Susan Collins

United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021

This bill addresses U.S. technology and communications, foreign relations and national security, domestic manufacturing, education, trade, and other matters.

Among other provisions, the bill

• provides funding for FY2022-FY2026 to support U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, research and development, and supply chain security;

• provides funding for wireless supply chain innovation;

• establishes a Directorate for Technology and Innovation in the National Science Foundation;

• extends through 2025 the authority of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to lease its non-excess real property and related personal property;

• authorizes various programs and policies related to space exploration;

• authorizes various international affairs programs and activities, including foreign assistance for the Indo-Pacific region;

• requires federal infrastructure programs to provide for the use of materials produced in the United States;

• imposes sanctions on China for cybersecurity and human rights abuses;

• requires the Department of Health and Human Services to consider national security risks associated with sensitive genetic information;

• includes initiatives related to elementary and secondary education, including those to increase computer science education;

• contains provisions related to higher education, including those reauthorizing through FY2027 international education programs and addressing China's influence on institutions of higher education;

• modifies and expands the schedule for graduated merger filing fees;

• prohibits federal funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology;

• requires the U.S. Trade Representative to take certain actions related to digital trade and censorship practices; and

• extends through 2027 the Generalized System of Preferences.

Hizballah in Latin America Accountability Act of 2021

This bill establishes requirements related to activities of Hizballah in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Specifically, the President must impose property- and visa-blocking sanctions on foreign persons determined to have knowingly engaged in significant transactions with, or provided material support to, Hizballah in a Latin American or Caribbean country.

The Department of the Treasury, in consultation with the Department of State, must report on illicit activities of Hizballah in Latin America and the Caribbean. This report must include (1) an estimate of how much of Hizbollah's budget derives from such activities, (2) an assessment of interagency efforts and progress in countering such activities, and (3) an identification of financial institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean known to be operating on behalf of or with ties to Hizballah.

The Department of Homeland Security must seek to improve (1) data sharing among trade transparency units with respect to operations against malign actors among Latin American and Caribbean countries, and (2) cooperation with federal agencies with respect to trade transparency units.