[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 10, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H121-H129]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE STRATEGIC COMPETITION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES 
                    AND THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY

  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, as the designee of the majority leader, 
pursuant to House Resolution 5, I call up H. Res. 11, and ask for its 
immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 5, the 
resolution is considered read.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                               H. Res. 11

       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE STRATEGIC COMPETITION 
                   BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE CHINESE 
                   COMMUNIST PARTY.

       (a) Establishment; Composition.--
       (1) Establishment.--There is hereby established in the 
     House of Representatives a Select Committee on the Strategic 
     Competition Between the United States and the Chinese 
     Communist Party (hereinafter in this section referred to as 
     the ``Select Committee'').
       (2) Composition.--
       (A) In general.--The Select Committee shall be composed of 
     not more than 16 Members, Delegates, or the Resident 
     Commissioner appointed by the Speaker, not more than 7 of 
     whom shall be appointed after consultation with the minority 
     leader. The Speaker shall designate one member of the Select 
     Committee as its chair. A vacancy in the membership of the 
     Select Committee shall be filled in the same manner as the 
     original appointment.
       (B) Ex officio members.--The Speaker and the minority 
     leader shall be ex officio members of the Select Committee 
     but shall have no vote in the Select Committee and may not be 
     counted for purposes of determining a quorum.
       (C) Designation of leadership staff member.--The Speaker 
     and the minority leader each may designate a leadership staff 
     member to assist in their capacity as ex officio members, 
     with the same access to Select Committee meetings, hearings, 
     briefings, and materials as employees of the Select Committee 
     and subject to the same security clearance and 
     confidentiality requirements as staff of the Select 
     Committee.
       (b) Jurisdiction; Functions.--
       (1) Legislative jurisdiction.--The Select Committee shall 
     not have legislative jurisdiction and shall have no authority 
     to take legislative action on any bill or resolution.
       (2) Investigative jurisdiction.--The sole authority of the 
     Select Committee shall be to investigate and submit policy 
     recommendations on the status of the Chinese Communist 
     Party's economic, technological, and security progress and 
     its competition with the United States. The Select Committee 
     may, at its discretion, hold public hearings in connection 
     with any aspect of its investigative functions.
       (c) Procedure.--

[[Page H122]]

       (1) Notwithstanding clause 3(m) of rule X of the Rules of 
     the House of Representatives, the Select Committee is 
     authorized to study the sources and methods of entities 
     described in clause 11(b)(1)(A) of rule X insofar as such 
     study is related to the matters described in subsection 
     (b)(2).
       (2) Clause 11(b)(4), clause 11(e), and the first sentence 
     of clause 11(f) of rule X shall apply to the Select 
     Committee.
       (3) Except as specified in paragraph (4), the Select 
     Committee shall have the authorities and responsibilities of, 
     and shall be subject to the same limitations and restrictions 
     as, a standing committee of the House, and shall be deemed a 
     committee of the House for all purposes of law or rule.
       (4)(A) Rules X and XI shall apply to the Select Committee 
     where not inconsistent with this subsection.
       (B) Service on the Select Committee shall not count against 
     the limitations in clause 5(b)(2) of rule X.
       (C) Clause 2(d) of rule X shall not apply to the Select 
     Committee.
       (D) Clause 2(g)(2)(D) of rule XI shall apply to the Select 
     Committee in the same manner as it applies to the Permanent 
     Select Committee on Intelligence.
       (d) Records; Staff; Travel; Funding.--
       (1) The appointment and the compensation of staff for the 
     Select Committee shall be subject to regulations issued by 
     the Committee on House Administration.
       (2)(A) Staff of employing entities of the House or a joint 
     committee may be detailed to the Select Committee to carry 
     out this resolution and shall be deemed to be staff of the 
     Select Committee.
       (B) The Select Committee may request the head of any 
     Federal agency to detail, on a nonreimbursable basis, any of 
     the personnel of the agency to the Select Committee.
       (3) Section 202(i) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 
     1946 (2 U.S.C. 4301(i)) shall apply with respect to the 
     Select Committee in the same manner as such section applies 
     with respect to a standing committee, except that the 
     selection of any consultant or organization under such 
     section shall be subject to approval by the Speaker.
       (e) Reporting.--The Select Committee may report to the 
     House or any committee from time to time the results of its 
     investigations and studies, together with such detailed 
     findings, policy recommendations, and legislative proposals 
     as it may deem advisable. All such reports shall be submitted 
     to the House by December 31, 2024. All policy recommendations 
     shall be submitted to the relevant standing committees not 
     later than December 31, 2023. The Select Committee shall 
     submit all legislative proposals to the relevant standing 
     committees not later than 30 days after their adoption by the 
     Select Committee.
       (f) Publication.--
       (1) The Select Committee shall ensure that reports and 
     proposals prepared in accordance with this subsection shall, 
     upon completion, be made available to the general public in 
     widely accessible formats not later than 30 calendar days 
     following the respective dates for completion set forth in 
     subsection (e).
       (2) Any report issued by the Select Committee shall be 
     issued in unclassified form but may include a classified 
     annex, a law enforcement-sensitive annex, or both.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution shall be debatable for 1 hour 
equally divided and controlled by the majority leader and the minority 
leader, or their respective designees.
  The gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole) and the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole).


