After a six-week recess, the House is set to fast-track approval to several China-related bills aimed at countering the growing US adversary starting Monday.
With just three weeks of work on Capitol Hill before the November election, the Republican-led lower chamber is devoting valuable floor time to a bill that would root out Chinese spyware in the country and set up the next president to take tougher action against Beijing.
“We want to bring it all together in one week so that you can have a real sharp focus on the fact that we need to be aggressive in dealing with the China threat,” the majority leader said. Steve Scalise told Fox News Digital about the planned “China Week.”
“I think we can get real bipartisan support for a lot of this,” the Louisiana Republican said. “Those are all bills that have to be very bipartisan, because what China is doing right now is a direct threat to our country’s national security, and if we get a strong bipartisan vote, you have a better chance of getting it through the Senate.”
Scalise said the four bills would fall under a rule, meaning they would be debated by the House and members could offer amendments. Still more rules will come under suspension, meaning the House aims to pass them quickly and without debate.
Scalise highlighted a bill that would undo guidance from the Biden administration that allowed Chinese-made electric vehicles to qualify for a $7,500 tax credit. The move also angered the people of West Virginia Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin, who helped author the inflation-reducing legislation that allowed for credit.
Rep. Carol Miller, RW.Va. The end of Chinese dominance of electric vehicles legislation, introduced by 30D, will tighten the Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) definition of EVs that qualify for the credit to exclude vehicles with significant parts. Made in China.
Another bill would broadly ban China from buying US farmland. Chinese entities will own about 380,000 acres of agricultural land in the US by 2023, or less than 1%.
Another bill, the No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act, would prevent the US from agreeing to any pandemic preparedness agreement negotiated by the World Health Organization (WHO) without the approval of two-thirds of the Senate.
“We’re providing an additional buffer so that the administration can’t partner with the WHO and come up with an agreement that would result in really bad policy for America,” Scalise said.
Another bill, the Biosecure Act, would ban federal agencies that run research labs from using any biotech equipment from any company that could be at risk of using data to send back to CCPs.
Others, DHS restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act, would prevent any federal money from going to CCP-run universities. Confucian Institutes.
“You’re seeing China become more involved in our higher ed institutions,” Scalise said.
During former President Donald Trump’s administration in 2018, Congress “restricted federal funding to schools with institutions; nearly all institutions have since closed,” according to Congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Another piece of legislation would reestablish a task force created under Trump at the Justice Department that would focus specifically on Chinese espionage.
FBI Director Christopher Wray estimated last year that his agency had more than 2,000 active investigations related to Chinese espionage.
The FBI estimates that Chinese counterfeit goods, pirated software and theft of trade secrets cost the US economy between $225 billion and $600 billion.
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