PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Harrigan, Pat [R-NC-10] · R–NC
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Oct 6, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-08-13 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This proposal would bar certain foreign nationals from visiting or taking longer assignments at National Laboratories, including access already requested or approved when it became law. U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents would be excluded from the restriction. The Secretary of Energy could grant individual written exceptions after consulting intelligence officials and certifying that benefits to the United States outweigh national security and economic risks.
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, a National Laboratory— (A) shall not admit as a visitor or assignee any covered foreign national; and (B) shall prohibit access to any visitor or assignee that is a covered foreign national and has sought or obtained approval to access the premises, information, or technology of the National Laboratory as of that date.
The term covered foreign national does not include an individual that is— (i) lawfully admitted for permanent residence (as defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a))); or (ii) a citizen of the United States.
if the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the Department of Energy and a senior counterintelligence official— (A) certifies that the benefits to the United States of admittance or access to the National Laboratory by the covered foreign national outweigh the national security and economic risks to the United States; and (B) issues to the National Laboratory, in writing, a waiver of paragraph (1) with respect to the covered foreign national.
Section 1 names the proposal the Guarding American Technology from Exploitation Act of 2026, or GATE Act of 2026.
This Act may be cited as the Guarding American Technology from Exploitation Act of 2026 or the GATE Act of 2026.
The restriction would cover foreign nationals of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and Cuba. It would exclude U.S. citizens and people lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
The term covered foreign national means a foreign national of any of the following countries: (i) The People’s Republic of China. (ii) The Russian Federation. (iii) The Islamic Republic of Iran. (iv) The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. (v) The Republic of Cuba.
The term covered foreign national does not include an individual that is— (i) lawfully admitted for permanent residence (as defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a))); or (ii) a citizen of the United States.
An “assignee” would be someone seeking or holding approval to access a laboratory's premises, information or technology for more than 30 consecutive days. A “visitor” would be someone seeking or holding approval for a period shorter than a period described in the assignee definition.
The term assignee means an individual who is seeking approval from, or has been approved by, a National Laboratory to access the premises, information, or technology of the National Laboratory for a period of more than 30 consecutive days.
The term visitor means an individual who is seeking approval from, or has been approved by, a National Laboratory to access the premises, information, or technology of the National Laboratory for any period shorter than a period described in paragraph (1).
The bill incorporates statutory definitions by reference: “foreign national” takes the Immigration and Nationality Act's meaning of “alien,” and “National Laboratory” takes its meaning from section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Those referenced provisions are not supplied, so their full scope cannot be established from this source set.
The term foreign national has the meaning given the term alien in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)).
The term National Laboratory has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
Starting on enactment, laboratories would have to deny admission to covered visitors and assignees unless a waiver applied. They would also have to block access for covered visitors and assignees who had already requested or received approval by that date.
Except as provided in paragraph (2), beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, a National Laboratory— (A) shall not admit as a visitor or assignee any covered foreign national; and (B) shall prohibit access to any visitor or assignee that is a covered foreign national and has sought or obtained approval to access the premises, information, or technology of the National Laboratory as of that date.
An individual waiver would require the Energy Secretary to consult the Director of the Department of Energy's Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence and a specified senior FBI official. The bill lists the FBI Director, Deputy Director, Executive Assistant Director of the National Security Branch and Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division. The Secretary would have to certify that U.S. benefits outweigh national security and economic risks and issue the waiver to the laboratory in writing.
The term senior counterintelligence official means— (A) the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; (B) the Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; (C) the Executive Assistant Director of the National Security Branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and (D) the Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a National Laboratory with respect to a covered foreign national if the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the Department of Energy and a senior counterintelligence official— (A) certifies that the benefits to the United States of admittance or access to the National Laboratory by the covered foreign national outweigh the national security and economic risks to the United States; and (B) issues to the National Laboratory, in writing, a waiver of paragraph (1) with respect to the covered foreign national.
Within 30 days after issuing a waiver, the Energy Secretary would have to notify six designated congressional committees. The notice would have to include the person's country of origin, the admission- or access-request date, the waiver-decision date and specific reasons for the exception.
Not later than 30 days after the date on which a waiver is issued under paragraph (2), the Secretary of Energy shall submit to the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a notification describing the waiver, including— (A) the country of origin of the covered foreign national who is the subject of the waiver; (B) the date of the request by the covered foreign national for admission or access to the National Laboratory; (C) the date on which the decision to issue the waiver was made; and (D) the specific reasons for issuing the waiver.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated October 6, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on August 13, 2026.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-06T08:06:12Z. 2026-08-13: Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. 2026-08-13: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-08-13. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials, and formal earmark disclosures are not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The supplied introduced text contains a conditional individual exemption warranting scrutiny as a targeted benefit. This classification does not establish that an exemption has been granted or that it would be unjustified.
A covered foreign national could receive an individual exception from the bill's central National Laboratory admission and access ban. The beneficiary would be the individual covered by the waiver. The exception would require the Energy Secretary to consult the specified intelligence officials, certify that U.S. benefits outweigh national security and economic risks, and issue a written waiver to the laboratory. This is a narrow exemption within the main policy; the supplied text does not name an actual recipient or establish that any waiver has been granted.
Except as provided in paragraph (2), beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, a National Laboratory— (A) shall not admit as a visitor or assignee any covered foreign national; and (B) shall prohibit access to any visitor or assignee that is a covered foreign national and has sought or obtained approval to access the premises, information, or technology of the National Laboratory as of that date.
Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a National Laboratory with respect to a covered foreign national if the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the Department of Energy and a senior counterintelligence official— (A) certifies that the benefits to the United States of admittance or access to the National Laboratory by the covered foreign national outweigh the national security and economic risks to the United States; and (B) issues to the National Laboratory, in writing, a waiver of paragraph (1) with respect to the covered foreign national.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 6, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI