Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jun 18, 2019
Protect Our Universities Act of 2019
This bill restricts student participation in sensitive research projects and prohibits the use of certain technologies for such projects.
The bill requires each student, prior to participating in a sensitive research project, to provide proof of citizenship to the institution of higher education where the project is being carried out. Specifically, it prohibits students who are citizens of China, Iran, or Russia from participating in such a project unless the student applies for and receives approval.
It prohibits certain technologies developed by listed entities, including Huawei Technologies Company and ZTE Corporation, from being used to carry out sensitive research projects.
It also requires the Department of Homeland Security to establish a national security technology task force, which must maintain a list of sensitive research projects and provide guidance to the institutions of higher education where such projects are being carried out.
Source last updated: Jan 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.1879 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.1879 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.1879 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.1879 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.