                             general leave

  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H. Res. 11.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oklahoma?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 11, a resolution 
Establishing the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between 
the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. This select 
committee will be charged with addressing the urgent threat to the 
United States and our allies posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
  Mr. Speaker, the ongoing threat posed by Communist China and the fact 
that the CCP cannot be trusted as a global party has been apparent to 
the American people for some time.
  In 2019, at the behest of then-Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, 
House Republicans created the China Task Force to review Communist 
China's actions and to make policy recommendations to protect U.S. 
interests against the Chinese Communist Party. Republicans sought to 
make this task force bipartisan and extended an open invitation to 
Democrats to join us. Unfortunately, House Democrats chose not to 
participate at that time. I hope they do at this time.
  The China Task Force ultimately produced a report with more than 400 
policy recommendations, many of them bipartisan. Today, we are taking 
the next logical step with the creation of a select committee empowered 
to investigate and respond to the counterintelligence and economic 
espionage threat that threatens our very way of life. Make no mistake, 
Mr. Speaker, the Chinese Communist Party has demonstrated time and time 
again that it is more interested in being America's foe than America's 
friend.
  The events of the past 3 years have brought into stark focus how 
Communist China's actions affect the United States and the rest of the 
world. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began inside China's borders, the 
world has experienced constant disruptions and chaos. Indeed, Communist 
China's approach to the COVID-19 pandemic is emblematic of its approach 
to many other things: attempting to cover up the pandemic's existence, 
resisting all efforts to investigate its origins, committing horrific 
human rights abuses, and refusing to work productively with the global 
community to combat the pandemic.
  It has also become apparent that far too many economically critical 
supply chains are tied to China, which threatens our economic and 
national security. We are dangerously dependent on China for basic 
building blocks of our economy. The result is shortages of critical 
products, like semiconductors and rare earth minerals, both of which 
are largely produced in China today, along with the shortages of 
pharmaceuticals and personal protective equipment, which threatens our 
ability to battle future pandemics. Our national and economic security 
requires us to secure our vulnerable supply chains and, indeed, to 
bring them back home to America.
  Communist China has also undertaken aggressive actions designed to 
expand their influence both in the United States and abroad. Communist 
China is a prolific thief of American intellectual property, violating 
countless patents, and failing to respect international and domestic 
intellectual property laws.
  They have undertaken a systematic effort to infiltrate American 
colleges and universities through their support of the so-called 
Confucius Institutes and other organizations designed to spread Chinese 
propaganda.
  Chinese spy networks operate both on American soil and in cyberspace. 
And popular Chinese-owned apps like TikTok spread more propaganda and 
take massive amounts of Americans' personal data back to the Chinese 
Government.
  In addition, the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative has spread the 
tentacles of the so-called People's Liberation Army throughout the 
world, particularly the developing world, and has ensnared dozens of 
developing countries in debt-trap diplomacy.
  Communist China continues to aggressively push into the South China 
Sea and militarize small islands, threatening freedom of navigation in 
this strategically important region. They relentlessly and aggressively 
provoke Taiwan, an island that demonstrates to the world what a free, 
democratic, and capitalist China could look like.
  Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is Communist China is a serious, 
generational threat that we must address before it is too late. China 
exhibits expanding economic and military power coupled with the 
uncompromising rejection of our values and those of our allies.
  That is why the Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the 
United States and the Chinese Communist Party is so critical. It will 
be charged with reviewing our economic dependence on China and 
restoring safe and secure supply chains, on reviewing China's actions 
toward the United States and our allies, on restoring American domestic 
institutions to protect them against Chinese infiltration and 
propaganda, and so much more.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members on both sides of the aisle to join me 
in support of this resolution so we can stand united against Communist 
China.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page H123]]

  

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

  Mr. Speaker, I think before I begin, I would just like to ask any of 
my Republican colleagues whether anybody found the secret three-page 
memo detailing all the concessions that were made to the most extreme 
elements of their Republican Conference?
  Anyone?
  Mr. Speaker, I heard that Speaker McCarthy told Members during a 
closed conference meeting that there is no official document or three-
page addendum to the House rules package detailing these concessions. 
None of us ever said it was official. If it was official, it would have 
been in the official rules package.
  I also took note of the fact that in Axios today we saw this. It 
says: ``One thing the document doesn't contain, according to NRCC Chair 
Richard Hudson, who said he's seen it, is promised committee 
chairmanships for specific Members: `No names, just representation on 
panels.' ''
  So we were able to find out from Mr. Hudson what is not in that 
secret memo, but it would be helpful maybe before the end of the day if 
we could actually get the document so that the American people know 
what was promised.
  Mr. Speaker, China has the second largest economy in the world, and 
there is no doubt that their government seeks to extend their sphere of 
influence and export their model of authoritarianism abroad.
  The question is: How should the United States respond?
  For the past 4 years, I have served as chair and co-chair of the 
Congressional-Executive Commission on China. We have monitored China's 
compliance with international human rights and rule of law standards.
  Under my leadership, alongside Senators Jeff Merkley, Marco Rubio, 
and Congressman Chris Smith, the Commission has continued to draw 
attention to the Chinese Government's human rights violations and 
technology-enhanced authoritarianism.
  We passed my bill, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which 
seeks to address the genocide in Xinjiang, and we hope can serve as a 
model for future human rights legislation.
  We passed the Tibet Policy and Support Act to support the people of 
Tibet in their struggle against Chinese repression, and the Hong Kong 
Human Rights and Democracy Act to require the U.S. Government to impose 
sanctions against mainland China and Hong Kong officials considered 
responsible for human rights abuses in Hong Kong.
  Now, everything that we accomplished at the CECC has been because 
that Commission operates in a bipartisan manner with nonpartisan staff. 
Our comprehensive annual reports are widely respected by government 
officials, academics, and the advocacy community because they are well-
researched and they are fact-based.
  That brings us to today.
  Mr. Speaker, we are here to consider the creation of a select 
committee. This select committee on China would investigate and submit 
policy recommendations on the status of China's economic, 
technological, and security progress, as well as its ongoing 
competition with the United States.
  I will be honest. I have reservations here. Many of us have concerns 
about this turning into a committee that focuses on pushing Republican 
conspiracy theories and partisan talking points. We certainly don't 
want it to turn into a place that perpetuates anti-Asian hate. We 
cannot and will not tolerate that.
  But, instead, I would hope that this new committee would work in a 
similar fashion as the CECC--producing bipartisan work with a fact-
based tone and approach that could be received by the international 
community seriously and substantively.
  There are a few things that I think the select committee needs to 
keep in mind if they truly want to be effective.
  First, President Trump repeatedly mislabeled COVID with racist 
language. Such rhetoric coincided with spikes in hate-based acts of 
violence and discrimination against people of Chinese or Asian origin 
across the country. This language has no place on this committee or 
anywhere in Congress.
  Second, this committee should not seek to focus solely on military 
solutions. Yes, China's military modernization is a legitimate issue, 
but that does not demand a military-first policy response.
  Third, I am concerned that a committee focused myopically on the 
economic, technological, and security challenges of China could 
distract us from the need to build a holistic approach in many of these 
policy areas. We need to remember that the United States faces 
economic, technological, and security challenges from many different 
regions across the globe, not just China. To focus solely on China, 
whether it be policy related to trade, technology, authoritarianism, or 
anything else, is neither analytically sound nor effective.
  Fourth, and finally, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Gallagher) 
said if he were to chair this committee, he would focus on 
``ideological competition and human rights.'' I would just like to say 
that human rights are not ideological. Human rights are fundamental and 
universal, protected by a vast body of international law codified at 
the United Nations and widely adjudicated. They apply to every person 
in every country and territory on Earth.
  It is the Chinese Communist Party, in fact, that portrays human 
rights along an ideological divide. That falsely portrays Chinese 
values as something distinct from Western values in an effort to 
justify its repression of the people of China. It is important that the 
committee does not adopt the rhetoric of Chinese officials.
  While I do have concerns here, after reading the resolution itself, I 
will be voting yes. The Democratic Party has led the way in 
implementing efforts to monitor China's compliance with international 
human rights and rule of law standards, and we will continue to do so 
here.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McCarthy), the distinguished Speaker of the House of 
Representatives.
  Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, one of the greatest worries about the 
future is that we fall behind Communist China. The fact of the matter 
is the danger posed by our dependence on China is dire.
  We spent decades passing policies that welcomed China into the global 
system. In return, China has exported oppression, aggression, and anti-
Americanism. Today, the power of its military and economy are growing 
at the expense of freedom and democracy worldwide.
  It didn't start under this administration, but the current 
administration has clearly made it worse. Their policies have weakened 
our economy and made us more vulnerable to the threats of the CCP.
  But here is the good news: There is bipartisan consensus that the era 
of trusting Communist China is over.
  I listened to my friend, the gentleman across the aisle, I listened 
to your points, to your concerns. Do not be concerned. Those are my 
same concerns as well, and they will not take place.
  I will tell the gentleman where the idea of all this was created. It 
was on a codel to Normandy. I was there with then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi 
celebrating the 75th anniversary of D-day. As you walked those hallowed 
grounds of the crosses and the Stars of David of these young American 
men, and you wondered: What could have been done for that day to have 
never taken place?

