Kansas Senator Jerry Moran introduced the “Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology, or RESTRICT Act.

The legislation was co-authored by joined U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and John Thune (R-S.D.). Moran himself is a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Committee on Commerce.

The legislation aims to address the ongoing threats posed by technology from foreign adversaries by allowing the Department of Commerce to review, prevent and mitigate information communications and technology transactions that pose undue risk to America’s national security.

“Foreign adversaries are increasingly using products and services to collect information on American citizens, posing a threat to our national security,” said Sen. Moran. “This legislation would give the Department of Commerce the authority to help prevent adversarial governments from controlling harmful products and services in the U.S., providing us the long-term tools necessary to combat the infiltration of our information and communications systems. The government needs to be vigilant against these threats, but a comprehensive data privacy law is needed to ensure Americans are able to control who accesses their data and for what purpose.”

The RESTRICT Act establishes a risk-based process, tailored to the rapidly changing technology and threat environment, by directing the Department of Commerce to identify and mitigate foreign threats to information and communications technology products and services.

This bipartisan legislation is also cosponsored by U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah).