To protect the United States in its dealings with China, Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Jim Banks (R-IN) continues to advocate for the Countering Communist China Act he introduced with U.S. Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) on July 29, 2021.
The bill (HR 4792) aims to strengthen the military, provide sanctions for enforcement and law-enforcement capabilities to counter china, modernize U.S. law to stop Chinese intellectual property theft, hold China accountable for its malign influence operations in the United States, hold China accountable for COVID-19 through a select congressional committee and offer reward for justice and economic sanctions.
Banks says that other bills that have been introduced don’t do enough.
“This is why conservatives wrote our own China bill last summer that is just 0.5% the cost of the USICA (U.S. Innovation and Competition Act) and includes tough measures like sanctions that would limit the Chinese Communist Party’s ability to subvert our nation’s institutions and steal our intellectual property,” Banks said in a statement on his website. “If Congress really wanted to confront the China threat, we’d pass the RSC’s Countering Communist China Act.”
The bill is co-sponsored by 54 other lawmakers, all Republicans, according to congress.gov.
“All along, conservatives have criticized the Endless Frontier Act, USICA and the EAGLE Act as weak and unserious,” Banks said, according to his website. “In particular, all of them fail to do enough to counter the malign Chinese Communist Party activity happening within the United States, which should be our primary concern. Moreover, these bills all waste taxpayer dollars on issues completely disconnected from countering China.”
Addressing the COMPETES Act, Banks said, "It is weak and fails to properly confront the China threat, and it throws billions to the United Nations Green Climate Fund. At the same time, there is no money to enforce our sanctions laws or increase our military strength."
The proposed Countering Communist China Act is estimated to cost approximately 0.5% the cost of the Democrat's Endless Frontier Act—$1 billion versus $250 billion, according to Banks’ website.
