December 07, 2025

Chairman Scott Celebrates Key Banking Committee National Security Wins Included in Final Version of NDAA

Washington, D.C. – Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-S.C.) today celebrated key Banking Committee national security priorities included in the final conferenced version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including Chairman Scott’s Protect Our Bases Act, an extension of the Defense Production Act (DPA), and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas)’s bipartisan Foreign Investment Guardrails to Help Thwart (FIGHT) China Act. Together, these provisions strengthen oversight of foreign land purchases near sensitive U.S. military installations, secure critical supply chains, and help ensure American capital is not fueling the Chinese Communist Party’s military ambitions.

“As Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, my focus has been clear: strengthening national security, protecting the American homeland, and expanding opportunity for families. That is why I have ensured that this NDAA safeguards our military bases through my Protect Our Bases Act, secures critical supply chains by extending the Defense Production Act, and prevents U.S. capital from advancing the Chinese Communist Party’s military ambitions through Senator Cornyn’s bipartisanFIGHT China Act. I’m grateful to the advocates and partners, including the Trump Administration, who worked tirelessly with me to support the inclusion of my ROAD to Housing Act in the NDAA. I will continue fighting to advance President Trump’s affordability agenda by moving legislation that helps make homeownership more attainable for American families,” said Chairman Scott.

BACKGROUND:

Protect Our Bases Act

The Protect Our Bases Act strengthens the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review process for foreign land purchases near sensitive military, intelligence, and national laboratory sites. Specifically, the legislation:

  1. Requires CFIUS member agencies to annually update records of sensitive national security sites;
  2. Improves the usability of those records for national security reviews; and
  3. Enhances transparency and accountability through annual reporting to Congress.

The legislation was introduced following the attempted 2022 land purchase near Grand Forks Air Force Base by a Chinese-owned company, which exposed shortcomings in the existing review process.

Defense Production Act

First enacted in 1950, the DPA ensures the U.S. can rapidly scale industrial capacity during times of national emergency.

Chairman Scott led efforts in the NDAA to reaffirm and strengthen the DPA’s focus on its core mission:

  1. Defense Production: Supporting the defense industrial base, including munitions manufacturing and advanced technologies.
  2. Emergency Preparedness: Enabling swift responses to natural disasters and national emergencies.
  3. Critical Domestic Supply Chains: Reducing reliance on adversaries like China for rare earth minerals, pharmaceuticals, and essential defense components.

The DPA has been used effectively in the past – from supplying PPE during COVID to ramping up disaster relief – and continues to be a cornerstone of America’s security and resilience.

FIGHT China Act

Chairman Scott is a cosponsor of the bipartisan Foreign Investment Guardrails to Help Thwart (FIGHT) China Act, led by Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), which establishes strong outbound investment guardrails to protect U.S. national security.

The FIGHT China Act:

  1. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to prohibit or require notification of certain U.S. investments in sensitive technologies in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), including advanced semiconductors, certain artificial intelligence systems, quantum computing, hypersonic-related materials, and other military-relevant technologies.
  2. Requires U.S. persons to notify the Treasury Department of covered investments in specified high-risk sectors in the PRC, ensuring greater transparency into flows of capital that could benefit the PRC’s military and intelligence apparatus.
  3. Establishes targeted exemptions for de minimis, low-risk, and certain portfolio transactions while maintaining robust tools to protect U.S. national security and align American investment with the Trump administration’s America First investment policy.