Much of the best legislation that passes the House of Representatives does so in the form of amendments. This statement was proven true again this month as the House passed an amendment I offered to the National Defense Authorization Act which requires the Department of Defense to study the security threat the Chinese surveillance state poses to American interests.
China’s growing surveillance state is used by the Communist regime to oppress its people and deny them basic rights. It has also increasingly become a tool which has empowered the Chinese Communist Party to spy on, steal from, intimidate, and persecute anyone it deems expedient. As such, their surveillance state is tied closely to the ongoing theft of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of American intellectual property rights by that nation.
I have introduced legislation that seeks to impose duties on Chinese merchandise to punish China for this theft. I have also discussed this issue directly with the President. Among the reasons I want the USMCA Trade Deal enacted quickly is that doing so will strengthen President Trump’s ability to wring concessions out of the Chinese government during negotiations on that separate deal.
