ICYMI: Chairmen Williams, Babin, Walberg, and Moolenaar Send Letters to Universities on SBIR and STTR Programs

Summary

A May 15, 2025 release from the House Committee on Small Business reporting that Roger Williams, Brian Babin, Tim Walberg and John Moolenaar, each a committee chairman, sent letters to the State University of New York (SUNY) and the University of California (UC). The letters urge the university systems to keep innovation from small businesses out of the hands of foreign adversaries such as the People's Republic of China. The release reproduces a CQ Roll Call article by Briana Reilly dated May 15, 2025, which discusses concerns about foreign influence in the SBIR and STTR programs. The article states that the programs' authorization is set to expire on September 30, 2025, and mentions HR 3169 and S 853.

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ICYMI: Chairmen Williams, Babin, Walberg, and Moolenaar Send Letters to Universities on the  Risk of CCP Infiltration into SBIR and STTR Programs
Source(print): https://smallbusiness.house.gov/news/documentprint.aspx?DocumentID=407227

ICYMI: Chairmen Williams, Babin, Walberg, and Moolenaar Send Letters to Universities on the Risk of CCP Infiltration into SBIR and STTR Programs 

 smallbusiness.house.gov 

 Cmte Small Business (R) 

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 ICYMI: Chairmen Williams, Babin, Walberg, and Moolenaar Send Letters to Universities on the Risk of CCP Infiltration into SBIR and STTR Programs 

 Washington ,
 May 15, 2025 
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 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman  Roger Williams (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business; Congressman Brian Babin (R-TX), Chairman of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology; Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI), Chairman of the Committee on Education and Workforce; and Congressman John Moolenaar (R-MI), Chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), sent letters  to the  to the State University of New York (SUNY) and the University of California (UC) urging the university systems ensure that innovation developed by American small businesses stays out of the hands of our foreign adversaries, like the People’s Republic of China. 
 In Case You Missed It: 
 “Foreign influence concerns loom over small-business programs” 
 CQ Roll Call 
 Briana Reilly 
 May 15, 2025 
 Leading House GOP lawmakers are doubling down on concerns about potential foreign influence in two critical small-business programs designed to bolster innovation within the military.  
 A new pair of letters from four of the chamber’s committee chairmen offers the latest sign that issues surrounding contractors’ potential foreign ties will again loom large during debate over renewing the decades-old, complementary grant programs that advocates say are a critical pathway for introducing new technologies to the Pentagon.  
 In their Wednesday missives, the lawmakers specifically invoked concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s relationship with the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, charging that the two “have become a backdoor pipeline for China’s military and economic ambitions.”  
 “Academic institutions are susceptible to exploitation by the PRC’s massive resources and infrastructure,” lawmakers warned. “By infiltrating universities and businesses that receive SBIR/STTR funding, China is able to use this pathway as yet another avenue to extract sensitive information and undermine both U.S. national security and economic competitiveness.” 
 The letters, addressed to the chancellor of the  State University of New York  and the president of the  University of California , were cosigned by House Small Business Chair  Roger Williams  of Texas; Science, Space, and Technology Chair  Brian Babin  of Texas; Education and Workforce Chair  Tim Walberg  of Michigan; and House select China committee Chair  John Moolenaar  of Michigan.  
 They ask both universities to answer questions about their approach to the threats foreign adversaries pose to their research programs.  
 The focus on combating foreign influence in the two programs dominated the 2022 reauthorization debate, following a Defense Department-commissioned report that reportedly found the Chinese government “deliberately exploits the SBIR and STTR programs to acquire cutting-edge U.S. technology,” as lawmakers wrote in their letters.  
 And two already-introduced plans to extend both programs identify efforts to address award recipients’ foreign affiliations. A bicameral bill ( HR 3169 ), from top Democrats on the House and Senate Small Business panels,  would re-up  until 2030 language in current law ( PL 117-183 ) that sought to head off risks posed by contractors’ foreign ties.  
 Separately, a proposal ( S 853 ) from Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair  Joni Ernst , R-Iowa, seeks to  address  the issue by, in part, strengthening agencies’ ability to claw back grant funds. 
 Ernst this week unveiled her own  report  that sought to highlight the volume of program applicants that had been flagged by government agencies for potentially risky foreign ties in 2023 and 2024, as she made the case for approving “strong and enforceable due diligence requirements” in her legislation. 
 “This alarming report must serve as a wake-up call to Washington,” Ernst said in a Wednesday release. “The SBIR-STTR programs provide a valuable pipeline of technology that we cannot allow China and other foreign adversaries to steal.”  
 Williams has yet to introduce his plan to reauthorize the programs. Discussions over extending the programs will take place between the so-called “six corners” — the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Small Business committees and the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. 
 Meanwhile, the letters explicitly stated House Republicans’ interest in tackling the foreign influence issue.  
 “With the SBIR and STTR programs’ authorization set to expire on September 30, 2025, the Committees of jurisdiction will consider legislative and policy changes to end the PRC’s exploitation of American taxpayer dollars,” lawmakers wrote. 
 “This includes considering changes to further bolster American innovation while safeguarding national security,” they continued. “We must ensure that the groundbreaking technologies developed by our small business community remain in the United States.” 
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