[Senate Report 118-307]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 713
118th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 118-307
_______________________________________________________________________
DECOUPLING FROM FOREIGN ADVERSARIAL BATTERY DEPENDENCE ACT
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
H.R. 8631
TO PROHIBIT THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY FROM
PROCURING CERTAIN FOREIGN-MADE BATTERIES, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
December 17 (legislative day, December 16), 2024.--Ordered to be
printed
_______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
59-010 WASHINGTON : 2025
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia RICK SCOTT, Florida
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
ADAM SCHIFF, California ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas
David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
Alan S. Kahn, Chief Counsel
Christopher J. Mulkins, Director of Homeland Security
Benjamin J. Schubert, Professional Staff Member
Tiffany Ann Shujath, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Detailee
William E. Henderson III, Minority Staff Director
Christina N. Salazar, Minority Chief Counsel
Andrew J. Hopkins, Minority Counsel
Kendal B. Tigner, Minority Professional Staff Member
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 713
118th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 118-307
======================================================================
DECOUPLING FROM FOREIGN ADVERSARIAL BATTERY DEPENDENCE ACT
_______
December 17 (legislative day, December 16), 2024.--Ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 8631]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (H.R. 8631), to
prohibit the Secretary of Homeland Security from procuring
certain foreign-made batteries, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an
amendment, in the nature of a substitute, and recommends that
the bill, as amended, do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 2
III. Legislative History.............................................. 3
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported............. 3
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact.................................. 4
VI. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 4
I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
H.R. 8631, the Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery
Dependence Act, prohibits the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) from purchasing battery technology produced by Chinese
companies aligned with the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP)
starting October 1, 2028. It also prohibits DHS from purchasing
batteries from companies that violate the Uyghur Forced Labor
Protection Act and those that have engaged in activities
contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests.
The DHS Secretary may waive the prohibitions under certain
circumstances. H.R. 8631 takes steps to decouple U.S.
Government supply chains from these entities. H.R. 8631 also
requires the DHS Secretary to report to Congress within 180
days of enactment of this bill on the effect the prohibition
would have on costs and operations.
II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION
China controls approximately 80 percent of the electric
battery market, creating U.S. supply chain dependence that
could be exploited by the government of the People's Republic
of China (PRC).\1\ Devices that connect to electrical and
information networks have inherent cybersecurity
vulnerabilities, as bad actors can install malicious software,
implant computer viruses, and otherwise disrupt how such
devices function.\2\ Battery charging infrastructure can be
connected to the internet, thereby allowing the installation of
malicious software on electric vehicles or electric equipment
that is connected to such infrastructure.\3\ Larger scale power
storage stations for electric utilities could similarly be
misused to disrupt industrial control systems connected to U.S.
energy infrastructure. This connectivity between electric
storage equipment and government-operated vehicles, electric
utilities, and other critical infrastructure raises serious
U.S. national security risks associated with Chinese companies
that are controlled, operated, or aligned with the PRC--
information illicitly acquired by companies with access to U.S.
information networks may be transferred to the PRC, and these
companies could carry out attacks on U.S. networks or vehicles
on orders from the PRC military.\4\ The PRC's National
Intelligence Law also requires that all PRC firms, entities,
organizations, and citizens support, assist, and cooperate with
the PRC's intelligence work.\5\
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\1\China's Stranglehold on EV Supply Chain Will Be Tough to Break,
Bloomberg (Sept. 27, 2023) (www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-breaking-
china-ev-supply-chain-dominance/).
\2\Craig Singleton, Beijing's Power Play, Safeguarding U.S.
National Security in the Electric Vehicle and Battery Industries, FDD
(Oct. 23, 2023) (https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/10/23/beijings-
power-play/).
\3\Networked ``Smart'' Chargers Pose a Bigger National Security
Risk Than Companies Realize, Automotive Fleet (Sept. 23, 2024) (https:/
/www.automotive-fleet.com/10228628/networked-smart-chargers-pose-a-
bigger-security-risk-than-companies-realize).
\4\Craig Singleton, Beijing's Power Play, Safeguarding U.S.
National Security in the Electric Vehicle and Battery Industries, FDD
(Oct. 23, 2023) (https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/10/23/beijings-
power-play/).
\5\PRC National Intelligence Law (as amended in 2018), China Law
Translate, (www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/national-intelligence-law-of-
the-p-r-c-2017/) (Accessed Nov. 13, 2024).
