Congress, Fresh Off Its August Recess, Tees Up a ‘China Week’ To Spotlight Chinese Communist Party

After returning from their six-week vacation on Monday, members of Congress will put a new spotlight on the Chinese Communist Party with more than two dozen pieces of legislation aimed at curbing the party’s influence here in America. Republicans hope some of the measures will get bipartisan support before an ugly spending fight. On Monday, the House Rules Committee will meet to consider five bills that would restrict the CCP and its influences. It is the first batch of legislative items to be considered, with another 23 receiving committee votes in the coming days. The first five bills include a restriction on electric vehicle tax credits to exclude those cars that use materials originating in China, a requirement that the Senate approve all future pandemic preparedness measures made between America and the World Health organization, and prohibiting Chinese firms from purchasing or leasing farmland.“We wanted to combine them all into one week so that you had a real sharp focus on the fact that we need to be aggressive in confronting the threat that China poses,” House majority leader Steve Scalise told Fox News.“I think we can get real bipartisan support for a number of these,” he added. “They’re all bills that should be very bipartisan, because there are things that China is doing right now that are direct threats to our country’s national security, and if we get strong bipartisan votes, you have a higher chance of getting through the Senate.”The legislation restricting which electric vehicles can access the Biden administration’s $7,500 tax credit was introduced by Congresswoman Carol Miller. Her senator, the Democrat-turned-independent Senator Manchin, said when the electric vehicle rule was finalized that President Biden was “effectively endorsing ‘Made in China’” because it failed to include restrictions on Chinese-made cars from qualifying for the tax credit.Mr. Manchin said the administration’s interpretation of the Inflation Reduction Act in that decision was “outrageous” and “illegal.”Ms. Miller’s bill “would amend the Internal Revenue Code to tighten eligibility requirements for the new clean-vehicle tax credit.” That would include restricting a person’s ability to claim the credit if their car was “powered by a battery containing components or materials that have been extracted, processed, recycled, manufactured, or assembled by a prohibited foreign entity or designed, manufactured, or produced under contract with such an entity.” Another bill being proposed by House Republicans is a restriction on Confucius Institutes’ relationship with American educational institutions. The legislation, from Congress August Pfluger, would require the Department of Homeland Security to restrict funding for any American institute of higher education that has a relationship with a Confucius Institute. The bill describes a Confucius Institute as “any cultural institute directly or indirectly funded by the Chinese government.”The so-called “China Week,” as Mr. Scalise dubbed it, follows nearly two years of intense investigation of the country and its ruling Communist Party under a Republican-led House. In 2023, Speaker McCarthy created the select committee on the CCP, which has held hearings and issued legislative recommendations to counter China’s status as a global power. The following week, Congress is set to turn its focus to more acrimonious topics: government funding and immigration. Speaker Johnson has announced that he will put a continuing resolution on the floor with some cuts to the federal budget, allowing the government to stay open through the end of the year. Senator Schumer has already said that Mr. Johnson’s cuts and his insistence that the SAVE Act — a bill that requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote — are unacceptable.

Congress, Fresh Off Its August Recess, Tees Up a ‘China Week’ To Spotlight Chinese Communist Party

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