Countering the Prc Malign Influence Fund Authorization Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1157, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

There is strong bipartisan support in Congress for the Countering the People's Republic of China's Malign Influence Fund because it is the primary pool of funding for USAID and State Department projects to compete with China on the global stage.

Given this bipartisan consensus on the importance of the fund, I had hoped we could engage in a bipartisan process for this bill. Instead, most of our recommended changes to the bill were not accepted when this bill was rushed to a markup at the very start of this Congress. When offered an amendment to increase the fund's authorization from $325 million to $400 million per year--the same amount requested by the Biden-Harris administration--every Republican on our committee, unfortunately, voted against it.

Is that being tough on China? I don't think so.

In briefing after briefing, our committee has learned that the administration is laser-focused on addressing the China challenge and is utilizing the funds effectively to counter PRC disinformation, build resilience against the PRC's malign influence, and provide nations around the world with alternatives to China's extractive development framework. The administration is doing this work, and they are doing it very well.

As drafted, I believe H.R. 1157 could constrain the State Department and USAID in competing effectively. To compete with China, the fund and our institutions need to be nimble so they can adapt to Beijing's constantly evolving tactics and policies. While I support this bill, as it moves forward, there needs to be a real bipartisan consultation with the administration on how best to achieve our objectives and ensure the fund is effective for the long term.

If we are serious about the threat that China poses and if we are truly committed to winning this competition, then we need to put our money where our mouth is. We can hold all the China weeks we want, but if House Republicans keep cutting funding for the State Department and USAID, then we are not going to win the competition with China.

Mr. Speaker, we are in a global competition for influence with China, and if you want to win it, then you cannot do it on a middle power budget. China is putting its money up. We want to compete; we don't want to just talk about it. We need to put ours up so that we cannot just compete; we can win.

The stakes in our strategic competition with China are high. To come out ahead, we cannot spend our time playing whack-a-mole, reacting to every move China makes around the world. We have to proactively compete. That means sticking to our values because they are better than the values of the Chinese Communist Party. It means listening to our partners, our friends, our allies, and their needs, not forcing them to choose.

It means building resilience to China's malign influence by strengthening governance and the rule of law; and crucially, it means providing real, sustainable alternatives to China's financing and China's infrastructure and development assistance.

To achieve these goals and to do it effectively, we need more than just rhetoric. We need creative thinking, a willingness to experiment, and a commitment to sustain American engagement and diplomacy. All that requires a clear strategy, a nimble State Department, and a USAID apparatus, and, again, dare I say it, money, not just for this fund but for our broader foreign operations and assistance also.

As we move forward with authorizing the Countering the PRC Malign Influence Fund Authorization Act, we need to remember that this is a long game. This is a long game. The game is not in the fourth quarter. If America wants to win it, then we must sufficiently invest. We must invest in our strengths as well as our tools of competition.

We are the greatest nation in the world with the greatest resources in the world. Let's do something so that we can continue being the leaders of the world.

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