Washington, D.C. – During today’s Senate Judiciary Committee markup of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) expressed concerns with proposed antitrust legislation, citing deep national security risks of the bill. In September, a bipartisan group of former national security and intelligence leaders also highlighted the grave threat that this bill poses to America’s national security and competitive edge against countries like China that are seeking to dominate. In response to Sen. Feinstein’s concern, TechNet SVP Carl Holshouser issued the following statement:

“Senator Feinstein is right to highlight how disarming America amid constant cyber warfare would have wide sweeping and dangerous implications for national security and the economy. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act would damage our national security and strengthen China, which is why a bipartisan group of ex-intelligence and national security leaders sounded the alarm. It would also put millions of Americans at risk of ransomware, malware, and scam attacks by making it easier for foreign governments and criminal hackers to exploit the reduced security standards this bill would require.”

Highlights from the letter:

  • “Recent congressional antitrust proposals that target specific American technology firms would degrade critical R&D priorities, allow foreign competitors to displace leaders in the U.S. tech sector both at home and abroad, and potentially put sensitive U.S. data and IP in the hands of Beijing.”
  • “…we believe more deliberate analysis is needed to examine the detrimental impact these bills could have on our strategic competition with China. Congress should not proceed with current legislative proposals before understanding the full range of potential consequences.”

The letter was signed by:

Robert Cardillo
Former Director, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Dan Coats
Former Director of National Intelligence Former U.S. Senator from Indiana

Admiral James Foggo III
Former Commander of United States Naval Forces Europe-Africa Distinguished Fellow, Council on Competitiveness

Richard H. Ledgett Jr.
Former Deputy Director, National Security Agency

John D. Negroponte
Former Deputy Secretary of State
Former Director of National Intelligence

Leon E. Panetta
Former Secretary of Defense
Former Director, Central Intelligence Agency

Vice Admiral Jan E. Tighe
Former Director of Naval Intelligence
Former Commander of the Tenth Fleet

Frances Townsend
Former Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security