federally funded research collaborations involving entities that appear on U.S. government restricted lists, including organizations associated with military modernization, sanctions violations, human rights abuses, and other activities contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. Despite years of evidence and repeated warnings, most American research universities have not voluntarily adopted this commonsense standard prohibiting federally funded collaborations with these entities. NSF’s new policy establishes a clear and commonsense baseline ensuring taxpayer-funded research is no longer dependent on varying institutional policies. As the federal government's leading research agency and an international leader on research security issues, NSF's action is an important model—along with DOW’s prohibition policy—for other federal agencies and research sponsors to follow.

NSF’s public notice is here.