,i #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #ijcb ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,december #ah1 #bjbj,mr4 ,murphy of ,north ,carolina 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,johnson of ,south ,dakota1 ,mr4 ,banks1 and ,mr4 ,abraham7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,house ,administration ,a ,,bill ,to direct the ,sergeants at ,arms of the ,house of ,representatives and the ,senate to develop an interagency plan to identify certain congressional employees with connections to the ,chinese ,communist ,party and intent to engage in certain unlawful activities1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,stop ,china's ,heinous ,exploitation and ,malicious ,espionage ,against ,congressional ,access ,act or the ,,scheme ,against ,congressional ,access ,act4 #b4 ,congressional employees with ,chinese ,communist ,party connections and intent to engage in unlawful activities 7a7 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,the ,chinese ,communist ,party has an explicit and subversive interest in gaining access to and influence over ,u4,s4 political activity4 7#b7 ,in a ,july #bjbj speech1 ,director of the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigations ,chris ,wray said that ,beijing is engaged in a highly sophisticated malign foreign influence campaign with efforts that involve subversive1 undeclared1 criminal1 or coercive attempts to sway our government's policies1 distort our country's public discourse1 and undermine confidence in our democratic processes and values4 7#c7 ,there have been several instances and investigations of ,chinese operatives developing extensive ties and employment with ,u4,s4 elected officials1 both senior and junior4 7#d7 ,these same operatives1 mostly ,chinese nationals1 have been deployed to infiltrate political operations by the main civilian spy agency of their home country as a means to gain influence over decision-makers and gain access to classified information4 7#e7 ,these instances demonstrate a devoted strategy of ,china that takes years1 or sometimes decades1 to knowingly gain access1 influence1 or information4 7#f7 ,to protect classified information and prevent seditious influence over elected officials1 ,congress must act to develop stronger oversight with respect to the foreign involvement of covered individuals4 7b7 ,plan for background assessments ,not later than #ij days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,sergeant at ,arms of the ,house of ,representatives and the ,sergeant at ,arms of the ,senate shall jointly-- 7#a7 consult with the ,director of ,national ,intelligence1 the ,director of the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation1 and the ,secretary of ,state regarding potential unlawful activity engaged in by covered individuals to the advantage of the ,chinese ,communist ,party2 and 7#b7 in consultation with the ,directors and ,secretary specified in paragraph 7#a71 develop an interagency plan to assess the background of each covered individual to determine whether-- 7,a7 the covered individual has a connection to the ,chinese ,communist ,party or any element thereof 7including connections resulting from citizenship1 military service1 or personal travel72 and 7,b7 the covered individual intends to engage in unlawful activity to the advantage of the ,chinese ,communist ,party4 7c7 ,assessment outcomes 7#a7 ,notification ,if1 as the result of an assessment conducted pursuant to the plan developed under subsection 7b77#b71 the ,sergeant at ,arms concerned determines that a covered individual meets both of the criteria specified in such subsection1 the ,sergeant at ,arms concerned shall notify the head of the employing office for the covered individual4 7#b7 ,outcome ,upon receipt of a notification under paragraph 7#a71 the head of the employing office for the covered individual shall-- 7,a7 immediately terminate the employment of the covered individual2 and 7,b7 if the covered individual is not under investigation by the ,director of the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation1 refer the covered individual to such ,director for appropriate investigation4 7d7 ,report ,not later than one year after the date on which the plan under subsection 7b77#b7 is developed1 and annually thereafter1 the ,sergeant at ,arms of the ,house of ,representatives and the ,sergeant at ,arms of the ,senate shall jointly submit to the ,president and the congressional intelligence committees a report on any improvements to such plan made during the year covered by the report4 7e7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,congressional intelligence committees ,the term congressional intelligence committees has the meaning given such term in section #c of the ,national ,security ,act of #aidg 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #cjjc74 7#b7 ,covered employee ,the term covered employee means an employee of the ,house of ,representatives or an employee of the ,senate1 as such terms are defined in subsection 7a7 of section #aja of the ,congressional ,accountability ,act 7#b ,u4,s4,c4 #acja74 7#c7 ,employing office ,the term employing office has the meaning given such term in subsection 7a7 of section #aja of the ,congressional ,accountability ,act 7#b ,u4,s4,c4 #acja71 except such term does not include the entities listed in subparagraphs 7,d7 or 7,e7 of paragraph 7#i7 of such subsection4 7#d7 ,sergeant at ,arms concerned ,the term ,sergeant at ,arms concerned means-- 7,a7 the ,sergeant at ,arms of the ,house of ,representatives1 with respect to assessments concerning an employee of the ,house of ,representatives2 and 7,b7 the ,sergeant at ,arms of the ,senate1 with respect to assessments concerning an employee of the ,senate4