Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Chairman, ZTE and Huawei Technologies are owned by the Chinese Government. Time and time again, we have seen that these companies, along with many others, abuse and manipulate their placement in the market to attack sensitive American communications, the technology sector as a whole, and our national critical infrastructure.

There is no partisan disagreement on this point. Congress has been briefed many times on Chinese cyber attacks, espionage, and trade secret theft. We all know this is a problem. It is therefore astonishing, Mr. Chairman, that it is still possible that U.S. taxpayer dollars could be used to buy goods and services from these two bad apples.

My amendment would change that. Put simply--and it is very simple, Mr. Chairman--my amendment would prevent funds under this act to procure any goods or services from these two companies. This should be the start of a larger, coordinated effort to harden our defense supply chain, sensitive communications networks, and critical industries and infrastructure from modern threats, whether they come from China or anywhere else.

Mr. Chairman, I look forward to working with my friends and colleagues in both parties in making that a reality, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support just as strongly as my friend from Virginia in support of the amendment from my good friend from Connecticut.

Mr. Chairman, we have a serious strategic issue with respect to submarines. This amendment would give the Navy the option--just an option, Mr. Chairman, not a requirement--to procure submarines at a faster rate than it is currently planning right now.

As we face bigger threats from China, from Russia, and in force projection in general, we need to look at all options, all especially when we are routinely briefed, as we all are on the Armed Services Committee, on the strategic deficiencies that we find right now.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I would like to point out and make sure everyone knows I have zero shipyards in Arizona. We do not build any ships in Arizona. We are landlocked.

I support this amendment not just because I am a marine and because I am a patron; I think it is in the best interests of our country and national defense.

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