Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Mark Warner, D-Va., have introduced a bill to establish the Office of Critical Technologies and Security at the White House to mitigate national supply chain risks, Rubio’s office said Friday.
The proposed unit will oversee inter-agency coordination and develop a standardized, long-term strategy to implement supply chain regulations and protect the U.S. against technology theft by adversaries such as China.
Rubio said the bipartisan legislation will streamline the government’s efforts and provide a coordinated approach to countering threats to the nation’s critical networks and infrastructure.
Rubio and Warner previously sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in October 2018 to reconsider Huawei’s participation in Canada’s 5G efforts.
Rubio also introduced a bill in September to strictly ensure ZTE’s full compliance with all probationary conditions under a deal with the Department of Commerce.
The two senators currently serve on the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence.