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Washington, D.C.- House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul spoke on the House floor in favor of a Motion to Instruct that would block billions of dollars from going to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) military companies and human rights abusers. 

“The Chinese Communist Party poses a generational threat to the United States and our freedom-loving allies around the world. They are brutally oppressing their own people. They are committing genocide against ethnic and religious minorities. They are expanding their military reach and carrying out territorial aggression against their neighbors. We cannot wait any longer to address these issues… I remain the eternal optimist and hopeful that this conference process will be able to rectify these glaring issues that I’ve outlined. But we can start today by supporting this motion that would block billions of dollars from going to the CCP military companies and human rights abusers. Congress owes it to the American people to pass a bill that takes [the CCP] threat seriously.” 

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-Remarks as Delivered-

The Chinese Communist Party poses a generational threat to the United States and our freedom-loving allies around the world. They are brutally oppressing their own people. They are committing genocide against ethnic and religious minorities. They are expanding their military reach and carrying out territorial aggression against their neighbors. We cannot wait any longer to address these issues.

I stand before you, Madame Speaker, quite frankly disappointed. We had a great opportunity here and this bill that passed the House is not the bill. I am very hopeful we can get to a good place in our conference committee. Unfortunately, Democrat leaders chose not to work with Republicans to pass a substantive, meaningful bill to counter [the CCP’s] malign influence. Instead, they jammed the partisan COMPETES Act through the House.

 The COMPETES Act, in my judgment, is a trojan horse, filled with unserious, dangerous, and wasteful provisions. Those provisions include fringe, progressive priorities, like eight billion dollars worth of taxpayer money into an unaccountable UN slush fund. This UN slush fund has already provided at least 100 million dollars directly to China. A country that this Congress, the former Republican administration, and the current Democrat administration have all agreed is committing genocide.

In fact, it’s worse. The Xinjiang province will get this money to make solar panels and batteries in the Xinjiang province, where they commit genocide. That’s not good for America and it’s certainly not good for the U.S. taxpayer.

Secretary Kerry admitted before our committee that the CCP is using slave labor to make these green energy products – like solar panels and batteries – that could be used by this UN fund.

In effect, the bill would fund their slave labor and prop up their forced abortions. We tried to stop this from happening, to stop U.S. taxpayers from funding slave labor. And shockingly we were outright rejected by the Democrats. My motion to recommit prevented taxpayer money from going to slave labor, genocide, and the Wuhan lab, and every Democrat voted against that measure.

 This is the test of our time. So, I remain the eternal optimist and hopeful that this Conference process will be able to rectify these glaring issues that I’ve outlined. But we can start today by supporting this motion that would block billions of dollars from going to the CCP military companies and human rights abusers.

Congress owes it to the American people to pass a bill that takes [the CCP] threat seriously. That includes tough export controls, outbound investment screening, and funding for the CHIPS for America Act that I introduced. To give us a competitive edge, bring manufacturing to the United States to make advanced semiconductor chips and protect our national security at the same time. This is vitally important to our national security. And it keeps critical U.S. technology out of the hands of the Chinese military like hypersonics. And ensures U.S. taxpayers are not subsidizing the CCP’s genocide.

 With that, I urge my colleagues to vote for this Motion to Instruct. I hope we can all work together in a bipartisan matter on what could be the most important legislation of this Congress.  

 And with that, I yield back the remainder of my time.

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