House Democrats Pass Weak Anti-China Bill

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of CA speaks during her weekly press conference, Thursda
Rod Lamkey/Pool via AP
Sean Moran

House Democrats passed the America COMPETES Act on Friday, which many conservatives contend would not help the United States better compete with China.

Democrats passed H.R. 4521, the America COMPETES Act, with a vote of 222-210, featuring overwhelming Democrat support and Republican opposition to the bill.

Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) voted against the bill and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) voted for the bill:

The legislation serves as the House version of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) have championed.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that the legislation serves as a top priority for the Joe Biden administration, as Democrats remain desperate for a win ahead of Biden’s scheduled March 1 State of the Union address.

Now that the bill has passed through the House, Democrats will have to set up a conference committee to address the differences between the two bills, but they will face significant opposition from Republicans, as the bill contains many climate, immigration, and woke carveouts.

Rep. Fred Keller (R-PA) said in a statement after the vote:

The so-called America COMPETES Act fails to meaningfully address any of these actions. Instead, Speaker Pelosi’s bill would line the CCP’s pockets and give China even more opportunities to steal our intellectual property. The partisan legislation is a total gift to China, letting the CCP completely off the hook for its COVID-19 cover-up and inviting even more malicious Chinese influence into the United States.

Moreover, this bill would cost $250 billion, with no mechanism in place to offset its colossal price tag. Last summer, I co-sponsored the Countering Communist China Act, which would effectively address these issues at a fraction of this bill’s cost. Unfortunately, Washington Democrats’ refusal to work across the aisle means the American people will end up footing the bill for this giveaway to Communist China.

House Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks (R-IN) outlined the many failures in the bill, including:

1. Invites more malign CCP actors into the country: Creates a new visa cap carveout program that would be even less secure than the existing visa programs that already riddled with fraud [sic]. Shockingly, an unlimited number of members of the Chinese Communist Party are eligible to take advantage of the new visa program to carry out their malign activity here in the States (page 1689).

2. Ties our hands behind our back: The bill urges the U.S. to abide by the dangerous and short-sighted Paris Climate Agreement which would cripple our economic output and does almost nothing to stop China’s much more rampant pollution (page 1323).

3. Provides more opportunities for China to steal our intellectual property: The bill directs the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China to work together and undertake ‘parallel initiatives’ on research, development, finance and deployment (pg. 1340).

4. Distracts our military from focusing on China: The bill would direct the U.S. Armed Forces to train to combat climate change events (pg. 1396).

5. Lets China off the hook for their role in the pandemic: The only mention of the investigation into COVID origins is a meaningless requirement that mandates Biden give a report to Congress (page 995). No independent investigation, no sanctions, no punishment.

6. Pads China’s coffers: Under this bill, China will be eligible for financial assistance from the World Banks Group and Asian Development Banks if assistance will contribute to “fighting climate change” (page 1480).

7. Wastes taxpayer dollars on issues completely unrelated to China: • $8 billion for the UN Green Climate Fund (page 1392) • $2 million a year in foreign aid to countries to combat climate change (page 1375) • $22 million to investigate a residential building collapse (page 191) • Establishes a new federal program to study plumbing (page 227) • Establishes a Coral Reef Task Force (page 1645) and gives $6 million to the NOAA to create a National Coral Reef Management Fellowship (page 1653). In fact, it’s so focused on coral reefs that “coral reefs” is mentioned more times than the word “China.” • Includes the Marine Mammal Research and Response Act that mandates financial and regulatory “support” to protect marine mammals.

8. Includes policies inspired by divisive & anti-American Critical Race Theory: Provides $5 million to create a Chief Diversity Officer at the National Science Foundation (page 328) and direct the NSF to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion in the technology sector (page 318).

9. Adds fuel to inflation fire: Costs $250 billion and there’s no design to pay for the bill, so much of it will be added to our national debt.

10. Turns a blind eye to Confucius Institutes: The bill fails to ban federal funding for colleges and universities that host Confucius Institutes, a tool of the Chinese Communist Party to steal our intellectual property and censor our campuses (page 1967).

11. Allows China a global platform for their propaganda: The bill does not call for moving the International Olympic Games outside of China instead opting for a weak slap on the wrist aka a “diplomatic boycott” (page 1249).

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) noted that the bill calls on the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

“On the same day as the Opening Ceremonies, Democrats are holding a feckless vote to ‘rebid the 2022 Olympic Winter Games’ away from Beijing. Where were they 8 months ago when I called for the Olympics to be relocated? Too little, too late,” he remarked.

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.

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