After six weeks of recess, the House is set to fast-track approval of a slew of China-related bills that aim to counter the U.S.’s growing foe beginning on Monday.
With only three weeks of work on Capitol Hill before the November election, the Republican-led lower chamber is dedicating precious floor time to bills that would root out Chinese spyware within the country and set up the next president to take tougher action against Beijing.
‘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,’ Majority Leader Steve Scalise told Fox News Digital about the planned ‘China Week.’
‘I think we can get real bipartisan support for a number of these,’ the Louisiana Republican said. ‘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.’
Scalise said that four bills will come up under a rule, meaning that they will be debated by the House and that members can offer amendments. Still more will come up under suspension of the rules, meaning that the House is aiming to pass them quickly and without debate.
Scalise highlighted one bill that would undo the Biden administration’s guidance allowing Chinese-made electric vehicles to qualify for a $7,500 tax credit. The move enraged even West Virginia’s Democrat-turned-Independent Sen. Joe Manchin, who helped author the Inflation Reduction Act that allowed for the credit.
The End Chinese Dominance of Electric Vehicles Act, introduced by Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., would tighten the Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) definition of a 30D EV that qualifies for the credit to exclude those vehicles with significant parts that are made in China.
Another bill would broadly ban China from purchasing U.S. farmland. Chinese entities owned about 380,000 acres of agricultural land in the U.S. as of 2023, or less than 1%.
Another bill, the No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act, would prevent the U.S. 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 giving an extra buffer so that the administration can’t just go partner up with 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 harnessing data to send back to the CCP.
Another, the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act, would prevent any federal money from going to universities involved with CCP-run Confucius Institutes.
‘You’re seeing China get more involved in our higher ed institutions,’ said Scalise.
During former President Donald Trump’s administration in 2018, Congress ‘restricted federal funding to schools with institutes; nearly all of the institutes have since closed,’ according to Congress’s Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Another piece of legislation would re-establish a task force formed under Trump within the Department of Justice specifically focused on Chinese espionage.
FBI Director Christopher Wray estimated last year his agency has more than 2,000 active investigations related to Chinese spying.
The FBI estimates that Chinese counterfeit goods, pirated software and theft of trade secrets have cost the U.S. economy between $225 billion and $600 billion.