U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R) and Representative August Pfluger (R), have unveiled new legislation aimed at preventing former U.S. military and Defense Department officials from leveraging their national security knowledge on behalf of entities tied to the Chinese government.
The Restricting Ex-Vetted Officials from Knowledge Exploitation (REVOKE) Act would require the U.S. Secretary of Defense to suspend and revoke security clearances for any retired service member, separated Armed Forces personnel, or former civilian DOD employee who lobbies for organizations affiliated with the People's Republic of China (PRC).
"China seizes any and every opportunity to undermine American interests and cannot be trusted," Cornyn commented. "Any former service member or DOD employee who exploits their access to American intelligence on our defense strategy and warfighting capabilities to behoove China and their own pocketbooks should unquestionably have their security clearance revoked and be held to account for such treachery."
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Senator Cornyn in creating the bill and in emphasizing concerns over Chinese military-linked companies hiring former U.S. officials to shape Washington policy.
"Blacklisted Chinese military companies routinely hire former American officials turned lobbyists to curry favor for them in Washington," Whitehouse said. "Congress should make it clear that lobbyists working for an adversary's military should no longer have access to America's national security secrets."
Pfluger called the legislation a necessary safeguard to protect U.S. interests.
"Far too often we see individuals leave government only to lobby on behalf of foreign adversaries who wish to see America fail," he said. "By stripping security clearances from any former DoD personnel who lobby for China, this commonsense, bipartisan, bicameral bill moves us one step closer to ensuring that those in Washington are here to serve America, not undermine it."