                              {time}  1230

  It dawned on me in that moment in time there was an opportunity that 
instead of American Government not speaking with one voice--these 
different messages we have been providing--perhaps we could have a 
bipartisan committee that could look at all aspects, from economics 
when we fell into COVID and not knowing whether we could have our 
medical supplies because China controlled so much.
  We learned of the farmland they are buying today and the stealing of 
our intellectual property.
  But we weaken ourselves when we fight about which way to do it.
  Wouldn't it be better if we all came together?
  For 9 months we worked on that, and we did get an agreement that we 
were going to start a bipartisan task force. We even had The Washington 
Post

[[Page H124]]

come in and interview the Members who were going to be on it, but, 
unfortunately, the night before, the then-majority party pulled back.
  Mr. Speaker, you have my word and my commitment that this is not a 
partisan committee. This will be a bipartisan committee. It is my hope, 
my desire, and my wish that we speak with one voice and that we focus 
on the challenges that we have of how do we bring our jobs back from 
China to America?
  How do we secure our intellectual property?
  How do we make sure our farmland is protected?
  All of that would be brought up within this committee. The threat is 
too great for us to bicker with ourselves. The future should be 
determined by us.
  I have heard my colleagues on both sides say that the threat posed by 
Communist China is serious. I fully agree. This is an issue that 
transcends our political parties, and creating the select committee on 
China is our best avenue for addressing it.
  If we want to end our dependence on China, then this committee will 
investigate it.
  If we want to protect our national security, then this committee will 
work to do that.
  If we want to stop the theft of intellectual property and bring 
supply chains back to America, then this committee will work to make it 
happen.
  If we are worried about Chinese propaganda in our schools and 
lobbying efforts in Washington, then this committee will shine a bright 
light on it.
  If we are outraged that the CCP is buying American farmland, then 
this committee will work to stop it--but to stop it with one voice.
  It is not one party saying it. It is America united determining our 
own future.
  If we want to stop trillions of American dollars from financing 
Communist genocide and military modernization, then the committee will 
work to prevent it--including by investigating how ESG benefits the 
CCP.
  The select committee on China will create the plan that will take us 
where we really need to go. It will get us all on the same page and 
move us in the right direction. Members of the select committee will 
work closely with their colleagues on every committee to get the job 
done.
  Is it partisan?
  Absolutely not.
  To my friend across the aisle, if at any time on the five items you 
listed that you feel something is challenging those, then you come to 
me because that is not the intent, and that is not what I will put up 
with.
  I sat with the new leader of the Democrats, and I told him early on 
what this committee will be and whom we will be putting on it. We want 
serious lawmakers. This isn't for somebody to go in and be viral 
because they want to make some point. This is to work together as one 
Congress where one of our greatest challenges for the future is that no 
longer will we be dependent upon China and no longer will we be as 
vulnerable.
  America will be stronger and dependent upon ourselves, and we will do 
this together. That is what the American people expect.
  I want this committee to last beyond who is in the majority and never 
ever be decided that this is a partisan committee.
  The gentleman has my commitment.
  If at any time I feel that whoever the leader on the other side puts 
on this committee was trying to make it partisan, I told him I would 
approach him.
  Let's start with the right philosophy and with the right goals in 
mind, and let's work together to make it happen.
  The chairman will be   Mike Gallagher. This is a man who has 
sacrificed a lot. This is a man who is focused and studied. This is a 
man who is not going to be partisan. We want the very best ideas. It 
doesn't matter where they come from. At the end of the day, we don't 
need a majority and minority report. We just need one philosophy with 
one principle, and America will be stronger for the future to come.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his support. I appreciate it.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Speaker for his assurances.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Bera).
  Mr. BERA. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Massachusetts (Mr. 
McGovern) for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the select committee on China 
and to support this select committee on China.
  These past two Congresses I have had the privilege of being the 
chairman on the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific and a senior 
member on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I have worked very closely 
with my ranking member,  Steve Chabot--a good friend whom we are going 
to miss--but I also served as ranking member when Mr. Chabot was 
chairman on that committee.
  We learned a lot on how we should approach China. We have looked at 
supply chains. We have traveled to the region. We have talked to our 
partners in southeast Asia and ASEAN. We have understood the 
vulnerabilities.
  Our subcommittee had the first hearing on the novel coronavirus back 
in February of 2020 when we didn't have a name on it. So we understand 
the importance, as a doctor, of understanding the origins of COVID, 
where it came and how we can best prevent the next pandemic.

  None of those questions are ones that we should be looking at and 
bickering about as Democratic or Republican questions. Those are 
questions that just make a lot of sense to our security, our economic 
strength, and where we go from here.
  So I applaud the Speaker's comments on wanting this to be an American 
strategy, not a Democratic or Republican strategy.
  If we look at our own history, what served us well in the Cold War is 
we had an American strategy. It didn't change every 2 years. It didn't 
change with the new Presidential administration. We acted on it, we 
laid it out there, we executed it, and we won the Cold War without 
going to war. That is what the challenge is that faces us today. I wish 
China had gone a different direction. I wish they had opened up.
  I applaud the work that Mr. McGovern does on human rights and 
addressing the Uyghur genocide. Speaker Emerita Pelosi has been a 
champion on looking at the human rights abuses and the tragedy that is 
taking place in Tibet. Those are all issues that we should come 
together on, not just the United States of America, but with our allies 
and friends because they have the same concerns.
  I don't want to say we are in a new cold war, but we are in a real 
challenge right now. So I support the select committee. Let's make it 
nonpartisan, and let's work together to create an American strategy.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Gallagher), who is the chairman-designate 
of the proposed select committee.
  Mr. GALLAGHER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and 
for his leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 11, 
establishing a bipartisan Select Committee on the Strategic Competition 
Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
  In 1946, a great Wisconsinite, George Kennan, argued that dealing 
with the Soviet threat was the greatest task our diplomacy has ever 
faced and probably the greatest it will ever have to face.
  Today, due to its aggression and its economic strength and our unique 
economic entanglement with it, the Chinese Communist Party represents 
an even greater test for American diplomacy.
  As Secretary of State Anthony Blinken put it last year: China is the 
only country with both the intent to reshape the international order 
and increasingly the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological 
power to do it.
  The threat posed by the CCP is not abstract. The CCP's aggression is 
not limited to Taiwan, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, or even 
Xinjiang, where two successive administrations, Republican and 
Democratic alike, have determined that the CCP is engaging in genocide.
  We see this aggression here at home where the party has stolen 
American intellectual property, technology, and industrial capacity 
undermining our economy and good-paying American jobs. It is here at 
home where the party's extraterritorial totalitarianism

[[Page H125]]

terrorizes Chinese students studying at our universities and targets 
Americans of Chinese descent. And it is here at home where thousands of 
Americans are poisoned each year by fentanyl precursors manufactured in 
China and distributed thanks to a complex Chinese money laundering 
network.
  It is time to understand the urgency of the threat. It is time to 
reclaim our economic independence in key areas.
  The select committee will expose the CCP's coordinated whole-of-
society strategy to undermine American leadership and American 
sovereignty while working on a bipartisan basis and with the committees 
of jurisdiction to identify long overdue, commonsense approaches to 
counter CCP aggression.
  I stress working on a bipartisan basis because that is the only way 
we are going to be successful over the long term. The CCP doesn't pose 
a danger to just Republicans or Democrats. It is a threat to all 
Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague for his work on the Uyghur Forced 
Labor Prevention Act. That is one of the most consequential and 
significant pieces of legislation that we passed on a bipartisan basis 
in recent years. It is up to us to ensure that it is fully implemented, 
and there is much work to be done on that front.
  We need to have a united front here in Congress to counter the 
Chinese Communist Party, and in so doing, at every step along the way, 
we must make sure that we are drawing a distinction between the party 
and the Chinese people with whom we have no quarrel and who are often 
the primary victims of CCP aggression and repression.
  In sum, there is no more critical challenge facing our Nation today.
  I am grateful to Speaker McCarthy for his leadership and establishing 
this select committee, for giving me the mission of ensuring this stays 
bipartisan. We heard his sincerity in wanting this to be an area where 
Republicans and Democrats can work together.
  I would also like to thank Chairman  Mike McCaul who chaired the 
China task force and did a phenomenal job. We are building upon the 
foundation that he laid with the China task force. I look forward to 
working with him as this effort moves forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this critical 
legislation. I look forward to working with my Democratic colleagues. I 
see many friends sitting on the other side of the Chamber.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Foster).
  Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the creation of the 
Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States 
and the Chinese Communist Party.
  I rise as a research scientist who has participated in many 
international collaborations, which included some brilliant Chinese 
scientists; and I rise also as a businessman who founded a high-tech 
manufacturing business that now provides over 1,000 good-paying 
American manufacturing jobs and has kept those manufacturing jobs in 
America despite having to compete in the world markets with cloned 
Chinese products for over two decades.
  I have watched with consternation as our businesses' electronic 
supply chain has been increasingly dependent upon China.
  Now, it was not a stupid thing for our country and the countries of 
the free world to attempt to help China become a free and open country 
by integrating it into the international economy and into the 
international scientific research community and to open our doors to 
Chinese students and scholars.
  In the years since World War II, that approach has succeeded in 
turning many previously autocratic countries into free democracies 
around the world. In fact, in previous years, China took a number of 
steps toward becoming a free and open country. But in recent years, it 
has turned back toward autocracy. So it is time to respond to that 
reality and to take thoughtful action.
  On a personal note, my wife is Korean and is a scientist who has 
contributed at the highest levels of scientific research and science 
policy in the United States. The only reason that she is free today is 
that two generations ago, the U.S. and the free countries of the world 
stood up against Communism in Korea. But nothing is more self-defeating 
than the anti-Asian racism that sometimes creeps into the debate in our 
country.
  The frontiers that we should be defending are not the good old U.S. 
of A. but the free democracies of the world.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this new Select Committee on 
the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese 
Communist Party, in particular in the clear distinction that it makes, 
even in its title, between the Communist Party of China and the people 
of China who are not the enemy.

