Fri Sep 20 13:19:50 UTC 2024: ## Senator Ernst Sounds Alarm on Foreign Access to US Labs, Demands Data from Energy Department

**WASHINGTON D.C.** – Republican Senator Joni Ernst has raised concerns about potential espionage at US national laboratories, demanding information from the Department of Energy about the number of Chinese, Russian, and Iranian nationals granted access to these facilities. The senator’s call for transparency comes after a recent Senate Intelligence Committee report revealed that thousands of foreign citizens, including over 8,000 from China and Russia, were granted access to the labs in fiscal year 2023.

Senator Ernst, citing the report’s findings, stressed that “National Laboratories are prime targets for espionage and theft by foreign adversaries,” especially from China, which she accuses of actively recruiting scientists from these labs to work on its military programs and stealing research through visiting students and scholars.

“After COVID-19 we should have learned our lesson about trusting Communist China’s scientists,” Senator Ernst told The Post. “We know our adversaries run sophisticated espionage programs to steal research, we do not need to invite them in.”

The senator has requested specific data from the Energy Department on the number of visitors from Russia, China, and Iran to the national labs in the past three fiscal years, including information about those individuals flagged as potential counterintelligence risks. She has given the department a deadline of November 29 to provide this information.

The Energy Department currently operates 17 national laboratories across the country, including the Ames National Laboratory in Iowa. The heightened concern about foreign access comes amidst ongoing geopolitical tensions with China, Russia, and Iran. This year, a US national was arrested for allegedly trying to steal secrets from Google’s Artificial Intelligence program. Some estimates suggest the US loses up to $600 billion annually due to intellectual property theft from Chinese espionage.

Senator Ernst has a history of advocating for stronger measures to protect US intellectual property. In 2022, she played a key role in drafting a bill aimed at preventing Chinese and Russian firms from obtaining sensitive technology secrets from Small Business Administration programs. She also supported legislation to ban funding for research conducted in adversarial nations.

The Energy Department has been contacted for comment on Senator Ernst’s request.

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