Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my amendment to this appropriations package that highlights the need to use all the tools in America's tool kit to counter the Chinese Communist Party and the totalitarian government in Beijing.

My amendment shows bipartisan support for the United States International Development Finance Corporation and its important work to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative.

As a member of the House's China Task Force and former chair of the House Financial Service's Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade with jurisdiction over the Treasury Department's national security portfolio, I am keenly aware of the threat that China poses through its Belt and Road Initiative and direct foreign investment internationally.

While we will never match China dollar for dollar in government subsidies, agencies like DFC can leverage the unlimited potential of the private sector to counter China's model of debt-trap diplomacy and colonialism.

I am proud to support DFC in promoting private investment in developing countries, its role in advancing U.S. global development goals and economic interests, and offering an alternative to China's malign investment overseas.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to adopt this amendment.

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