Today, Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and several other representatives introduced the District of Columbia Sister City Integrity Act. The bill aims to protect Washington, D.C. from foreign influence by preventing the city government from engaging in Sister City relationships with jurisdictions in foreign adversary countries.
"In Washington D.C., our citizens enjoy freedom of speech, petition, and assembly. In Beijing, under the CCP’s rule, the Chinese people have no such rights," said Chairman Moolenaar. He highlighted China's worsening human rights conditions as a concern for these partnerships.
The bill follows a letter sent by Chairman Moolenaar to Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C., urging her to end the city's sister city relationship with Beijing. This action is intended to reject Chinese Communist Party propaganda and show support for the Chinese people.
According to the proposed legislation, D.C. would need to terminate existing Sister City relationships with any jurisdiction in a "foreign adversary country" as defined under U.S. law (10 U.S.C. § 4872). The city would have 180 days from enactment to dissolve these relationships and would be prohibited from using federal funds for international outreach unless fully compliant.
Washington, D.C.'s strategic significance as America's seat of government and diplomatic hub underscores the necessity of protecting it from influence operations by adversarial states.
