The House Science Committee plans to introduce a bill next month that would create a 10-year National Quantum Initiative aimed at increasing America’s strategic focus on quantum information science and technology development.

A chorus of concern has emerged in Congress about China’s allegedly pervasive exploitation of the U.S.’s intellectual property and open research environment, with some lawmakers seeking to overhaul foreign investment and export control systems. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is preparing a package of unilateral retaliation measures that reportedly could include visa restrictions on Chinese students and academics.

Following last week’s budget deal that all but guarantees huge government spending increases over the next two years, the Trump administration made last-minute changes to its budget request for fiscal year 2019 that spare the Department of Energy Office of Science, National Science Foundation, and National Institutes of Health from proposed cuts. But other science agencies and programs are again slated for double-digit cuts or elimination.

Congress concluded its 2017 session with a week of productive legislating that included final passage of the Republican tax reform bill and an extension of federal spending through Jan. 19. The House also passed three bipartisan STEM education bills and a disaster relief spending package that, if enacted, would provide a one-time funding boost to several science agencies.