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Washington D.C. – Today, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy appointed House Foreign Affairs Lead Republican Michael McCaul (TX-10) to serve on the Conference Committee for the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Conference Committee is made up of bipartisan leaders in the House and the Senate and will work to resolve the differences in the bills each Chamber has passed. The final Conference Report is expected to be issued by the end of this calendar year and will provide funding for the Department of Defense and other critical national security priorities for the 2021 fiscal year. This is the second year in a row Lead Republican McCaul has served as a conferee on the NDAA Conference Report.

“As a conferee, my priority is to ensure the final report provides the men and women who risk their lives to defend our country with the tools they need to confront the challenges they face around the world,” said Lead Republican McCaul. “This includes having a well thought out strategy for how to confront the growing threats posed by our adversaries, especially the Chinese Communist Party. We have tried to bring them into the family of nations for more than forty years, yet they continue their authoritarian reign of terror, brutally cracking down on protestors in Hong Kong, imprisoning millions of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, and weaponizing their stranglehold on the supply chain to the detriment of the United States and our allies. Now is the time address the generational threat the CCP poses and confront it head on.”

“Michael is a colleague and a friend – and more importantly, someone who has been completely committed to promoting peace, reinforcing our relationships with our allies, and keeping America safe,” said House Leader Kevin McCarthy. “Throughout his tenure as the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he has spearheaded critical legislation to make us more competitive against adversaries and led investigations that exposed the Chinese Communist Party’s negligence when it came to the spread of Covid-19. He also led the efforts of the China Task Force, which produced a comprehensive blueprint that will continue to serve as America’s guide for how we counter China’s ongoing threats. Based on his experience and longstanding priorities, Michael is hands-down a great choice to help get NDAA signed into law. We are grateful for his leadership and service.”

Lead Republican McCaul’s legislative items included in the House-passed NDAA:

  • H.R. 7178, the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act, parts of which are included as a bipartisan amendment with Representative Matsui
  • H.R. 6621, the Open Technology Fund Authorization Act
  • H.R. 5664, the Leveraging Information on Foreign Traffickers (LIFT) Act

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