United States Export Finance Agency Act of 2019
Floor Speech
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Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Chair, I thank my friend from North Carolina for yielding. I congratulate the ranking member and the chairwoman for trying to work together to produce a bipartisan bill that we can all support and demonstrate our keen interest in a long- term, bipartisan reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank, an important foreign policy tool for this Nation, not just in the situation with China, but generally.
To my friend from Washington who talked about Huawei a few minutes ago, it is not just state-owned enterprises that we are concerned about. It is not public companies in China we are concerned about, or private companies in China. We are concerned with anyone who has engaged in something that is going to challenge the national security of this country.
I would remind my friends on the other side that China's laws say: Any organization or citizen shall support, assist, and cooperate with the People's Republic of China intelligence effort. They shall provide all efforts truthfully and may not refuse.
So it is not just small companies or state-owned enterprises; it is all companies in China that we have that risk.
I offered an amendment that was turned down by the Rules Committee, ruled out of order by the majority, to try to tackle the issue of intellectual property, something we have dealt with in this country for 30 years. That was going to be an effort, I think, in this compromise bill that would have been so helpful, had we been able to successfully get it done.
I have been a longtime advocate for proceeding with care as it relates to foreign policy with China. There is no doubt that intellectual property is at the heart of that challenge, and the Bank has a role to play as it reviews financing activities in China for our businesses.
Nothing has been more pirated than computer software, music CDs, and Hollywood videos. All that has been taken by the People's Republic of China to the detriment of business in America. It plagued President Clinton; it plagued President Bush 43; and it plagued President Obama.
Mr. Chair, let's work together on a bipartisan bill that we can all support.
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