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Section 154 of the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2024 prohibits the Department of Defense (DoD) from
procuring batteries from specific companies that are closely
aligned with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It also
prohibits DoD from procuring batteries from entities found on
various U.S. Government control lists, including the Uyghur
Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity list maintained by a
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)-led task force, and the
1260H list maintained by DoD which identifies ``Chinese
military companies'' that DoD is prohibited from contracting
with because of the risks they pose to national security.\6\ By
expanding U.S. procurement prohibitions to DHS, H.R. 8631 would
prevent the CCP from exploiting economic and security
vulnerabilities that U.S. reliance on these Chinese-based
batteries cause. The bill sunsets the prohibition five years
after the effective date, allowing Congress to evaluate the
bill's impact, and as appropriate extend and, if necessary,
tailor its provisions in order to continue addressing national
security threats.
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\6\National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (P.L.
118-31), section 154.
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III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Representative Carlos Gimenez (R-FL 28) introduced H.R.
8631, the Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery
Dependence Act, on June 5, 2024, with original cosponsors
Representatives Mark Green (R-TN-07), John Moolenaar (R-MI-02),
and August Pfluger (R-TX-11). Rep. Daniel Meuser (R-PA-09)
joined as an additional cosponsor on June 11, 2024. The bill
was referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security. The
Committee considered H.R. 8631 at a meeting on June 12, 2024,
and ordered the measure to be favorably reported to the House,
as amended, by voice vote. The House of Representatives
considered H.R. 8631 on September 9, 2024, under suspension of
the rules, and passed the bill by voice vote.
The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs on September 10, 2024. The
Committee considered H.R. 8631 at a business meeting on
November 20, 2024. At the business meeting, Senator Peters
offered a substitute amendment to the bill, as well as a
modification to the substitute amendment. The Peters substitute
amendment, as modified, prohibits additional funds from being
authorized to be appropriated to carry out the bill, sunsets
the bill's provisions on October 1, 2033, and pushes the
effective date of the legislation by one year until October 1,
2028. The Peters substitute amendment, as modified, also adds
additional information that DHS is required to provide
congressional committees in the required report and adds a rule
of construction such that the requirements of the bill do not
affect batteries produced by the listed entities that are
present in equipment, systems, or services on the day before
the October 1, 2028 effective date.
The Committee adopted the modification to the Peters
substitute amendment, and the Peters substitute, as modified,
by unanimous consent with Senators Peters, Hassan, Rosen,
Ossoff, Blumenthal, Butler, Lankford, Scott, Hawley, and
Marshall present. The bill, as amended by the Peters substitute
amendment, as modified, was ordered reported favorably by roll
call vote of 10 yeas to 0 nays, with Senators Peters, Hassan,
Rosen, Ossoff, Blumenthal, Butler, Lankford, Scott, Hawley, and
Marshall voting in the affirmative. Senators Carper, Sinema,
Johnson, and Romney voted yea by proxy, and Senator Paul voted
nay by proxy, for the record only.
IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED
Section 1. Short title
This section establishes the short title of the bill as the
``Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act.''
Section 2. Prohibition on availability of funds for procurement of
certain batteries
Subsection (a) prohibits funds authorized to be
appropriated or otherwise made available for DHS to be used to
procure batteries produced by specific entities, effective
October 1, 2028.
Subsection (b) outlines specific named entities, states the
successors of those entities and other entities on U.S.
Government control lists (including the Uyghur Forced Labor
Prevention Act) are also subject to the prohibition.
Subsection (c) states that a ``battery'' should be
considered produced by an entity outlined in subsection (b) if
such entity assembles of manufactures the final product that
uses such battery or creates or otherwise provides a majority
of the battery's components.
Subsection (d) authorizes the DHS Secretary to waive the
prohibitions if the Secretary assesses that the batteries do
not pose a national security, data, or infrastructure risk, if
no similar alternatives are available, and if the batteries are
procured solely for research, evaluation, training, testing, or
analysis. The DHS Secretary must notify Congress within 15 days
of granting such a waiver.
Subsection (e) directs the DHS Secretary to provide a
report on the anticipated impacts on mission and costs to DHS
associated with implementing the bill's prohibitions within 180
days after enactment to the Senate Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee and the House Committee on
Homeland Security.
Subsection (f) allows DHS to keep batteries, or equipment,
systems, or services containing them, procured prior to the
effective date through their natural life cycle.
Section 3. No new funds
This section states that no additional funds are authorized
to be appropriated for the purposes of carrying out the bill.
Section 4. Sunset
This section sunsets the bill's provisions on October 1,
2033.
V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED
This legislation would make no change in existing law,
within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of subparagraph 12 of
rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, because this
legislation would not repeal or amend any provision of current
law.
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