Last week, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., got his “Secure Equipment Act” through the U.S. Senate without opposition and the bill now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk.
At the end of May, Rubio brought out the “Secure Equipment Act.” The bill would have the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) “clarify that it will no longer review, or approve, applications from companies on the Commission’s ‘Covered List’” and “prevent further integration and sales of Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua – all Chinese state-backed or directed firms – in the U.S. regardless of whether federal funds are involved.”
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., was the main co-sponsor in the Senate. Over in the U.S. House, U.S. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., championed the proposal.
“Chinese state-directed companies like Huawei and ZTE are known national security threats and have no place in our telecommunications network,” Rubio said. “I am grateful that the Senate and House passed this bill, which will help keep compromised equipment from bad actors out of critical American infrastructure. Now, President Biden must swiftly sign it into law so that the Chinese Communist Party can no longer exploit this dangerous loophole.”
“In today’s increasingly connected world, we must animate our technology with our values,” Markey said. “That’s why our bipartisan legislation will keep compromised equipment out of U.S. telecommunications networks and ensure our technology is safe for consumers and secure for the United States. I’m proud to have helped lead this effort and I thank my colleagues in both chambers of Congress for passing our bill. I stand ready to now work with the Biden administration and the FCC to implement this critical national security measure.”
The House passed the bill on a 420-4 two weeks ago. U.S. Reps. Sean Casten, D-Ill., Veronica Escobar, D-Tex., Sylvia Garcia, D-Tex., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted against the proposal. Seven members of the House did not vote. Every member of the Florida delegation backed the bill.
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