[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 117 (Friday, July 12, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020

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                               speech of

                            HON. STEVE KING

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 11, 2019

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2500) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2020 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense and for military 
     construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for 
     such fiscal year, and for other purposes;

  Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Chair, I am encouraged that my amendment to the 
National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year passed the 
House of Representatives by voice vote on July 11, 2019. This important 
amendment requires the ``Annual Report on Military and Security 
Developments Involving the People's Republic of China'' to include an 
assessment of (1) China's expansion of its surveillance state; (2) Any 
correlation of such expansion with its oppression of its citizens and 
its threat to United States national security interests around the 
world; and (3) An overview of the extent to which such surveillance 
corresponds to the overall respect, or lack thereof, for human rights.
  This matter is one that I have long been attuned to and concerned 
about, ultimately leading me to draft and introduce the ``Protect 
American IPR Act'', which is H.R. 902 this session, and seeks to stop 
Chinese theft of U.S. intellectual property through duties on Chinese 
merchandise. For this reason, I have been encouraged to see President 
Trump prioritizing the Chinese stealing of American intellectual 
property.
  Mass and unabated government surveillance does not only offend 
individual liberties; in the hands of an authoritarian government, it 
poses the Orwellian threat of the government always watching, and 
ultimately using this ability, made possible to an unprecedented extent 
by modem technology, to spy on, steal from, intimidate and persecute 
not only those it views as ``political enemies'' and ``threats'', but 
anyone it deems as expedient.
  This Orwellian threat is becoming a reality, perhaps nowhere more so 
than in China, where the government vigorously pursues a national video 
surveillance network. The affinity of the Chinese government to control 
its population in part by mass monitoring is not a new phenomenon, but 
advancing technology makes its prospects more frightening every day for 
those within and outside of the Mainland.
  One internet privacy expert warns, ``What China is doing here is 
selectively breeding its population to select against the trait of 
critical, independent thinking''. Since China is a neighbor to many and 
more importantly an actor on the world stage, that erosion will not 
simply negatively impact the Chinese, it will spread--it arguably has 
already. A world with continually less critical, independent thought is 
a prospect to tremble at.
  It is my strong belief that U.S. policy, including defense policy, 
should by no measure assist, intentionally or unintentionally, the 
growth of China's surveillance. Instead, it should discourage the 
expansion of the Chinese government into the rest of the world, while 
at the same time encouraging greater human rights for the Chinese 
people, including expectant mothers and Christians and other religious 
minorities.
  I have heard from many individuals who warn against China's rapid 
expansion and influence into the rest of the world, including Africa 
and Central America, our nation's own backyard. Although the 
government-connected interests bring economic promise (and 
exploitation) to the developing world, they also bring the Chinese 
surveillance state with them. To counter this very real and growing 
threat, we need to first understand its scope, its impact for 
individuals in China as well as those around world, and the extent to 
which it threatens the U.S. national security interests.

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