SBIR/STTR Foreign Interference Safeguard Act

This legislation aims to protect federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs from foreign influence. It extends the existing due diligence program, designed to assess security risks associated with award recipients, for an additional five years, moving its expiration date from September 30, 2025, to September 30, 2030. This extension reinforces the government's ability to scrutinize potential security threats within these critical innovation programs. A significant provision of the bill codifies new safeguards, making small businesses ineligible for SBIR awards if they are majority-owned by multiple venture capital operating companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms and are determined to be owned or controlled by a covered foreign entity . The Administrator will consider direct or indirect foreign ownership in such determinations. The bill broadly defines a covered foreign entity to include foreign entities of concern, governments of foreign countries of concern, non-U.S. persons, and various organizations or individuals linked to these, particularly those involved in activities detrimental to U.S. national security or foreign policy.