Bill would bar Russian and Belarussian nationals from DOE labs

Seeking to expand the domestic response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, United States Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced a bill this week that would prohibit both Russian and Belarussian nationals from working in Department of Energy (DOE) research facilities.

That block would last as long as Russian and allied troops remain on Ukrainian soil, a date to be certified by the president.

“Russian and Belarusian nationals should be barred from access to cutting-edge research at our national laboratories,” Barrasso, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, said. “Our legislation will prevent these foreign nationals from working at DOE research labs until Russia ends its brutal war in Ukraine. It will help protect American innovation from theft by Russia and its primary ally in the war. It is more important than ever to ensure that our sensitive research does not fall into the hands of our adversaries. We cannot allow these countries to benefit off the backs of American taxpayers.”

All existing employees that meet this criteria would be fired as soon as possible, and further Russian and Belarussian nationals would find their access to DOE facilities blocked. Further, the blacklisting of these nationals would extend until the last sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Russia as a result of its invasion are lifted.

“The United States needs to be applying maximum pressure on Russia in response to their unprovoked invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine, and that includes safeguarding our national laboratories,” Marshall said. “As the government’s leading scientific agency, the Department of Energy is involved in sensitive research fields such as artificial intelligence, supercomputing, quantum information, and nanoscience. With hundreds of Russian and Belarussian scientists working alongside our DOE scientists, we must ensure bad actors do not have access to American resources and scientific data so long as the atrocities in Ukraine continue. This bill will ensure those who may have split loyalties do not have intimate access to our nation’s scientific research.”