                              {time}  1245

  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Barr), my very good friend.
  Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, the Chinese Communist Party is intent on 
replacing the United States as the world's preeminent economic, 
military, and technological power. They have a sophisticated plan to 
challenge American hegemony and leverage every possible avenue to 
finance their goals. Defending against these advances is one of the 
most significant geopolitical challenges of a generation.
  Today, the House, led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, is voting to 
establish a select committee on China to do just that. This select 
committee will examine the threats from the Chinese Communist Party 
with a fine-tooth comb and expose them for the American people and for 
the whole world to fully understand.
  In addition, we will develop concrete solutions for how we can better 
position the United States to prevail in this competition and ensure 
that the 21st century is led by the United States and defined by a 
rules-based international order.
  The stakes are high, and the CCP's list of offenses against the norms 
of international order is long: violating an international treaty and 
dismantling Hong Kong's civil liberties; egregious zero-tolerance 
COVID-19 restrictions in mainland China that led to mass protests with 
brutal crackdowns from CCP authorities; oppressing ethnic minorities; 
persecuting Uyghurs and Tibetans; conducting increasingly belligerent 
provocations on land and air and in cyberspace; using debt-trap 
diplomacy through the Belt and Road Initiative to assert colonial 
dominance over lesser developed countries; engaging in economic warfare 
through unfair trade practices; the theft of $600 billion of 
intellectual property from American businesses each year through the 
forced transfer of technology; and threatening through military, 
economic, and diplomatic coercion the democracy in Taiwan.
  Last year and the year before, the threat from the CCP came into 
focus when the CCP silenced doctors and corrupted the World Health 
Organization to spread disinformation and cover up substandard 
biosecurity at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, leading to a deadly 
virus becoming a global pandemic, killing millions, devastating the 
global economy, and giving the CCP the opportunity to weaponize the 
global supply chain against the West.
  Many Americans may not be aware that Beijing's malign activities are 
fueled, in part, by unwitting American investors. In 2020, $120 billion 
of U.S. foreign direct investment flowed into China from American 
businesses and investors.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States is the economic envy of the world 
because we possess a capitalist free market economy, the deepest, most 
competitive liquid capital markets on planet Earth. This empowers 
individual investors and businesses to make decisions for themselves, 
but we cannot allow Wall Street banks, asset managers, and global 
equity index providers to fuel the rise of the CCP military and 
surveillance companies hell-bent on targeting Americans. These 
companies pose an imminent and growing threat to American national 
security and the security of our allies.
  That is why I will be reintroducing the Chinese Military and 
Surveillance Company Sanctions Act of 2021 in the 118th Congress, 
legislation that uses the economic power of the United States through 
OFAC to sanction Chinese companies that threaten U.S. national 
security.
  I commend Speaker McCarthy for following through on his promise to

[[Page H126]]

create the select committee and for naming Congressman   Mike Gallagher 
chairman of the committee. He has been a fighter on the front lines and 
will do a great job leading this committee.
  I will close with this. Every President from Harry Truman to George 
H.W. Bush understood the need to confront the threat from the Soviet 
Union and defend the United States and our principles against 
communism. Because of that bipartisan commitment and because of the 
strength and vitality of the American system, our Nation was victorious 
in the Cold War. We must come together again as Republicans and 
Democrats to confront this new threat.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in 
permitting me to speak on this.
  Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor much encouraged, having heard the 
words of the Speaker and the chairman-designate, Mr. Gallagher.
  I was one of those people 25 years ago who was part of the consensus 
that we could engage Communist China into the world economy. I had an 
opportunity to travel extensively, meeting with the Chinese leadership 
at that time. They were saying the right things. I think some of them 
were sincere. It was an encouraging opportunity.
  But over the course of the last 20 years, it has taken a wrong turn. 
We have watched the Chinese play a cynical game. They have not lived up 
to their obligations under the WTO. We don't have a procurement 
provision, for example. We have watched repression increase, and we 
have watched this current regime in unprecedented ways exploit 
opportunities.
  I have legislation to close the de minimis loophole that allows China 
to import 2 million packages a day, untaxed and uninspected, and Heaven 
only knows in terms of forced labor, in terms of illicit goods that are 
coming in here. I have had legislation to try to change that.
  I think this select committee can be a forum to bring us together on 
a nonpartisan basis to take areas in which there is profound agreement, 
like closing the de minimis loophole.
  I commend the Speaker and the leadership moving forward. I look 
forward to working with Democratic leadership on this, to use it as an 
opportunity to get us back on track, particularly given the insidious 
nature of the current regime's forced labor.
  We have made great progress legislatively to give us more tools. I 
think there is a potential for this select committee to build on it and 
make more progress, and I look forward to working with them. I will 
support the proposal.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
Montana (Mr. Zinke), my very good friend.
  Mr. ZINKE. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of the select 
committee on China.
  As a 23-year veteran of the United States Navy and a former Navy SEAL 
commander, I am acquainted with China and its looming threat. Without 
question, China's actions represent a threat not only to national 
security but also our environment.
  As Secretary of the Interior, I led a delegation of officials to the 
Pacific Islands and witnessed firsthand China's intentions. I can tell 
you, their intentions are clear: control and dominance in the South 
China Sea and the hemisphere.
  It should be noted that China has the largest standing Navy, greater 
than the United States. They have stolen U.S. technology and have 
increased their capacity for nuclear weapons. China continues to 
threaten democracies, such as Taiwan, the Philippines, and even our 
territories.
  On the environmental front, the People's Republic of China is the 
world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases; the largest source of 
marine debris; the worst perpetrator of illegal, unreported, and 
unregulated fishing; and is the world's largest consumer of trafficked 
wildlife and timber products. In fact, 90 percent of the world's 
plastics found in oceans comes from four rivers in China.
  China's actions today represent a clear and present danger, and they 
use any means available to them--blackmail, data hacking, and 
espionage.
  It is time to act in a bipartisan way, and I strongly urge my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting this 
critical bill.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Takano).
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, there is broad recognition among Democrats 
and Republicans that Congress must adopt a whole-of-government approach 
in response to the intensifying great power competition between the 
United States and China.
  The formation of the select committee is the Republicans' response to 
the China question. However, I do remain skeptical of the true 
intentions behind the formation of this committee, and I hope my 
Republican colleagues can approach this topic from a position of 
strength, not weakness, xenophobia, or fear.
  A specific focus on strategic competition with China could be 
meaningful if the committee's work remains constructive, but I question 
why the work of this proposed select committee could not have been done 
through the current committees of jurisdiction.
  With that being said, to be constructive, the committee should 
consider perspectives beyond the military domain that include the 
political, economic, military, cultural, and diplomatic implications of 
a potential U.S. response.
  Republican leadership should also select Members to sit on this 
committee who are serious minded about the risks posed by China and not 
merely anti-China hawks yearning to isolate China through military 
might.
  Most importantly, it is my hope that the committee will consider 
meaningful ways that we can promote a rules-based international order 
that the United States has spent considerable time and resources 
building up in the post-World War II era. We must leverage our soft-
power tools and work cooperatively with our allies and other 
democratically aligned partners across the globe to achieve our ends.
  Finally, unity at home is just as important to demonstrating the 
strength of our Nation as it is to project our strength abroad. Our 
strength is derived from our unwavering commitment to our democratic 
values, the cohesion of our alliances, the intellect and innovation of 
our people, and the shared prosperity of every American. What grants us 
currency with the world is our credibility at home as a reliable 
partner that provides a robust social safety net for its people and 
consistently supports democratic ideals.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my Republican colleagues to take this opportunity 
seriously. It is not simply enough to demonize and dehumanize our 
adversaries to align the world behind our democratic ideals. Let's use 
this select committee to show that we have unity and strength to 
outrival China and that we are good for more than just fearful 
rhetoric.
  Until this point, my Republican colleagues have shown an 
unwillingness to avoid the vitriol that undermines a constructive 
approach to China, so I plan to vote ``no'' on this resolution. 
However, I hope we can move forward in a constructive way.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce), my very good friend.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the growing 
threat posed to the American people by the influence of the Chinese 
Communist Party.

