President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law the “Secure Equipment Act of 2021” to protect U.S. telecommunication systems by restricting companies that pose a national security threat—such as Chinese state-backed firms Huawei and ZTE—from receiving new equipment licenses from U.S. regulators. The measure, H.R. 3919, was approved unanimously by the Senate on Oct. 28 and earlier in the month by the House on a 420-4 vote. It requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt rules clarifying it will no longer review or approve any authorization application for equipment to companies on its “Covered Equipment or Services List. Five Chinese companies are on the list: Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua. The FCC in March designated the five companies as posing a risk to U.S. national security under the Secure and Trusted Communications Act of 2019, a law that seeks to protect U.S. communications networks. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), in a …