This upcoming Sunday, the people of Venezuela will hold an election that, if legitimate, would put an end to years of the oppressive Maduro narco-regime. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued a statement in support of the Venezuelan people: “The...
Este próximo domingo, el pueblo venezolano tendrá una elección que, de ser legítima, pondría fin a años de opresión por parte del narco-régimen de Maduro. El senador estadounidense Marco Rubio (R-FL) grabó un mensaje de video en español y emitió una declaración en...
Twenty-three years ago, the United States was attacked by Islamic terrorists on September 11, 2001. Now, Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted in a U.S. court for his role in the attack, has requested the U.S. Department of Justice to allow a prisoner transfer...
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host virtual Mobile Office Hours next week to assist constituents with federal casework issues in their respective local communities. These office hours offer constituents who do not live close to one of Senator Rubio’s...
As the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) opens up new facilities, many veterans are losing access to the VA’s Community Care Program and, consequently, their long-term healthcare providers. Veterans throughout the country have reported a loss of care, including...
The U.S.-India partnership is vital to countering influences from Communist China. In order to strengthen this partnership, it is essential to enhance our strategic diplomatic, economic, and military relationship with New Delhi. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)...
Rubio Seeks Grant Program Review After Harvard Professor Charged Over China Ties
By Kate O’Keeffe and Brian Gormley
February 28, 2020
Wall Street Journal
Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is calling for a government grant program for high-tech startups to examine its practices after a Harvard University professor connected to one recipient was charged with lying about receiving millions of dollars in Chinese funding.
In a letter sent earlier this month, Sen. Rubio (R., Fla.) cited the charges against the professor, Charles Lieber, in asking the Small Business Administration to provide details on how it ensures that recipients of the grants “do not have improper ties to foreign entities.”
A startup co-founded by Mr. Lieber, a chemistry professor and expert on nanotechnology, received more than $5.4 million from the Defense Department, the National Science Foundation and other agencies in grants administered by the Small Business Administration.
The grants were awarded to Nanosys Inc. from 2002 to 2006, according to a review of the awards. That was before the period under scrutiny by Massachusetts federal prosecutors in a criminal complaint last month. It alleges that Mr. Lieber received more than $15 million in U.S. funding since 2008 while also taking money from Chinese government programs and academic institutions.
…
“I am deeply concerned about the flow of federal research dollars,” said Sen. Rubio, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, in his letter to the Small Business Administration, which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The Small Business Administration calls the grant programs, which set aside billions to fund small high-tech businesses, “America’s seed fund.” Sen. Rubio asked the administration to provide information by mid-March on its measures to ensure that grant recipients don’t have improper foreign ties and to detail what penalties are in place if they do, according to the letter.
…
Mr. Lieber’s startup, Nanosys, was trying to commercialize technology the professor developed, when it received the grants via the Small Business Administration.
Read the rest here.