  Let us be clear, the greatest influence, the greatest challenge that 
we face from an outside source today, is from the Chinese Communist 
Party. From intellectual property theft to deceptive trade practices, 
and the acquisition of farmland to the consolidation of the rare earth 
minerals industry, the Chinese Communist Party continues to pose 
challenges to America as we speak.
  Americans are waking up to the threat. From combating global public 
health threats to defending our networks and equipping Americans to 
lead in global innovation, we must act now to confront the growing 
threat of the CCP.
  Having served on the China Task Force, I was proud to work with my 
colleagues to address these challenges. Together, we delivered over 400 
commonsense and workable solutions to

[[Page H127]]

help address the challenges that we certainly recognize we face today.
  In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we worked to shed light on the 
vulnerabilities of our medical supply chain. We worked to strengthen 
our national security, protect our American values, and secure our 
place in international leadership for years to come.
  Now, it is time to continue that mission by creating the Select 
Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and 
the CCP. This select committee will finally give the threats posed by 
the CCP their due congressional attention and ensure that American 
innovation and American ingenuity continue to outpace the threats to 
global security and global stability that is perpetrated by the Chinese 
Communist Party.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this resolution.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Chu).
  Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, as chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific 
American Caucus, or CAPAC, I rise to address the creation of the Select 
Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and 
the Chinese Communist Party.
  CAPAC strongly supports strengthening our economy and national 
security, and we have always recognized that there are legitimate 
concerns with the actions of the Government of the People's Republic of 
China. This committee could address these issues productively.
  However, I rise to remind all Members that this committee should not 
be used as an open invitation to traffic in blatant xenophobic, anti-
China rhetoric that we know results in physical violence against Asian 
Americans.

                              {time}  1300

  We certainly saw this with Trump's labeling of COVID as the ``China 
virus'' resulting in 11,500 hate crimes against AAPIs in this country.
  This committee cannot be used to promote policies that result in the 
racial profiling of Asian Americans but should directly focus on 
specific concerns related to the Government of the People's Republic of 
China.
  We know the danger for Asian-American communities if the committee 
devolves into xenophobic rhetoric and scapegoating.
  Back in the 1980s, when the economic competition between the U.S. and 
Japan reached a boiling point, Vincent Chin was out at a bar in Detroit 
celebrating his upcoming wedding when two laid-off autoworkers shouted: 
It is because of you that we lost our jobs. These men harassed Vincent, 
chased him, and bashed him in his head with a baseball bat, beating him 
until he died. Neither of them served a day in jail and only paid a 
$3,000 fine. Instead of attending his wedding, Vincent's family 
attended his funeral.
  This is part of our country's history, and what this shows is what we 
say and how we say it matters. We know how dangerous the consequences 
can be if we don't get this right.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), my good friend.
  Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 
11, Establishing the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition 
Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
  As a member of the China Task Force in the 116th and 117th Congresses 
and a member of the House Intelligence Committee, this committee is 
long overdue, and I commend Speaker McCarthy for putting this together. 
A clear and dedicated focus on issues surrounding the strategic 
competition between the United States and China has never been more 
important.
  I would make three observations.
  One, make no mistake about it, Mr. Speaker, China has a plan to 
replace us, and they are working on it every single day in technology, 
national security, and in economics. The longer we go without 
addressing those issues, the further we fall behind.
  Number two, look at the allies that Xi Jinping and the CCP align 
themselves with, Putin in Russia, who is a war criminal, and Iran. You 
talk about the unbreakable bond they have with Russia as it relates to 
the Ukraine conflict; they would want nothing more than to see the West 
lose in this conflict.
  Number three, I hope this select committee looks at how we can use 
our economic power in the United States in the trade space working with 
our like-minded allies in the Indo-Pacific region: Japan, South Korea, 
Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, and Indonesia. We have been asleep 
at the wheel when it comes to the economic power we should be using in 
the region.
  Finally, China continues to exploit democratic norms and standards 
throughout the region, engages in economic manipulation of the global 
marketplace, and threatens global peace and security efforts. This 
select committee is more important than ever to ensure the United 
States does not continue to delay our focus on the true needs of our 
strategic competition with China.
  I strongly support this select committee, and I urge adoption of the 
resolution.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Khanna).
  Mr. KHANNA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this select committee.
  As an Asian American who represents the only Asian majority district 
in the continental United States, I would never support a committee 
that I thought would engage in xenophobia or attacks on the Chinese 
people.
  I am pleased that this committee is not directed against China but is 
directed against the Chinese Communist Party in the crafting of the 
language.
  I am pleased that it is going to focus on things that have been a 
bipartisan concern: human rights violations that Representative 
McGovern has advocated in standing up for the Uyghurs.
  The fact is, this country has lost our industrial base. For 40 years, 
on a bipartisan basis, we have watched as jobs were shipped offshore, 
factories shut down, our trade deficits going from $70 billion to 
almost $400 billion. That has hurt the working class. It has hurt our 
ability to be a superpower, and it has led to rising tensions with 
China.
  If we want to deal with Asian hate in this country, one of the things 
we need to do is rebalance our production. It is the loss of our jobs 
that has fueled some of the xenophobia. It is the loss of those jobs 
that fueled the killing that Representative Chu talked about in 
Michigan with Vincent Chin.
  I believe this committee cannot only stand up for American interests. 
I believe when done well, it can help get us to peace and reduce the 
tensions with China by rebalancing trade, by ensuring that China 
doesn't invade Taiwan, and by standing up for human rights.
  I am pleased on a personal basis that Representative Gallagher will 
be chair of this committee. We have had heated debates in the Armed 
Services Committee. We don't agree on many things, but I know that he 
is a marine, a patriot, and someone who is going to make sure that the 
committee is focused on the issues.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), my very good friend.
  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in 
support of the creation of this bipartisan Select Committee on 
Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese 
Communist Party.
  Like my friend from California said, the title is fundamental here. 
This is a policy dispute between our government and the Chinese 
Communist Party, not China, not the Chinese people.
  Most Americans have a great affinity for the Chinese people, their 
industriousness and technical talent both in China and as citizens 
abroad.

