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Today, Congressman Bob Latta’s (R-OH5) legislation, the Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (ROUTERS) Act, was approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

As Chair of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee, Latta also helped advance three other bills to counter threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to communications networks in the United States.

“Americans should know whether the routers and modems they have in their homes are produced by companies with ties to foreign adversaries,” Latta said. “Communist China state-sponsored companies are known to make unsecured routers – sold here in the United States – that are easily susceptible to cyberattacks and serve as entry points for bad actors into consumers’ homes, networks, and devices. In recent years, the U.S. has taken strong steps to prevent Huawei and ZTE communication equipment from being used in our infrastructure; however, we have more to do. That’s why I introduced the ROUTERS Act to ensure our communications networks are secure from threats posed by foreign adversary-controlled technology, and I’m proud this bill builds upon those efforts.

Latta concluded, “I’m also pleased to have worked with Reps. Stefanik and Matsui to advance three other bills today that will counter threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party to our communications infrastructure. As a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I remain committed to working with my colleagues in Congress to advance efforts that rip-and-replace Communist Chinese technology from our communications infrastructure and prevent the Chinese Communist Party from surveilling and manipulating Americans through online applications.

Background on Latta’s Routers Act:

The ROUTERS Act would require the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the Department of Commerce to conduct a study of the national security risks posed by routers, modems, or devices that combine both, that are designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons owned by, controlled by or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, or Venezuela.

Click here for more information on the four bills that advanced through the Communications and Technology Subcommittee today.

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