WASHINGTON, D.C. (KNWA/KFTA) – Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) continues to respond to the indictment of a University of Arkansas professor with China ties on counts of wire and passport fraud.

Cotton is calling for a change of law in his statement following the news of the indictment:

“Federal law enforcement deserves great credit for putting together a strong case against alleged Chinese agent Simon Saw-Teong Ang. But Chinese spies aren’t ordinary fraudsters—they’re working for a foreign adversary. We ought to change the law so foreign agents in the future are held accountable not only for wire fraud, but for taking money from the Chinese Communist Party in the first place, the real crime in these cases.”

Following the arrest of the professor in May, Senator Cotton and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) unveiled the SECURE CAMPUS Act intending to prohibit Chinese nationals from receiving visas to the United States for graduate or post-graduate studies in STEM fields. The legislation would also restrict participants in Chinese foreign talent-recruitment programs, such as the Thousand Talents Program.

“The Chinese Communist Party has long used American universities to conduct espionage on the United States. What’s worse is that their efforts exploit gaps in current law. It’s time for that to end. The SECURE CAMPUS Act will protect our national security and maintain the integrity of the American research enterprise,” said Senator Cotton.