[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 48 (Thursday, March 13, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1746-S1747]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Scott of South 
        Carolina, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Sullivan, Ms. Warren, Mr. Hagerty, 
        Mr. Kim, Mr. Ricketts, Ms. Slotkin, Mr. Banks, Mr. Bennet, Mr. 
        McCormick, and Mr. Fetterman):
  S. 1053. A bill to protect the national security of the United States 
by imposing sanctions with respect to certain persons of the People's 
Republic of China and prohibiting and requiring notifications with 
respect to certain investments by United States persons in the People's 
Republic of China, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, a lot has changed in Washington, DC, in 
the last 6 weeks. That is an understatement, perhaps. But one of the 
things that President Trump has done is shifted the Overton window when 
it comes to the People's Republic of China.
  Years ago, when the Clinton administration invited China to join the 
World Trade Organization, the idea behind that was that somehow 
communist China would change with being part of the rules-based 
international order. Well, of course, we know China doesn't follow the 
rules and has taken advantage of the United States for decades. But 
under President Trump, that will no longer be the case. For example, 
last month, the White House announced its America-first investment 
policy, which will be critical for holding China to account.
  One of the avenues that China has exploited to gain the upper 
economic hand is through both inbound and outbound flows of capital. By 
investing in U.S. companies, the People's Republic of China and the 
Chinese Communist Party can obtain access to intellectual property and 
know-how. And, of course, they have no shame. Again, they don't play by 
our rules. They are not afraid to cheat or steal our technology if it 
is possible.
  On the other side of the coin, U.S. investments from the United 
States are flowing into China and have for a long time. A 2021 estimate 
was that the market value of U.S. investments in China was valued at 
more than $1 trillion.
  Now, the reason why that is important is that China has used that 
investment to build their economy and their military. It has allowed 
them to advance technologies that one day might be used against the 
United States.
  So I am very glad that President Trump, by his Executive order, has 
brought this issue from the back burner to the front.
  It is no secret to any of my colleagues that I have been working on 
this issue for a while now. I was proud to partner with President Trump 
during his first administration to update CFIUS, the Committee on 
Foreign Investment in the United States. This interagency committee 
reviews foreign investments and real estate transactions to determine 
whether they pose any security risks for the United States.
  Through the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, or what 
was known as FIRRMA, we strengthened and modernized CFIUS to rise to 
the occasion of new threats coming from the People's Republic of China. 
The President's America-first investment policy builds on this by 
directing CFIUS to restrict PRC investments in U.S. tech, agriculture, 
energy, raw materials, and more.
  But as Chinese companies get richer and richer from American 
investment, it is clear that restricting inbound investment is not 
enough. We need to prevent the People's Republic of China from using 
capital investments by the United States to gain access to and copy our 
technological advances--most importantly, in certain critical sectors.
  As of 2023, U.S. investors were investing close to $2 billion in 
Chinese critical technology sectors, including semiconductors, quantum 
computing, and artificial intelligence. A report from the U.S.-China 
Economic and Security Review Commission noted: ``The United States is 
the most important foreign source of investment to semiconductors, 
quantum computing, and AI in China.''
  Let me say that again. ``The United States is the most important 
foreign source of investment to semiconductors, quantum computing, and 
AI in China.''
  So it is these investments, which are largely opaque to us, as 
policymakers, that are helping China basically compete with us. We 
know, of course, it is not just about economic competition. We know 
that China has a strategy of military-civil fusion, which means that 
these investments are not simply benefiting China's economy and 
consumer tech sector; they are directly helping build China's military 
strength.
  It is not too dramatic to say that as I stand here, U.S. dollars are 
funding the development of technologies that could one day be used 
against Americans, potentially even to kill Americans or American 
troops.
  Inbound and outbound investments are simply two sides of the same 
coin. We can't be giving away all of our intellectual property and our 
incredible innovation for Chinese companies to copy at will, and we 
can't be giving them the capital to recreate our ideas or reverse-
engineer and then use them against us.
  How can we expect to outcompete our most significant competitor on 
the world stage if we are sending billions of dollars directly into 
their arsenal?
  President Trump has been a great partner with Congress on ending this 
exploitative relationship with China. Again, this is not dealing with 
another country on the basis of good faith and a knowledge that 
everybody is operating from the same set of rules and norms. China does 
not, and we have recognized that more recently, but it is important to 
reemphasize because some people, I think, still naively assume China 
operates by the same rules the United States does.
