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People & committees
Rep. Houlahan, Chrissy [D-PA-6] · D–PA
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Jul 1, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-03-03 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.
The proposed NETWORKS Act would require restrictions on significant property transactions involving foreign people or organizations that produce fifth-generation (5G) or later telecommunications technology and that the President determines conduct related business contrary to U.S. national security interests. The restrictions would cover property within U.S. jurisdiction or held or controlled by U.S. people or entities. The bill includes humanitarian and intelligence exceptions, temporary national-security waivers, and exclusions for standards-setting activities and transactions involving existing third- or fourth-generation networks.
This Act may be cited as the Neutralizing Emerging Threats from Wireless OEMs Receiving direction from Kleptocracies and Surveillance states Act or the NETWORKS Act.
block and prohibit all significant transactions in property and interests in property of a foreign person described in subsection (b) if such property and interests in property are in the United States, come within the United States, or are or come within the possession or control of a United States person.
A foreign person is described in this subsection if the President determines that the person, on or after the date of the enactment of this Act— (1) produces fifth or future generation telecommunications technology; and (2) conducts business relating to such telecommunications technology in a manner contrary to the United States’ national security interests.
Sanctions under this section shall not apply to any activity subject to the reporting requirements under title V of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) or any authorized intelligence activities of the United States.
Sanctions under this section may not be imposed with respect to transactions or the facilitation of transactions for— (A) the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices; (B) the provision of humanitarian assistance; (C) financial transactions relating to humanitarian assistance; or (D) transporting goods or services that are necessary to carry out operations relating to humanitarian assistance.
The President may waive the application of sanctions under this section with respect to a foreign person for renewable periods of not more than 90 days each if the President determines and reports to Congress that such a waiver is vital to the national security interests of the United States.
For purposes of this section, a transaction shall not be construed to include— (A) participation in an international standards-setting body or the activities of such a body; or (B) a transaction involving existing third or fourth generation telecommunications networks.
Section 2 expresses Congress's proposed position that secure telecommunications networks matter to national security, that risks from untrusted vendors—particularly those based in China—outweigh potential benefits, and that the government should use economic tools to promote secure networks. These are policy statements, not proof of those effects.
It is the sense of Congress that— (1) secure telecommunications networks, both domestically and within partner and allied nations, are important to the national security of the United States; (2) the risks posed by untrusted telecommunications vendors, particularly those based in the People’s Republic of China, to communications, data security, and the viability of networks outweigh any potential benefits; and (3) the United States Government should use the tools of economic statecraft to promote secure telecommunications networks.
Beginning 90 days after enactment, the President would have to use powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as necessary to block and prohibit significant transactions involving covered foreign persons' property. This would apply when the property is in or enters the United States, or is held or controlled by a U.S. person.
On and after the date that is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall exercise all of the powers granted to the President under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block and prohibit all significant transactions in property and interests in property of a foreign person described in subsection (b) if such property and interests in property are in the United States, come within the United States, or are or come within the possession or control of a United States person.
The sanctions test would require a presidential determination that, on or after enactment, a foreign person both produces 5G or later telecommunications technology and conducts related business contrary to U.S. national security interests. The operative test is not limited to persons based in China.
A foreign person is described in this subsection if the President determines that the person, on or after the date of the enactment of this Act— (1) produces fifth or future generation telecommunications technology; and (2) conducts business relating to such telecommunications technology in a manner contrary to the United States’ national security interests.
The term foreign person means any person that is not a United States person.
The bill covers both individual people and entities. U.S. persons would include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and entities organized under U.S. federal or state or other U.S. jurisdictional law, including their foreign branches. Other persons would count as foreign persons.
The term foreign person means any person that is not a United States person.
The term person means an individual or entity.
The term United States person means— (i) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United States; or (ii) an entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
Covered technology would be defined by telecommunications industry standards for 5G and later generations.
The term fifth or future generation telecommunications technology means telecommunications technology that conforms to the technical standards followed by the telecommunications industry for telecommunications technology that is commonly known in the industry as fifth generation or future generation technology.
In deciding whether transactions are significant, the President could consider all relevant facts and circumstances, including factors similar to those in a referenced federal regulation. The supplied bill does not set a numerical transaction threshold.
For the purposes of this section, in determining if transactions are significant, the President may consider the totality of the facts and circumstances, including factors similar to the factors set forth in section 561.404 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations (or any corresponding similar regulation or ruling).
Sanctions would not apply to activities subject to the specified intelligence-reporting requirements or to authorized U.S. intelligence activities.
Sanctions under this section shall not apply to any activity subject to the reporting requirements under title V of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) or any authorized intelligence activities of the United States.
Sanctions could not be imposed on transactions, or their facilitation, for sales of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices. The exception would also cover providing humanitarian assistance, related financial transactions, and transporting goods or services needed for humanitarian operations.
Sanctions under this section may not be imposed with respect to transactions or the facilitation of transactions for— (A) the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices; (B) the provision of humanitarian assistance; (C) financial transactions relating to humanitarian assistance; or (D) transporting goods or services that are necessary to carry out operations relating to humanitarian assistance.
The President could waive sanctions for a foreign person for renewable periods of up to 90 days each. Each waiver would require a determination and report to Congress that it is vital to U.S. national security interests.
The President may waive the application of sanctions under this section with respect to a foreign person for renewable periods of not more than 90 days each if the President determines and reports to Congress that such a waiver is vital to the national security interests of the United States.
The President could use specified existing emergency-economic authorities to implement the sanctions. Violations, attempted violations, conspiracies, and causing violations of the transaction restrictions or implementing regulations, licenses, or orders would carry penalties incorporated from the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The President may exercise the authorities provided to the President under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to the extent necessary to carry out this section.
A person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of subsection (a) or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry out that subsection shall be subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that section.
Participation in international bodies that set technical standards, and those bodies' activities, would be excluded from the meaning of a transaction under this section. Transactions involving existing third-generation (3G) or fourth-generation (4G) telecommunications networks would also be excluded.
For purposes of this section, a transaction shall not be construed to include— (A) participation in an international standards-setting body or the activities of such a body; or (B) a transaction involving existing third or fourth generation telecommunications networks.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated July 1, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on March 3, 2025. It does not establish the bill's status after that snapshot.
Source snapshot updated 2025-07-01T08:05:23Z. 2025-03-03: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. 2025-03-03: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-03-03. 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 is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The supplied text contains activity-specific exclusions from the central sanctions policy. These are narrow exceptions warranting scrutiny, not findings of improper favoritism.
Parties to transactions involving existing 3G or 4G telecommunications networks would receive a technology-specific exclusion from this section's transaction restrictions. The exception protects those transactions rather than exempting the parties from every sanction.
For purposes of this section, a transaction shall not be construed to include— (A) participation in an international standards-setting body or the activities of such a body; or (B) a transaction involving existing third or fourth generation telecommunications networks.
International standards-setting bodies and their participants would receive an activity-specific exclusion: participation and the bodies' activities would not count as transactions under this sanctions section.
For purposes of this section, a transaction shall not be construed to include— (A) participation in an international standards-setting body or the activities of such a body;
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Jul 1, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI