The Senate unanimously approved legislation on Thursday that would ban the use of federal funds to purchase telecommunications equipment from companies deemed a national security threat, such as Chinese group Huawei. 

The bipartisan Secure and Trusted Telecommunications Networks Act, which the House passed in December, bans the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from giving funds to U.S. telecom groups to purchase equipment from companies deemed threats. 

The bill would require the FCC to establish a $1 billion fund to help smaller telecom providers to rip out and replace equipment from such companies, and to compile a list of firms seen as posing a threat to telecom networks. 

The bill is primarily sponsored by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member Greg Walden (R-Ore.), and Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.).

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), whose panel has jurisdiction over the bill, praised its passage.

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The legislation, if signed into law by President Trump, would have a major impact on rural telecom providers. The Rural Wireless Association estimated in a 2018 filing to the FCC that around 25 percent of its member companies use equipment from either Huawei or Chinese group ZTE.  

The bill’s passage comes after months of bipartisan pressure to take steps against Huawei, the largest 5G equipment provider in the world. Its critics cite concerns around a 2017 Chinese intelligence law that requires Chinese companies and individuals to participate in state-backed intelligence-gathering. 

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