Ashley Hinson

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, the Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act.

This bipartisan bill will finally hold China accountable for decades of evading U.S. trade laws through transshipment, duty evasion, and forced labor.

The CCP's illicit practices are deliberately designed to take advantage of American workers and our businesses, undercutting American wages and gutting rural manufacturing towns that once thrived with good-paying jobs.

The select committee on China uncovered trade fraud by Chinese auto manufacturer Qingdao Sunsong. Sunsong was using transnational shipment to evade our U.S. tariffs, forcing an Illinois company to lay off a quarter of its workforce.

Just in May, a Canadian company, or actually two of them, paid the Justice Department $19 million after being caught evading customs duties for Chinese steel. This is not an isolated event but rather a part of a broader strategy by the CCP to dominate global markets, and they are doing it on the backs of American workers while perpetrating egregious slave labor violations.

Despite the sheer volume of trade-related cases, the Department of Justice remains inadequately equipped to detect, investigate, and prosecute such offenses effectively. My bill will give the Department of Justice real tools to stop these blatant violations and ensure that penalties are meaningfully enforced. American workers have felt pain for decades because of Communist China's malfeasance. Now it is time for Communist China to face the consequences.

This is a bipartisan opportunity to support American industry, reshore domestic manufacturing, and champion American workers.

I am proud to lead this commonsense legislation with tremendous support from both Republicans and Democrats. I am grateful to have the support of China select committee Chairman Moolenaar and Representative Krishnamoorthi on this bill, and I deeply appreciate their collaboration.

To get this done, there should be nothing partisan about delivering accountability for those who blatantly violate our laws and manipulate American workers. We have seen good progress on reshoring domestic manufacturing, but it is clear that current enforcement mechanisms aren't strong enough. We have more work to do.

My bill will help keep that momentum alive while fighting against the bad actors who will stop at nothing to undermine our country, our businesses, and our hardworking families.

Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation supported by union workers, steelworkers, and American workers.

Mr. Chair, as the designee of Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, this amendment would prohibit foreign nationals from designated countries of concern from accessing nonpublic areas of any national laboratory.

This straightforward measure would protect the integrity of America's national labs and the sensitive research that underpins our national security.

For years, we know that the Chinese Communist Party has executed sweeping, coordinated campaigns to acquire American tech and innovation by any means necessary.

Last month, Mr. David Shedd, the former Acting Director of Defense Intelligence Agency, said: Efforts blending cyber espionage, human intelligence, academic collaboration, and commercial investments have fueled China's rapid military and economic rise.

This should concern all of us.

Congress passed a law 2 years ago which prohibited foreign nationals from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea from accessing our weapons labs. This was an important first step, but now we must address the same vulnerabilities in our science labs. These are labs where sensitive but unclassified work on artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and advanced computing are performed.

These are the very labs that the President has tasked with executing the Genesis Mission, a modern-day Manhattan Project, to ensure that the United States wins the race for AI dominance. Yet, at the same time, we are allowing thousands of nontraditional intelligence collectors from our competitors and greatest adversaries to operate inside of these facilities.

We know China's playbook. The CCP will weaponize any expertise it gains militarily, commercially, or economically. Our adversaries are running sophisticated espionage campaigns while we are rolling out the red carpet for thousands of these foreign nationals from proven countries of concern. This is a direct threat to our national security.

Mr. Chair, this amendment simply closes a known vulnerability. It prohibits foreign nationals from countries of concern from accessing any nonpublic area of a national laboratory that receives Defense funding.

Building on those actions taken 2 years ago, this amendment protects the Genesis project and mission and ensures that America, not our adversaries, will reap the benefits of scientific breakthroughs that our scientists achieve.

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

Mr. Chair, while I think we can all agree that collaboration is an essential part of research, especially much of the research happening in our national laboratories, we are at a critical point for our country when it comes to national security and making sure that the investments that American taxpayers are putting into these institutions are protected from our adversaries.

Mr. Chair, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act to allow permanent, nationwide, year-round access to E15.

Mr. Speaker, if you ate today, thank a farmer; if you got dressed today, thank a farmer; and if you put gas in your car today, thank a farmer.

This is a challenging time for our ag economy, and we should be using every tool available to us to support our farmers and our rural communities. This bill does just that, driving new demand for American agriculture products and boosting our farm income by $13.8 billion.

Year-round E15 would lower costs across the board for working families across the country, saving drivers up to 30 cents per gallon and reducing those prices along the supply chain. That is a savings of about $200 a year in fuel costs for the average family. Iowans, just for a stat here, have saved $126 million in the last decade by choosing E15 over E10. That is real savings.

Full E15 adoption would also help to support 128,000 full-time jobs.

After years of uncertainty, it is time for Congress to step up and provide a permanent solution. This is something I have been pushing for years. This is not a mandate. This is commonsense regulation fixes focused right on the consumer.

This is not a mandate. It is a market. It is a win-win-win supporting homegrown energy, reducing reliance on foreign oil and continuing to support America's producers who do the best thing which is feeding and fueling the world.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this commonsense bill.