Republican-led bill holds China accountable for ongoing threats to U.S.

U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), China Task Force Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), and U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) on Oct. 20 introduced a bill to enact a comprehensive legislative response to the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to the United States of America.

“Despite promising reforms for decades, the CCP is no closer to allowing political freedom than it was at Tiananmen Square in 1989,” wrote Rep. McCarthy and Rep. McCaul in an Oct. 1 piece for the National Review. “The brutal crackdowns in Hong Kong, the systematic attempt to destroy the Uyghur culture in Xinjiang, and the relentless assault on the sovereignty of neighboring nations all testify to a stubborn truth: The People’s Republic of China remains a ruthless, one-party dictatorship.”

Rep. McCarthy sponsored the China Task Force Act, H.R. 12, with 18 original cosponsors, including Reps. McCaul and Barr, and other members of the task force. More than 137 bills and other provisions are included and recommended by H.R. 12 as a legislative blueprint to combat the CCP economic, military, political, and technological threat, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.

“The malign behavior of the CCP poses a generational threat that demands urgent action,” Rep. McCaul said. “We can no longer stand back as the CCP ramps up their military aggression, weaponizes the supply chain, and brazenly attacks the democratic values that underpin American society and global prosperity.”  

Rep. Barr said that H.R. 12 provides a roadmap for confronting the CCP in a way that positions America to prevail in what will likely be a multi-generational struggle similar to the strategic battle fought with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

“The threat the CCP poses to our country and the free world is not a Republican or Democrat problem, but an American challenge,” said Rep. Barr. “I will continue working in Congress to hold the CCP accountable for among other abuses, enabling the spread of the COVID-19 virus into a worldwide pandemic claiming over 200,000 American lives in 2020.”

Two-thirds of the measures included in H.R. 12 have bipartisan support and more than a third already have passed the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate, according to the bill summary.

Three of Rep. Barr’s proposals are included in H.R. 12: the NIST COVID-19 Cyber-Security Act, H.R. 7998, which would require the director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to issue resources and guidance to universities and research institutions to protect research; the Countering China Through American Export and Competitiveness Act, H.R. 8163, to prohibit the American Export-Import Bank from conducting large deals with Chinese state-owned enterprises, among other provisions; and the National Security Through America’s Resources and Permitting Reform Act of 2020, H.R. 8198, which supports the domestic production of rare-earth elements, critical minerals, and carbon from coal and coal byproducts that are used in advanced technology, clean energy development and military equipment. Currently, China is estimated to export 80 percent of rare-earth minerals to the U.S.

“For more than 40 years, we have tried to bring them into the family of nations as a responsible partner and only recently have we begun to change course and take on the CCP’s hostile ideology and actions,” said Rep. McCaul. “I am pleased Leader McCarthy has introduced a compilation of bills recommended by the CTF that will help guide our foreign policy regarding the CCP for years to come and we should pass this bill as soon as possible this year.”