  So I am glad the President is as excited as I am to finish the job we 
started with CFIUS reform.
  Today, I am proud to announce that I am introducing legislation to 
finally tackle this issue called the Foreign Investment Guardrails to 
Help Thwart China Act. The acronym is FIGHT China. Two years ago, I 
sponsored an amendment to the NDAA requiring transparency for these 
outbound investments. It passed the Senate overwhelmingly with a final 
bipartisan vote of 91 to 6. We don't see many votes here in the Senate 
these days where there is such strong bipartisan support, so I am 
grateful for that.
  Regrettably, even in the face of such overwhelming consensus, this 
amendment did not make its way into the final version of the bill for 
reasons I won't dwell on now. But, as my colleagues can attest, I am 
not one to give up easily, and this issue is simply too important to 
American national security to take no for an answer, so I have 
continued to work with great partners in the House, in the Senate, and 
in the Trump administration to continue to make progress on this and 
bring us to where we are today.
  The legislation we are introducing today has been the culmination of 
years of work, and I believe it is stronger as a result of the input 
and the collaboration that have occurred.
  The FIGHT China Act will establish a program at the Department of 
Treasury to prohibit U.S. investments in certain sensitive technologies 
in the PRC.
  Now, some people may say: Well, if you stop all U.S.-based investment 
in China, that is a big problem. But we are not talking about that. I 
could care less how many Starbucks or Burger Kings are built in China. 
It only addresses certain of the most sensitive technologies. These 
include advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum 
computing, and hypersonics. Of course, all of these have a military 
application.
  So this is not just an economic question; this is a national security 
issue. We know that all of these critical industries directly support 
the Chinese military, and this is the military that has been instructed 
by President Xi to be ready to invade Taiwan or to absorb Taiwan one 
way or another, either by force or by coercion, by 2027. It is simply 
foolish to continue to send money to fuel these technologies that could 
be used perhaps in the next few years against the United States and our 
allies.
  This legislation would create a notification regime to create more 
transparency around investments that are not prohibited. You know, as 
long as we are blind to how much money is

[[Page S1747]]

being invested in China and in what technology and in what sectors it 
is being invested in, we as policymakers can't do our job and the 
administration can't do its job, which is primarily to keep our country 
safe and the American people safe.
  This legislation will authorize the President to impose sanctions 
against any PRC entity that engages in PRC military or intelligence 
sectors.
  I want to express my gratitude to our colleagues, people like 
Senators Cortez Masto, Warren, Banks, Slotkin, Ricketts, Bennet, 
Hagerty, Kim, McCormick, Schumer, Sullivan, Fetterman, and others for 
their partnership on this legislation.
  I especially want to recognize the chairman of the Banking Committee, 
which has principal jurisdiction over this subject matter, Senator Tim 
Scott, and thank him for working with me and cosponsoring this 
legislation.
  Last but not least, President Trump has been a great partner to see 
this project to the finish line. Everything we are doing here is 
working hand in glove with the administration to ensure that the 
People's Republic of China is not allowed to meddle with the United 
States under the guise of simply doing business.
  But time is running short. We know that China, as I said, has an 
interest in reincorporating Taiwan as early as 2027, not 2 years from 
now. Now is not the time to continue to allow them access to copy all 
of our work, in particularly the most sensitive areas. Nor is it the 
time to allow them to continue to benefit from U.S. investment dollars 
now that they are no longer a developing country, but they are one of 
the most advanced economies in the world and certainly a rising 
military power.
  We know that China, Iran, and Russia have conducted joint naval 
drills in the Middle East, called the Maritime Security Belt 2025. 
These exercises took place in the Gulf of Oman near the strategic 
Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 
nearly a fifth of all crude oil traded in the world passes. This is an 
ominous sign. We know they are strengthening their cooperation together 
in a way to undermine and challenge the West, including the United 
States. The last thing the United States should do is to join this 
cooperation by investing in the Chinese military, and that includes not 
just the Government of the United States but all Americans and American 
businesses and investors.
  So the President has been right to highlight this growing threat, and 
I look forward to continuing to work with President Trump and Secretary 
Bessent to ensure that U.S. dollars no longer are able to help build 
the Chinese military and line the pockets of the country that is 
working to undermine the international rules-based order and the United 
States first and foremost.
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