  The United States has a long history of partnership with China: in 
the 19th century as a partner in trade; during World War II as an ally; 
and our support of their growth over the past five decades.
  Today, as a great power and as an ancient civilization, China has 
been perverted by the modern leadership of leader for life Xi and the 
CCP.
  Sadly, this has been manifested by rampant intellectual property 
theft, overburdening developing nations through corrupt credit 
practices, manipulation of the facts in Wuhan, punishment of religious 
thought, and the collapse of the rule of law in one of the freest 
places on the globe in Hong Kong, and perhaps most offensively, 
genocide of the Uyghurs and others.

[[Page H128]]

  During the pandemic, we have witnessed the severe vulnerability of 
the world's global supply chain as being far too reliant on China for 
minerals, for pharmaceuticals, for medical supplies, for almost 
everything.
  This select committee will work to address the possible strategies to 
meet and counter Xi's posture.
  I urge all my colleagues to support its creation. I wish Chairman 
Gallagher well in his mission.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Georgia (Mr. Johnson).
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding the time.
  I rise in strong opposition to H. Res. 11, which would create a 
select committee on China. The only reason why we are creating this 
select committee on China is because extremist MAGA Republicans in last 
week's circular firing squad election for Speaker, the Speaker had to 
promise to allow creation of this committee.
  We have watched China rise. We know their activities. We know what 
kind of competition they pose to our economy, national security, 
intellectual property, human rights, all of these issues. We know where 
we stand with China, and each of those issues are covered by committees 
of jurisdiction that exist right now. Any investigation that is done 
can be done through the existing committees.
  So why are we creating this committee?
  I fear that it is to create a platform to unleash anti-Asian hate and 
division. This committee should not be used as an open invitation to 
engage and traffic in blatantly xenophobic anti-Asian rhetoric that we 
know historically results in violence against the Asian people in this 
country.
  That is the reason why I oppose the creation of this select 
committee.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished 
gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Spartz), my very good friend.
  Mrs. SPARTZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the select committee 
on China.
  In February of last year, President Xi of China and President Putin 
of Russia issued a joint statement redefining democracy proclaiming: 
``A trend has emerged towards redistribution of power in the world.''
  We must take this statement seriously.
  Also, in February of last year, the White House released its annual 
report on domestic supply chains, highlighting the heavy reliance of 
many U.S. industries on China.
  For example, China provides more than 70 percent of certain 
pesticides, and three Chinese companies account for 96 percent of the 
world's dry cargo. The recent COVID pandemic underlined our 
dependencies on vital medications, like 90 percent of U.S. antibiotic 
imports are from China.
  Such heavy dependencies on any country would be a major risk but 
being dependent on a communist country with expansionist policies is a 
significant national security risk.
  We must address it.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly).
  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that this Select Committee on the 
Strategic Competition Between the United States and China will be a 
sober and comprehensive engagement of the very important challenge 
China poses to American security and prosperity and that of our allies, 
and not a cynical descent into the worst impulses of Republican 
oversight efforts.
  This select committee offers an opportunity for this body to assess 
and act on how the United States can compete with the CCP on advanced 
manufacturing, trade, and emerging technologies; lead the world in 
competition between democracy versus autocracy; and to bring to light 
the autocratic practices and human rights violations in Hong Kong, the 
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and Tibet.
  As president of NATO's legislative arm, I was proud to partner with 
my colleagues in this body on both sides of the aisle and on both sides 
of the Atlantic to put China on the NATO agenda for the very first time 
in its 70-year history.

  I am hopeful this select committee can also follow the lead of the 
Congressional Taiwan Caucus, which I co-chair and have co-chaired for 
10 years, to use this committee as a venue to express bipartisan 
support for Taiwan's democracy, independence, and territorial 
sovereignty instead of driving wedges that can only advance the 
interests of those we seek to expose.
  Using this committee to drive partisan wedges would be a missed 
opportunity, and I am hopeful we will not do that.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to tackle the geopolitical question of our generation and to make 
this a bipartisan inquiry and effort.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Waltz), my very good friend and distinguished veteran in service 
to the United States and now in the Congress of the United States.
  Mr. WALTZ. Mr. Speaker, we know the activities of the Chinese 
Communist Party under the leadership of Xi, the worst genocide since 
World War II, not just according to the United States--multiple 
administrations of the United States, but also according to the U.N.--
Hong Kong, South China Sea, threats to India, and threats to Taiwan. Xi 
is telling his country to prepare for war.
  Here at home, we have the cornering of critical supply chains and 
dependencies on China that is being done deliberately as they steal 
their way to the top through our intellectual property, spying on the 
Federal Reserve, flooding our key institutions, including academia, 
with money, buying up farmland.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a whole-of-government, whole-of-society 
challenge that we have never before faced in American history. That is 
why we need a committee like this. That is why we need a committee that 
spans all of these jurisdictions, and we certainly need the leadership 
of my good friend and colleague, Representative   Mike Gallagher.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1315

