HouseH.R. 9129119th Congress

GUARD Act of 2026

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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9129 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9129

 To provide for certain humanoid and quadruped robotics communications 
 equipment or services to be placed on the covered list of the Federal 
           Communications Commission, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 3, 2026

     Mr. Moolenaar (for himself, Mr. Obernolte, and Ms. McClellan) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To provide for certain humanoid and quadruped robotics communications 
 equipment or services to be placed on the covered list of the Federal 
           Communications Commission, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Guarding the U.S. against 
Adversarial Robotics Dominance Act of 2026'' or the ``GUARD Act of 
2026''.

SEC. 2. ANALYSIS OF CERTAIN HUMANOID OR QUADRUPED ROBOTICS 
              COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT OR SERVICES.

    (a) Evaluation of Covered Robotics Communications Equipment or 
Services.--
            (1) Placement on covered list.--Except as provided in 
        paragraph (2), not later than 1 year after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, an appropriate national security agency 
        shall determine if covered robotics communications equipment or 
        services pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of 
        the United States or the security and safety of United states 
        persons.
            (2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) does not apply with respect 
        to any covered robotics communications equipment or service 
        that an appropriate national security agency determines, not 
        later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
        does not pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of 
        the United States or the security and safety of United States 
        persons.
            (3) Addition to covered list.--If the appropriate national 
        security agency does not make a determination as required by 
        paragraph (1) within 1 year after the enactment of this Act, 
        the Commission shall add all covered robotics communications 
        equipment or services to the covered list.
    (b) Effect of Other Determinations.--
            (1) Determined to pose unacceptable risk.--Not later than 
        30 days after an appropriate national security agency 
        determines that any covered robotics communications equipment 
        or service poses an unacceptable risk to the national security 
        of the United States or the security and safety of United 
        States persons--
                    (A) the Commission shall place such covered 
                robotics communications equipment or service on the 
                covered list; and
                    (B) the appropriate national security agency shall 
                submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
                report on the determination of such agency, which shall 
                be submitted in unclassified form but may contain a 
                classified annex.
            (2) Determined not to pose unacceptable risk.--If an 
        appropriate national security agency determines that any 
        covered robotics communications equipment or service does not 
        pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the 
        United States or the security and safety of United States 
        persons--
                    (A) not later than 30 days after the determination, 
                such agency shall submit to the appropriate 
                congressional committees and all other appropriate 
                national security agencies a report on the 
                determination, which shall be submitted in unclassified 
                form but may contain a classified annex; and
                    (B) not later than 180 days after the 
                determination, all other appropriate national security 
                agencies shall review the determination and shall 
                submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
                report on the respective determinations of such 
                agencies, which shall be submitted in unclassified form 
                but may contain a classified annex.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 
                on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the 
                Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and 
                the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 
                on Homeland Security, the Committee on Energy and 
                Commerce, and the Permanent Select Committee on 
                Intelligence of the House of Representatives.
            (2) Appropriate national security agency.--The term 
        ``appropriate national security agency'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 9 of the Secure and Trusted Communications 
        Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1608).
            (3) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Communications Commission.
            (4) Communications equipment or services.--The term 
        ``communications equipment or services'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 9 of the Secure and Trusted Communications 
        Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1608).
            (5) Country of concern.--The term ``country of concern'' 
        has the meaning given such term in section 1(m)(1) of the State 
        Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 
        2651a(m)(1)).
            (6) Covered foreign entity.--The term ``covered foreign 
        entity'' means--
                    (A) an entity that--
                            (i) is headquartered in, has its principal 
                        place of business in, or is organized under the 
                        laws of a country of concern; or
                            (ii) is subject to the influence, 
                        direction, or control of the government of a 
                        country of concern;
                    (B) an affiliate or wholly or partially owned 
                subsidiary of an entity described in subparagraph (A);
                    (C) an entity in a joint venture with an entity 
                described in subparagraph (A); and
                    (D) an entity with which an entity described in 
                subparagraph (A) has a technology sharing or licensing 
                agreement.
            (7) Covered list.--The term ``covered list'' means the list 
        of covered communications equipment or services published by 
        the Commission under section 2(a) of the Secure and Trusted 
        Communications Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1601(a)).
            (8) Covered robotics communications equipment or service.--
        The term ``covered robotics communications equipment or 
        service'' means any humanoid or quadruped robot, or software 
        designed to control such robot that is a communications 
        equipment or services produced or provided by a covered foreign 
        entity.
            (9) Humanoid or quadruped robot.--The term ``humanoid or 
        quadruped robot'' means--
                    (A) a mechanical device that--
                            (i) possesses a body structure that uses 2 
                        or 4 articulated limbs for locomotion, 
                        navigation, or movement on the ground; and
                            (ii) operates at a distance from a human 
                        operator or supervisor autonomously, semi-
                        autonomously, based on commands or response to 
                        sensor data or any combination thereof; and
                    (B) any external device designed to control a 
                mechanical device described in subparagraph (A).
    (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to apply to any country that is not a country of concern, 
including a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally and a Major 
Non-NATO Ally.
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