Waivers (1) In general The President or the Secretary may waive the prohibition specified in subsection (b) if the President or the Secretary determines that such waiver is justified for national security reasons. (2) Waiver for overseas operations The Secretary may waive the prohibition specified in subsection (b) for United States diplomatic posts or diplomatic personnel overseas if the Secretary, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, determines that no suitable alternatives are available. (e) Covered contractor defined In this section, the term covered contractor means a provider of telecommunications, telecommunications equipment, or information technology equipment, including hardware, software, or services, that has knowingly assisted or facilitated a cyber attack or conducted surveillance, including passive or active monitoring, carried out against the United States by, or on behalf of, any government, or persons associated with such government, listed as a cyber threat actor in the intelligence community’s 2017 assessment of worldwide threats to United States national security or any subsequent worldwide threat assessment of the intelligence community. (f) Effective date This section shall apply with respect to contracts of a covered contractor entered into on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 504. Preserving records of electronic communications conducted related to official duties of positions in the public trust of the American people (a) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that, as a matter of rule of law and transparency in a democratic government, all officers and employees of the Department and the United States Agency for International Development must preserve all records of communications conducted in their official capacities or related to their official duties with entities outside of the United States Government. It is further the sense of Congress that such practice should include foreign government officials or other foreign entities which may