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The Leader’s Floor Lookout: Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Washington, September 11, 2024
Here’s what to watch for on the House Floor today:
 
Protecting American Intellectual Property from Chinese Espionage

For years, the Chinese Communist Party has launched a sweeping and staggering campaign to steal U.S. intellectual property through economic espionage and extensive cyber-intrusions, costing American taxpayers up to $500 billion annually. 

Around 80 percent of cases of economic espionage prosecuted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) have involved the Chinese government and its agents stealing trade secrets, and 60 percent of U.S. trade secret misappropriation cases are linked to the Chinese government. 

To combat the Chinese government’s theft of U.S. trade secrets and intellectual property, the Trump Administration’s DOJ created the China Initiative in 2018, prosecuting dozens of cases and indicting around 160 individuals and entities.

But in 2022, the Biden Harris Administration caved to pressure from woke leftist activists and decided to terminate the China Initiative, resulting in a major decline in new economic espionage cases and putting America’s security at risk.

We cannot ignore the threat China’s economic espionage and efforts to steal trade secrets pose to American innovation, infrastructure, and intellectual property. House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to ensure American intellectual property and academic institutions are protected from the Chinese Communist Party’s espionage attempts.

H.R. 1398, the Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act of 2024, introduced by Rep. Lance Gooden, reinstates and renames the China Initiative as the CCP Initiative to counter the CCP and Chinese government’s espionage efforts on U.S. intellectual property and academic institutions, prosecute those who engage in the theft of trade secrets and espionage, and defend U.S. critical infrastructure from threats from our adversaries.

We will not sit back and allow the Chinese government to continue stealing U.S. intellectual property and threatening the security of the American people. 

Maintaining Sovereignty from the WHO in Pandemic Policy Making

Throughout the devastating COVID-19 crisis, the World Health Organization (WHO) praised China’s ‘transparency’ and handling of the global pandemic while the Chinese Communist Party worked to actively conceal vital health information and data, mislead the world about the seriousness of the pandemic and its origins, and suppress whistleblower journalists and doctors that attempted to warn the world of the outbreak.
 

As WHO Director-General Tedros touted China’s COVID-19 response and fed the world CCP talking points, internal documents exposed the WHO’s frustration with the Chinese government for refusing to share critical data.

In response to the WHO’s deadly dishonesty and failures in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the WHO; however, the Biden Harris Administration rejoined upon assuming office.

Now, the World Health Assembly (WHA), which is made up by the Member States of the WHO, is negotiating a broad convention to define Member States’ responsibilities, preparedness, and response in the event of a future pandemic. This essentially would give the WHO power to dictate future U.S. pandemic policies and response. 

As the WHO continues to move forward in global negotiations surrounding their convention, it is vital the United States maintains its sovereignty, especially when it comes to the health and wellbeing of American citizens.

Rep. Tom Tiffany’s legislation, H.R. 1425, the No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act, requires that any agreement reached by the WHA be treated as a treaty, and therefore be ratified by a supermajority of the Senate as outlined in the Constitution.

House Republicans won’t allow an international bureaucracy that touted China’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic to have control over U.S. pandemic policy, and will continue to ensure congressional oversight and transparency in policy making regarding America’s health.

Ensuring America’s National and Food Security From Foreign Land Grabs

Protecting our nation’s food and drug supply and defending America’s food security is a critical aspect of safeguarding Americans’ health and wellbeing.

But in the past several years, America’s food security has come under threat from adversaries abroad. Foreign adversaries like China have increased their purchasing of American farmland, endangering our food and national security. 

Over the past decade, Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland has quintupled, increasing from 69,000 acres in 2011 to around 384,000 acres in 2021. Not only does this pose a growing risk to our food security, but Chinese corporations have also purchased or attempted to purchase land close to air force and military bases, threatening our national security. 
 

We cannot allow foreign adversaries to gain control over America’s farmland and food supply, or grab land near U.S. military installations.

House Republicans are bringing forward legislation that supports the country’s food security and national security, combating foreign adversaries’ attempts to buy up America’s farmland by improving the tracking of foreign owned land and requiring the Secretary of Agriculture to be included in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review agricultural transactions and purchases made by these adversaries.

H.R. 9456, the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024, introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse, amends the Defense Production Act of 1950 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to be included on CFIUS for agriculture-related issues, and requires CFIUS to review and potentially block purchases of farmland by foreign adversaries that pose a national security risk.

American families and workers depend on reliable access to agricultural products to stay healthy and fed. House Republicans will always support American agriculture, food security, and our national security against threats abroad. 


Keeping the Government Open and Defending American Election Integrity

Since assuming the majority, House Republicans have been fighting to rein in out-of-control Washington spending and responsibly fund the federal government. House Republicans passed funding bill after funding bill to address our energy crisis, strengthen our national security, protect Americans’ rights, and more, while cutting unnecessary radical leftist agenda items from the paycheck. 

Meanwhile, the Democrat-led Senate continues to refuse to take any action to ensure the government remains open and working for the people, having yet to pass even a single FY25 appropriations bill.

In order to ensure the government stays open and accessible to Americans while we fight to save our economy from more reckless spending, House Republicans are bringing forward a resolution to extend government funding at the FY24 level. 

At the same time, our plan would defend American election integrity by including the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The SAVE Act requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote and allows states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls, keeping foreign interference out of our elections, maintaining election integrity, and increasing American citizens’ trust in our federal elections.
 
 

With the over 8.2 million illegal immigrants that have come across our southern border thanks to President Biden and Vice President Harris’ open border policies, including more than 378 people on the terrorist watchlist, it is vital we shore up our election security and ensure that only American citizens are voting in American elections, while we also avert a government shutdown.

H.R. 9494, the Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2025, introduced by Rep. Clay Higgins, provides for continuing appropriations through March of 2025 while also ensuring American election integrity by amending the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require individuals to provide proof of United States citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections.

House Republicans will never stop working to ensure that our government stays open and serving the American people, hard-earned taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly on issues affecting Americans’ daily lives, and the integrity of one of American citizens’ most fundamental rights, the right to vote, is upheld.