[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 188 (Tuesday, November 14, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5495-S5496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 CHINA

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, tomorrow, President Biden is scheduled to 
meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and it is safe to say their 
meeting comes at an especially fraught time. There is a war in the 
Middle East, a war in Europe, and growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific.
  In each case, the United States and China have aligned with opposing 
powers. China is financing the Russian war while America is supporting 
Ukraine. China is propping up the Iranian regime and terrorist proxies 
while the United States is backing Israel's righteous defense. China is 
threatening its own invasion of Taiwan while the United States stands 
firmly in support of Taiwan's defense.
  In addition to these conflicts on the world stage, the United States 
is facing more direct threats from the People's Republic of China and 
the Chinese Communist Party. Economic relations have deteriorated due 
to China's subversive trade practices.
  The Chinese Communist Party is holding three American hostages, 
including Houston native Mark Swidan, who has been imprisoned and 
tortured for more than a decade.
  More than 70,000 Americans a year are being killed by a synthetic 
opioid, fentanyl, which is manufactured using precursor chemicals that 
come from--you guessed it--China.
  Earlier this year, a Chinese surveillance balloon traveled across the 
United States, marking a new level of bravado for the Chinese Communist 
Party.
  So suffice it to say this is an especially fraught time for U.S.-
China relations, but President Biden should not give the Chinese 
Communist Party or President Xi a free pass. I hope the President will 
deliver a clear message to President Xi that China's aggressive and 
hostile actions will not be met with kid gloves. We have a 
responsibility to the American people and to our allies to deal with 
threats from China straightforwardly and head-on.
  Strong leadership from the President is important, but Congress has 
an important role to play too. For example, we have a major piece of 
unfinished business that is a key to our efforts to counter threats 
from China, and that is the National Defense Authorization Act. This 
year's National Defense Authorization Act--or NDAA, as we call it--
includes a range of provisions related to long-term strategic 
competition with China, and it is time to finish that bill and send it 
to the President's desk for his signature.
  The Senate passed the NDAA at the end of July, and here we are in 
November. I hope this week, after more than 3\1/2\ months of waiting, 
we can finally begin to vote on the formal conference process. This 
will be key to ironing out the differences between the House and the 
Senate so we can deliver a bill to the President's desk that is truly 
tough on China and deals with the threat in a realistic and clear-eyed 
fashion.
  The Biden administration has moved away from the idea of decoupling 
from China and now focuses on derisking. Frankly, that makes a lot of 
sense to me because it is hard to ignore a population of 1.4 billion 
people on the other side of the planet. But we do need to derisk, and 
that requires some very specific tasks.
  We want to reduce America's reliance on China for key national 
security interests, but we don't necessarily want to completely 
decouple. I couldn't care less how many businesses want to invest in 
Starbucks or Burger Kings in China, but I care a lot about American 
investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and advanced 
semiconductors.
  We know that derisking is harder than it sounds because China does 
not play by the rules, as we know. The Chinese Communist Party has 
become increasingly aggressive in its efforts to gain power and 
influence, embracing illicit tactics like intellectual property theft, 
for which it is infamous, forced technology transfers, and predatory 
lending.
  It is important to understand that this strategy by the Chinese 
Communist Party doesn't just benefit China's economy but also its 
military. In China, there is no bright line separating the military and 
civilian sectors. This is part of a very intentional strategy known as 
military-civil fusion, which promotes development of dual-use 
technologies. In short, the Chinese Communist Party is focused on 
shoring up technologies that bolster its military strength and its 
economic power at the same time.
  Unfortunately, American investors are fueling the success of Chinese 
military-civil fusion, possibly unwittingly, without even knowing 
exactly what is happening. I am not talking about covert theft of 
intellectual property; I am talking about direct investments in Chinese 
companies. American investors are funneling money into companies that 
are developing artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and next-
generation semiconductors, all of which benefit the People's Liberation 
Army. Intentionally or not, these American investors are fueling 
China's military strength and funding capabilities that could 
eventually be used against the United States and our allies.
  Joseph Stalin reportedly said:

       We will hang the capitalists with the rope they sell us.

