; (5) develop educational programs to increase awareness for the United States and ASEAN countries on the importance of relations between the United States and ASEAN countries; and (6) carry out other activities the Secretary considers necessary to strengthen ties between the United States and ASEAN countries and achieve the objectives of the US-ASEAN Center. 716. Report on vetting of students from national defense universities and other academic institutions of the People’s Republic of China (a) Report Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes— (1) an evaluation of the screening process of foreign nationals entering the United States from the People’s Republic of China who attend or have attended— (A) a top tier university administered by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China; or (B) an academic institution of the People’s Republic of China identified on the list required by section 1286(c)(8) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 ( Public Law 115–232 ; 10 U.S.C. 2358 note); (2) an assessment of any vulnerabilities in the screening process, and recommendations for legal, regulatory, or other changes or steps to address such vulnerabilities; and (3) the number of visas approved and denied by the Department, to the extent possible, for students from the People’s Republic of China in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, including the number of such students who are pursuing an advanced degree or repeating a degree in such fields over the last five years. (b) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees means— (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate