Senators Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) have introduced the Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026.
The purpose of the bill is to "defend the American auto industry from the existential threat of predatory Chinese automobiles by banning them and their connected components from the American market."
Talking about the bill on Fox News, Moreno said the vehicles are massively subsidized to undermine America's auto industry, and worst of all, to spy on people.
"These cars have lots of cameras," said Moreno. "They send back data to the Communist Party and can be remotely controlled by the Communist Party.”
Sen. Slotkin, the bill’s co-sponsor, similarly called the automobiles “surveillance packages on wheels" that can collect data on American citizens and sensitive sites, such as military installations.
Virtually anything related to China and its Communist-led government is assumed to be related to espionage on U.S. soil that is overseen by the Ministry of State Security.
Considering the Chinese have been caught stealing secrets on university campuses and setting up illegal police stations, the U.S. Commerce Department investigated the automobiles. An agency at the Commerce Department, the Bureau of Industry and Security, released its warnings in a January 2025 report that concluded software and hardware for autonomous driving and for Wi-Fi connections are vulnerable to monitoring.
The legislation is Congress’ plan to codify that Commerce Department warning into federal law.
Larry Behrens, of Power the Future, told American Family News the public should be pleased to see a very divided Congress agree on the threat China poses.
"Folks only need to look back a few months ago when they found unsanctioned radio devices, and Chinese-made solar panels, to realize that some of these products that we're getting from China are not on the up and up,” he said.