  Metaphorically, the United States has provided the Chinese Communist 
Party with a lot of metaphorical rope.
  At the end of 2020, U.S. investments in Chinese companies totaled 
$2.3 trillion in market value. That includes $21 billion in 
semiconductors, $54 billion in military companies, and a whopping $221 
billion in artificial intelligence. That is American investors in 
China, in those sectors.
  We now know China as the single largest national security threat of 
our time, and it is clear that the United States entities are helping 
bankroll its rise. While we have some information--anecdotal really--
that illustrates the scope of the problem, we need more information. We 
need more visibility. We need a better understanding of how certain 
U.S. investments benefit the Chinese Communist Party and its military 
buildup and its belligerent and aggressive actions.
  Thankfully, this is a bipartisan priority, and I am glad the Senate 
took action over the summer. The Senator from Pennsylvania, Senator 
Casey, and I introduced an outbound transparency provision that was 
adopted as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, and 
it passed by a vote of 91 to 6. You don't get that kind of bipartisan 
vote around here very often. So I think it sends a very strong message.
  This measure simply requires companies to notify Treasury of 
investments in specific sectors, including advanced semiconductors, 
artificial intelligence, and hypersonics. This is not a broad bill that 
prohibits investments in the People's Republic of China. This is 
designed to provide information to Congress's policymakers about where 
that money is going in particular sectors where we are in the greatest 
level of competition with China.
  This is all about visibility, about transparency. It will help us 
understand where the money is going and allow us to take appropriate 
action, if required.
  Our colleagues in the House are overwhelmingly supportive of outbound 
investment transparency, though there isn't the same level of consensus 
that there is here in the Senate. Members of the House have suggested 
everything from notification requirements to sanctions, to outright 
prohibitions on some investments.
  We work very diligently with stakeholders here in the Senate to try 
to build consensus. And I think we have achieved that on our outbound 
transparency provision. But I do expect our colleagues in the House 
will have a thorough debate about various options. And I have to say, 
we are fortunate that we have two experts on this topic in the 
conference committee of the House.
  Chairman   Michael McCaul leads the House Foreign Affairs Committee 
and is a powerful and trusted voice on matters related to China. He 
recently introduced his own outbound investment legislation and is 
committed to including a strong outbound provision in the NDAA.
  The conference committee for the Defense authorization bill also 
includes Chairman   Mike Gallagher, who leads

[[Page S5496]]

the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. His 
committee has been investigating problematic investments in Chinese 
companies, and he has been clear, based upon those investigations, that 
Congress needs to enact strong guardrails around investments in China.
  But before you do that, you need good information, which is what our 
outbound investment transparency provision provides. I am glad Chairman 
Gallagher and Chairman McCaul will bring their expertise to the Defense 
authorization bill conference committee. And I am optimistic they can 
work out with our Senate colleagues a provision that will earn strong 
bipartisan support.
  After 3\1/2\ months of waiting, I hope the Senate will finally vote 
to begin the NDAA conference committee process this week. Once that 
happens, the two Chambers can work together in earnest to reach an 
agreement on a final version of the bill.
  Here in the Senate, I appreciate Chairman Reed and Ranking Member 
Wicker for their leadership throughout this process and their support 
of this amendment with Senator Casey.
  I also want to express my gratitude to Senator Sullivan of Alaska for 
his support and his commitment to putting a strong outbound investment 
provision in this year's NDAA.
  There is a lot of work that remains to be done, but there is 
clearly--clearly--an overwhelming bipartisan desire to counter threats 
from China through an outbound investment measure. As I noted, this 
amendment passed the Senate by 91 to 6.
  In the House, Members on both sides have endorsed varying proposals 
that address the same problem from different angles. I don't understand 
why anyone would be opposed to outbound investment transparency. All we 
are asking for is information that may or may not require us to take 
further action.
  This information is key to our national security and will help the 
United States manage risks related to China. And I hope we can get the 
job done soon.
  I yield the floor.

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