by WorldTribune Staff, March 10, 2026 Real World News
The Biden-Harris regime opened the door to America’s most sensitive research facilities to individuals from China, Russia, and Iran, according to Sen. Joni Ernst.
And the doors were opened some 30,000 times, the Iowa Republican said.
Between Sept. 1, 2021, and Aug. 31, 2024, 28,028 Chinese nationals, 304 Iranians, and 1,608 Russians visited laboratories run by the Department of Energy, Ernst’s office reported. The lengths of the visits ranged from hours to months, according to the Department of Energy’s Foreign Access Central Tracking System (FACTS) database.
“While Iran’s regime chanted ‘Death to America,’ the Biden Administration rolled out the red carpet for Iranian foreign nationals to enter our National Labs,” Ernst told the New York Post.
“They also gave entry to thousands of Chinese nationals and hundreds of Russians, who could then access and potentially steal American research.”
The Energy Department oversees 17 federally funded laboratories across America. In 2024, Ernst had demanded data on visits by individuals from China, Russia, and Iran to those facilities but her demands fell on deaf ears in the Biden-Harris regime.
“After Covid-19, we should have learned our lesson about trusting Communist China’s scientists,” Ernst told The Post in 2024. “We know our adversaries run sophisticated espionage programs to steal research, we do not need to invite them in.”
Some estimates indicate that Chinese espionage is costing the US $600 billion a year in intellectual property theft.
Ernst, who is retiring and won’t seek re-election in this year’s midterms, supports legislation to bar research funds from going to adversarial nations.
“As our adversaries seek any potential advantage over us, we cannot give them a single foothold to undermine the United States of America,” she said. “We need to know exactly how this was allowed to happen, what our adversaries learned or obtained, and make sure we establish stronger safeguards.”
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