Washington D.C. – Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX), Lead Republican of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, delivered the following opening statement at today’s full committee markup of multiple measures, including his legislation, the Promoting United States International Leadership in 5G Act of 2019, that will protect our national security and strategic interests by pursuing an alternative to China’s 5G campaign. All 18 measures passed the Committee unanimously and will advance to the House Floor. 

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-Remarks as Delivered- 

“Thank you Mr. Chairman. Let’s first say at the outset that yesterday marked a historic day in the House. For the first time in over 30 years, the House took action and passed the bill recognizing the historic fact that the Armenian Genocide took place. 30 years.  And I want to thank my good friend from New Jersey, Mr. Smith, who has been a champion on this issue, for his years of hard work and unwavering support in getting this measure finally across the finish line.  I think it sends a strong message to President Erdogan as well and I want to thank Chairman Engel as usual for his bipartisan cooperation in working together with me and my staff to get the Turkey Sanctions bill passed and a unified voice from the Congress, rather than a divisive voice that we so often see these days. 

“I want to thank you for holding this hearing, several important bills today, including the TAIPEI Act introduced by Mr. Curtis and two bills authored by my good friend Mr. Wilson. Today we are considering my bill, the Promoting United States International Leadership in 5G Act. China fully intends to become the pre-eminent global power – using tactics like hacking, cyber-attacks, intellectual property theft, and espionage towards its goals. Considering its long history of malign behavior and ongoing predatory practices, China’s majority control of the world’s 5G networks, interconnected devices and cloud storage is a risk that we cannot accept. We must do better. We must compete. 

 “My bill better protects our national security and strategic interests by pursuing an alternative to China’s 5G campaign, which is using state funds and predatory lending through the Belt and Road Initiative to increase market ownership of not so private companies like Huawei. Huawei, with the support and malign influence of the Chinese government, is projected to gain more than 50% of control of the global marketplace and is positioning itself to gain even more.

“My bill will help the United States counter China’s aggressive 5G expansion around the world by maintaining, and in some cases, increasing U.S. leadership and participation at international standards setting bodies for 5G and future generations of mobile technology. It will provide a whole government approach to assess the security risks posed by China in 5G and increase cooperation between the U.S. and its allies and partners in not only identifying those risks but also in countering them.

 “Another important measure by the Committee will be advancing today is the UIGHUR  Act, which will impose consequences for the Chinese Communist Party’s horrific repression of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. The world must know that the Communist Party’s crimes against its ethnic minority Muslims will not go unanswered. Secretary Pompeo rightfully calls these horrible crimes “the stain of the century.” 

“The Administration has taken action against the Chinese Communist Party by imposing visa restrictions on Party officials, sanctioning entities that help build the Party’s technological police state, and banning  products made with forced labor in the Party’s concentration camps. More action is needed, and the legislation before us  will help today.

“This bill will help expose the Communist Party’s abuses, require Magnitsky sanctions against the perpetrators, and ensure that U.S. technology supply chains do not help build China’s oppressive surveillance programs and systems across the globe. 

“Mr. Chairman, I look forward to supporting these and all the measures today and I yield back the balance of my time. I thank you again for the bipartisan work with me and my team.”

For a full list of the measures considered and passed, click here. 

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