  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Mills), my very good friend who also has rendered distinguished 
service to our country in uniform.
  Mr. MILLS. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today to talk about the 
economic resource warfare that the CCP has launched against the United 
States.
  As a former businessowner, I can tell you the CCP continues to steal 
hundreds of billions of dollars in intellectual property from American 
companies with no consequence.
  Under the current weak administration that has lost credibility on 
the world stage after the failed Afghan withdrawal, they have shown no 
course of action to combat these issues, but there is a plan now.
  Thanks to the American people who elected a Republican majority, I am 
happy to support establishing this select committee to hold the CCP 
accountable.
  I am committed to putting us back ahead of the malign Chinese 
aggressions. While this resolution is just a start, we need to also 
look at mitigating Chairman Xi's One Belt, One Road initiative and 
increase domestic production to offset our GDP-to-national-debt ratio 
while unleashing American energy production and strengthening the U.S. 
dollar.
  This bill is a commonsense approach that will put America first and 
stop adversarial reliance on nations that intend to eliminate the U.S. 
dollar from being the global currency, cut off Western Hemisphere 
supply chains, and advance China's goal of hegemony.
  Let's get this done and put America first.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Smith), my very good friend and a distinguished Member.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, for over three decades post-
Tiananmen Square massacre, Congress was deeply divided; not between 
Republican and Democrat, but among the majority here and in the Senate 
who favored unfettered engagement and

[[Page H129]]

trade without serious human rights conditionality.
  Indeed, President Clinton delinked human rights in trade on May 26, 
1994. I went up there and gave a press conference. I was joined by a 
few others saying how serious that was to give up on human rights and 
allow profits to trump human rights.
  We have seen the brutal nature of the Communist regime, especially 
under Xi Jinping, and the Chinese Communist Party's ultimate desire to 
seek hegemony.
  Over the years, I have chaired 76 congressional hearings on China and 
authored several pieces of legislation, including the Hong Kong Human 
Rights and Democracy Act, and was the Republican sponsor of  Jim 
McGovern's Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. We now have to make sure 
those laws are being faithfully implemented.
  Mr. Speaker, 20 years ago when China became a member of the WTO, most 
Members of Congress, and certainly in the business and community on 
foreign policy establishment, bought into what James Mann rightfully 
called ``the China fantasy.''
  In other words, if you just trade more with a dictatorship, somehow 
they will matriculate into a democracy.
  That fantasy has been shown to be demonstrably naive, at best. The 
CCP has become more powerful because of the trade and dual use items 
that have accrued over there that are now being used by their military 
and by their police.
  I would note, parenthetically, I chaired two hearings on why China 
should not be invited into the WTO and no one--no one--listened.
  The record is clear, Mr. Speaker. As predicted, we have become more 
like them. Thankfully, that is changing, but many in our corporate 
establishment, as we saw with the Olympics, were standing right by 
Beijing and the CCP and Xi Jinping and wouldn't utter a word, including 
Coca-Cola and others, about the terrible killing of the Uyghurs and the 
use of forced labor camps.
  We have stood by as the Chinese embassy and the Ministry of State 
Security have harassed people of Chinese heritage and nationality 
living lawfully in the United States.
  We have not done all that we can do for the people of Hong Kong, 
Tibet, and the Uyghur people in the autonomous region.
  But today, thankfully, we are turning a page, and I applaud our 
Speaker for pushing hard for this select committee. Hopefully, it will 
make a difference.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, this select committee has the potential to do some 
substantive work, and there is a bipartisan group here in this House 
that for years has been focused on holding China accountable and 
upholding a high standard of human rights.
  I don't want to close without acknowledging the incredible leadership 
of Speaker Pelosi in all of this. I traveled with Speaker Pelosi to 
China a few years back, and she insisted that we visit Tibet, a place 
that was blocked off for congressional visits for many years.
  She refused to take no for an answer, and we went to Tibet. Under her 
leadership, the legislation that I mentioned at the beginning of my 
remarks was passed, the most consequential legislation to hold China 
accountable passed in this Congress in history.
  The potential that this select committee has really is contingent on 
making sure that the words that were expressed by Speaker McCarthy and 
by incoming Chair Gallagher are actually upheld. The concern that you 
hear on our side really is concern that this devolves into something 
that is about promoting conspiracy theories and that tolerates racist 
language.

  We say that because we have been through all of this. The use of the 
words that the former President chose to employ resulted in hate crimes 
against Asian Americans in this country. It is unconscionable.
  If this committee goes in that direction, I assure you that the 
Democrats on that committee will push back forcefully.
  We want this committee to be effective. In theory, this is a 
committee that we should all get behind, and I hope that it is 
successful. I hope that it is bipartisan. I hope that it is all that we 
have been promised here today.
  As I said, I am going to vote for this because I think it is the 
right thing to do, and I have faith that our Members on both sides will 
do the right thing.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote their conscience. I am 
going to vote ``yes'' on this, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  I begin by thanking my friend for the debate and for his tremendous 
work in holding China accountable in the human rights area.
  I am certainly confident the Speaker will do as he said, and we will 
have a committee both sides can be proud of.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution 
creating a Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the 
United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
  It is beyond dispute that Communist China poses an urgent 
generational threat to the United States' interests and values. America 
has become far too economically dependent on China in recent decades, 
and as a result, our supply chains have become dangerously fragile. We 
must urgently take steps to secure our supply chains and bring them 
home.
  The Chinese Communist Party continues to push the envelope, both in 
the United States and abroad. They steal American intellectual 
property. They build spy networks and propaganda machines on American 
soil. They threaten our allies in Asia and the South China Sea. They 
have spread their influence throughout the developing world, seeking to 
ensnare vulnerable developing countries in debt-trap diplomacy.
  Mr. Speaker, the time has come for the House of Representatives to 
take a comprehensive look at Communist China. We must build on the 
excellent work done by the China Task Force in 2019 and 2020. We must 
investigate China's actions and respond appropriately to ensure America 
confronts this very grave threat.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to vote ``yes'' on this resolution, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 5, the previous 
question is ordered on the resolution.
  The question is on adoption of the resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  January 10, 2023, on page H129, in the third column, the 
following appeared: The question was taken; and the Speaker pro 
tempore announced that the ayes appeared to have it. Mr. COLE. Mr. 
Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  
  The online version has been corrected to read: The question was 
taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the ayes 
appeared to have it. Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand 
the yeas and nays.


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 


  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question are postponed.

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