NASA says it explores and innovates “for the benefit of humanity,” but that should not mean the United States explores scientific frontiers on behalf of its enemies. The U.S. must do more to prevent sensitive research from being given away to China and other adversaries. It can start by strengthening a law that is already on the books.
In 2011, Congress passed the Wolf Amendment, named after its sponsor, Rep. Frank Wolf, then a long-serving Republican congressman from Virginia. The amendment, a recurring provision in NASA’s appropriations acts, prohibits the agency from using federal funds for bilateral cooperation with China or Chinese-owned companies unless Congress authorizes it and the FBI certifies that the activity poses no national security risk.
American tax dollars shouldn’t be empowering our foremost adversary. Yet that is precisely what has happened.
A recent report by the U.S. House Select Committee on China found that enforcement of the Wolf Amendment has been lackluster at best.
The committee identified “hundreds of co-authored publications demonstrating bilateral research relationships with Chinese entities that acknowledge NASA support or funding.” Each could pose risks to American competitiveness and national security.
“Research supported by NASA and other U.S. federal agencies has in several instances involved collaborations with institutions that are part of China’s defense research and industrial base,” the committee noted.
Some of these entities appear on U.S. government lists because of their roles in developing military technologies, including unmanned aerial vehicles, rocket systems, and advanced aerospace capabilities.
Other research areas include hypersonics, autonomous systems, and computer modeling. Thanks to the Chinese Communist Party’s military-civil fusion strategy, these fields are “directly relevant to next-generation defense systems,” according to the report.
In the nearly 15 years since the provision was enacted, NASA has reported fewer than 50 Wolf Amendment certifications, a paltry number that suggests that “a significant number of engagements may have proceeded without the required certification,” the committee found.
Part of the problem has been a lack of resources. NASA has lacked a “dedicated and mature research security program” and has failed to conduct “systemic post-award monitoring to identify undisclosed foreign participation.”
The agency has been working with the committee to rectify these deficiencies by belatedly establishing a dedicated research security office and utilizing software to identify potential violations. This is a good first step, but it is far from sufficient.
Congress can help by passing the Securing Innovation and Research from Adversaries Act, which prohibits any individual who benefits from federally funded research from working with entities or individuals tied to entities on the U.S. government restricted list.
Through appropriations and authorizing language, Congress should provide NASA’s research security office with dedicated funding and staffing while also requiring regular reporting on certification reviews and identified violations. NASA should also debar or suspend contracts with repeat offenders.
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These measures would broaden the scope of what the Wolf Amendment seeks to accomplish while providing NASA with the tools that it clearly needs.
America’s scientific and technological know-how helped win the last Cold War, and it will be just as essential to winning this one. NASA’s mission may be “for the benefit of humanity,” but American taxpayers should not be underwriting research that strengthens Beijing’s military-industrial base. Congress should strengthen the Wolf Amendment, fund real enforcement, and make clear that access to U.S.-funded research is a privilege, not an entitlement for America’s adversaries.