SHIELD Against CCP Act

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Green and Congresswoman Clarke, my good friend, for their leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of a bill I authored with Congressman Strong, the bipartisan SHIELD Against the CCP Act.

The Chinese Communist Party is intent on promoting authoritarianism by weakening America from within. They seek to take our greatest strengths: pluralism, diversity, free speech, capitalism, and representative government, and use them against us.

China uses our freedoms, our social media, and our open society to sow chaos and division in our country. They know we cannot solve difficult problems in an environment of fear and anger, so they encourage fear and anger. They promote the most extreme sides of our thorniest debates. Whether it is Black lives matter versus blue lives matter, or transgender versus evangelicals, or Israel versus Gaza, the Chinese Communist Party promotes the most extreme positions on both sides of the debate, not with an objective of winning a debate but of fomenting dissent in America.

Add to this theft of our intellectual property, threats to our critical infrastructure, and trying to intimidate U.S. citizens through transnational repression. We must act.

The fact that today we are promoting bipartisan legislation is our greatest possible response. Democrats and Republicans can work together to combat this threat.

Our bipartisan bill counters the Chinese Communist Party with strength by, one, building the capacity of the Department of Homeland Security to

fight predatory economic and trade practices; two, preventing identity theft; three, strengthening our border security; four, providing the Department of Homeland Security with adequate resources to protect our critical infrastructure; five, improving cybersecurity; and, six, fighting transnational repression and criminal organizations.

The FBI Director has stated that the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, poses a broad and unrelenting threat. The Chinese Communist Party is also engaged in a brutal campaign of transnational repression, targeting democracy advocates, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, Uyghurs, and other ethnic minority groups.

The Chinese Communist Party actually targets Americans, including my constituents. Just before Thanksgiving, after years of fighting for his release, I received the incredible news that my constituent, Kai Li, was finally released to the U.S. after more than a decade of wrongful imprisonment in China. If we are to honor the years Mr. Li spent Chinese detention, then we must remain clear-eyed about the CCP threat and redouble our efforts to counter it.

Among their provocative tactics is transnational repression, which can be illustrated through the torment of Dr. Gulshan Abbas and her family. In 2018, Dr. Abbas was taken to a Uyghur forced labor camp.

What was her crime, Mr. Speaker?

Her sister, Rushan Abbas, an American, spoke out against the Uyghur genocide during a panel discussion here in America, then her sister was put in prison in China.

Think about it, Mr. Speaker. The CCP is not only carrying out mass detention, torture, forced sterilization, and forced labor against religious minorities within China, but also imprisoning family members of American citizens to suppress free expression here in America.

Let me be clear: the United States cannot waver in the face of this unrelenting strategic adversary. Today, we must demonstrate our resolve by supporting the SHIELD Against CCP Act which will help ensure that our government has a strong and unified response to the Chinese Communist Party's aggression.

Working with Congressman Strong demonstrates that when we work together, we will succeed.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my legislation, H.R. 9668, the SHIELD Against CCP Act.

We can all agree that the Chinese Communist Party poses a clear and present danger to America's democracy and homeland security.

The CCP exploits every possible avenue to undermine our national security, and the Biden-Harris administration's open southern border policy and soft-on-China policies have only aided our adversaries' ability to harm American interests.

Our immigration system is routinely exploited by the CCP through identity theft, immigrant and nonimmigrant visa processes, and unlawful border crossings. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, in fiscal year 2021, there were 323 apprehensions of Chinese foreign nationals. Nearly 4 years of the Biden-Harris administration have ballooned that number to 64,000.

In addition to exploiting our immigration system, the CCP also engages in theft of U.S. intellectual property and technology, which comes at a significant cost to our economy. It is estimated that China's IP theft alone costs the average American family of four anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000 annually after taxes. It is critical that DHS do more to combat these complex threats both at home and abroad.

For these reasons, I introduced H.R. 9668, the SHIELD Against CCP Act. This legislation will require the Department of Homeland Security to establish a dedicated working group to counter threats posed to our homeland security by the Chinese Communist Party.

Specifically, it will require them to examine, assess, and report on DHS' efforts to counter the threats posed by the CCP. To ensure DHS is held accountable, H.R. 9668 also requires DHS to report annually to Congress.

It is our duty in Congress to ensure the safety and well-being of our great Nation, and we must not ignore the increasing aggression and influence of China on the global stage.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Green and all of the Members who have supported this legislation, and I urge all Members to join me in supporting this critically important piece of legislation to protect our national security and safeguard our interest.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the actions of the Chinese Communist Party at home and around the world have shown us that China is intent on undermining the global standing of the United States and weakening democratic institutions and norms.

According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, China is expanding its covert influence and aims to sow doubts about U.S. leadership and undermine democracy, including by interfering in our elections.

The FBI director has stated that the CCP poses a broad and unrelenting threat to the United States critical infrastructure.

H.R. 9668 would require the Department of Homeland Security to establish a working group to coordinate its efforts to address threats that the CCP poses to the homeland. The working group would evaluate threats posed by the CCP, identify what DHS is doing to address these threats, identify what more could be done to address these threats, and then facilitate coordination across DHS to holistically address the threats from the CCP.

By supporting this bill, Congress can ensure that DHS has a strong and unified response to the Chinese Communist Party provocation and aggression.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Suozzi), who is the bill's Democratic lead.

Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives Strong and Suozzi for leading on this bill, I urge all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 9668) to establish in the Department of Homeland Security a working group relating to countering terrorist, cybersecurity, border and port security, and transportation security threats posed to the United States by the Chinese Communist Party, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 9668.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 9668, the SHIELD Against the CCP Act.

Throughout the past few years, the Chinese Communist Party has increasingly threatened our security, the security of our homeland. We must begin to come up with serious solutions to this very serious problem, and this bill is an important start.

This bill will require DHS to establish a working group to appropriately address and counter these threats.

I commend my colleague, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Strong) for his work on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Strong).

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I echo those comments. This is another great bipartisan effort in the Committee on Homeland Security.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 9668, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.