[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 26, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3571-S3572]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.


                                 China

  Mrs. FISCHER. Madam President, earlier this month, the Chinese 
Communist Party's relentless propaganda efforts rose to the forefront 
of international discussion yet again. China's authoritarian government 
squashes opposition at home without hesitation, but its censorship and 
propaganda spreads far beyond China's borders.
  The CCP uses an array of insidious means to push its messages across 
national boundaries. Concerns that the CCP's influence is seeping into 
Hollywood continues to grow. This issue flared up once again this 
month. Why? Well, in a word, ``Barbie.'' You heard me right. A movie 
about a plastic doll is the last place you would expect national 
security questions to arise, but it has.
  One trailer for the ``Barbie'' movie depicted a cartoon map of the 
title character's world travels. On the map is a roughly drawn 
continent of Asia, but it might be more than just a cartoon character's 
doodle. The map includes a dotted line extending out from the east 
shore of China.
  Well, that line is curiously similar to what is known as the nine-
dash line. Everyone in the defense space is familiar with this line. It 
is a Chinese-drawn boundary in the South China Sea. China uses this 
boundary to claim ownership of maritime territory, even

[[Page S3572]]

though the United Nations International Court of Justice rejected its 
claims on that territory in 2016.
  The country's neighbors, including Vietnam and the Philippines, they 
certainly contest these claims as well. China appeals to this false 
boundary when its naval presence creeps into new areas of the South 
China Sea, and it intimidates boats, fishermen, and others from 
neighboring countries who cross that invisible line.
  Now, ``Barbie,'' the movie, it is a great movie. Americans loved it 
this past weekend, but the ``Barbie'' movie, well, it treads a little 
too closely to depicting what looks like the nine-dash line. Hollywood 
needs to become aware of the ways that the CCP tends to push its 
propaganda. Use of the line is a trigger for geopolitical 
sensitivities, including its likeness on a map, even as part of a 
child-like drawing, that has real global ramifications.
  Now, you may say: Oh, come on, it is just a movie. But Vietnam's 
authorities banned ``Barbie'' from playing in theaters because of its 
offensive, alleged depiction of the nine-dash line. And members of the 
Philippines Government, they raised concerns as well, eventually 
deciding to blur the map line in showings across their country.
  Despite the ``Barbie'' movie's content, allegations of Chinese 
propaganda in Hollywood are not child's play. China continues to take 
advantage of our unprecedented global media network to do real damage. 
It is no accident that China is financing some of the biggest films, 
and China runs the second largest box office in the world, second only 
to North America.
  When a movie doesn't play in China, Hollywood loses literally 
billions of dollars. Remember the controversy around ``Top Gun's'' 
sequel last year? The Department of Defense, they worked with Paramount 
Pictures to make that movie happen, but when ``Top Gun: Maverick's'' 
first trailer was released in 2019, viewers noticed that the Japanese 
and Taiwanese flags that were on Tom Cruise's bomber jacket, well, they 
had been replaced in an attempt to appease China.
  The studio wisely reversed course on that decision after a public 
outcry, but that is not where the CCP's influence ended. The film made 
no mentions or even implications of the United States' primary 
adversary, and that is China. Any movie related to our national defense 
that doesn't bring up China, well, it must be set in an alternative 
universe because that is the biggest defense challenge facing our 
country. This isn't a conspiracy theory.
  The Presiding Officer is on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and 
we know well China's strategy. The defense world is well aware that 
China maintains a well-oiled propaganda machine that is enmeshed in our 
modern media.
  So you may say: Oh, come on, it is just a movie. No, this is a 
serious problem, so serious that it is one our government should 
address. We can't allow our Federal Agencies to help elevate messages 
that support the CCP's goals, and we certainly cannot involve our own 
Defense Department and taxpayer dollars in entertainment projects that 
are beholden to Chinese propaganda.
  As a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I have 
successfully secured language in the last two National Defense 
Authorization Acts to prevent our government's Department of Defense 
from participating in entertainment projects with ties to the CCP.
  Thanks to our persistent efforts, the Department of Defense recently 
released new regulations around how the Department of Defense can 
provide assistance to entertainment projects. Pursuant to these NDAA 
provisions, the Department is now prohibited from assisting with 
entertainment projects that censor the content of the project in a 
material manner to advance the national interest of the People's 
Republic of China.
  It is my hope that this new policy will ensure that taxpayer dollars 
are never involved in anti-American messaging efforts as well as send a 
clear signal to the CCP that we will no longer turn a blind eye to its 
propaganda efforts. This is just one example of the many provisions in 
this year's NDAA that stand up to China and advance our national 
security.
  I encourage my Senate colleagues to vote yes on the NDAA so that we 
can deliver a strong package that keeps China in line.
  I yield the floor.

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