Gone will be the succession of trillion-dollar “recovery” bills, government funding for crack pipes and further economy-harming energy restrictions.
Instead, House Republicans told reporters last week that they will address an area the Biden administration has learned to studiously ignore – China’s efforts to undermine American prosperity and emerge as the world’s cultural and military leader.
Leaders of some House committees said they already have begun to reorganize and reorient toward the China threat.
Of course, their highest-profile investigation will be into Hunter Biden’s laptop, which is said to involve payoffs from China, perhaps even to President Joe Biden. They expect the House Oversight Committee to join forces with the House Foreign Affairs Committee on that probe and any that emanate from it.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, who likely would become chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., likely incoming chair of the House Armed Services Committee, already discussed joint investigations into cyber, malign influence, bioweapons, space, nuclear weapons programs and surveillance with respect to China.
Rep. John Katko, R-NY, who likely would become chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said his committee planned to focus on supply chain issues, cyberattacks from China, and Confucius Institutes that operate as Chinese Communist Party outposts at universities across the country.
Katko said Congress would look for ways to get more out of the important first steps taken with passage of the CHIPS Act, which attempts to bring home computer chip manufacturing, and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which gives the government tools through Customs and Border Protection to move against China for its export of Fentanyl through Mexico into the US.
Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., the likely next chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, said to expect a focus on the “off-world” – that which lies beyond our atmosphere. He cited concerns about a rover the Chinese have placed on the dark side of the moon and whether it could pose a threat to US telecommunications.
The thread that connects these priorities is the growing threat China poses to the US. The Chinese have set a goal to become the world’s pre-eminent military power by 2049 – 100 years since the People’s Republic of China was founded – and virtually all Chinese government policy in every sphere is designed to meet this goal. Chinese leader Xi Jinping personally oversees the Military-Civil Fusion policy, which seeks to dissolve barriers between civilian and military research in China and direct all research into the goal of boosting the Chinese military.
Rep. Michael McFaul, R-Texas, who would become chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he plans to focus on export control issues, in particular the Bureau of Industry and Security, which has been found to have approved export licenses for products that directly bolster the Chinese military.
All of this could mean trouble for some American companies. For instance, Elon Musk’s Tesla makes electric cars virtually right outside the door of a forced labor camp in Xinjiang, The New Uyghur Forced labor Prevention Act restricts US imports from that region.
Since Musk has received significant funding and support from the Chinese government, there also are concerns about his space technology, developed in part with US government funding, falling into the wrong hands. Seemingly in response to these concerns, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the Space Protection of American Command and Enterprise (SPACE) Act to “address the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ongoing effort to replace the United States as the global leader of space industry under its Made in China 2025 industrial plan.” The American people can expect this and similarly-profiled legislation to gain significant traction next session should the GOP take over.
Chinese firms are also required by law to spy for their government. That could make things interesting for other American firms they control or outright own, such as AMC, Smithfield Foods, GE Appliances and part of Motorola.
It’s encouraging that the GOP is so willing to address this threat of a hostile country that seeks to overtake us in the military, economic and social arenas. This country is an adversary and our business practices, trade policy and willingness to defend ourselves need to fundamentally change. With GOP victories this November, it’s a near sure bet that they will.
Jessie Jane Duff is a Gunnery Sergeant, U.S Marine Corps retired and 2020 Trump Campaign Co-Chair Veterans for Trump.
