Speaker McCarthy names GOP Select Committee on China members

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Monday named U.S. Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Darin LaHood (R-IL), John Moolenaar (R-MI), and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) to the U.S. House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, more commonly called the Select Committee on China.

The speaker also named GOP members to serve on the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the U.S. House Rules Committee.

“Under Democrat-control, House committees have been used to target their political opponents and reward their allies at the expense of addressing real concerns to our country. That ends with the new House Republican majority,” Rep. McCarthy said on Jan. 23. “The members on these committees will work to shift power back to the American people by providing oversight, transparency, and will stay laser-focused on getting ahead of our national threats.”

The Select Committee on China is responsible for assessing the threats to the economy and national security posed by the government of China and proposing plans to ensure a strong American future.

Members serving on the Select Committee on China will work on restoring supply chains and ending economic dependencies on China; strengthening the United States military; ending the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) access to Americans’ personal data and intellectual property; and contrasting the CCP’s techno-totalitarian state with the values of the Free World, according to information provided by the lawmakers.

“We need to address the threats posed by China to our food security and national security,” Rep. Johnson said. “I’ve been a leader limiting China’s control over our technology, specifically TikTok, and prohibiting the CCP’s purchase of American farmland and ag businesses.”

“This committee will play a critical role in mitigating the CCP’s influence in the U.S. and establishing policies to increase our national security,” added Rep. Johnson. “I am ready to get to work.”

Rep. LaHood tweeted yesterday that he’s honored to be appointed by Speaker McCarthy to the Select Committee on China. “Now more than ever, Congress must work to strengthen our economic and national security and address the generational challenges posed by China,” he tweeted.

Rep. Moolenaar also is grateful for the opportunity to serve on the committee, noting that China has been actively working to weaken America. 

“It is buying U.S. farmland, stealing inventions, jeopardizing the health of every person in the world, and building up its military while threatening its neighbors,” said Rep. Moolenaar. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to address all of these issues, as well as our nation’s supply chain concerns, in order to better prepare America for the challenges from the [CCP].” 

Rep. Newhouse agreed that the CCP is a threat to American democracy and said the U.S. is engaged in a great power struggle with China.

“We must respond with tough policies that will protect our farmland, rebuild our national supply chains, stand up for human rights, and safeguard American sovereignty,” Rep. Newhouse said, adding that he “will continue leading the charge against the CCP’s efforts to buy up American farmland to ensure our agriculture industry and food supply chain is protected from any and all attacks, overt or otherwise, against them.”

Among the other Republican members named to the Select Committee on China are U.S. Reps. Andy Barr (R-KY), Michelle Steel (R-CA), and Ashley Hinson (R-IA). The Democratic members of the committee have not yet been announced.