Dhs Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of H.R. 1516, including my amendment.

As a career counterintelligence officer, I have faced off against China on more than one occasion, and I have seen how the Chinese Communist Party exploits data and manipulates minds.

Specifically, the so-called Thousand Talents Program is one of the Chinese Communist Party's premier espionage initiatives. Launched in 2008, the program targets Chinese citizens with expertise in elite programs like the C9 or their top universities and has a track record of competition in entrepreneurship, professions, and research.

These experts often specialize in fields vital to China's global standing, including engineering, mathematics, and next-generation technology, and while it is a complement to China, it is not a complement when they begin targeting the United States.

These individuals target U.S. institutions to receive an education at our universities often backed and paid for by U.S. taxpayers and then take the knowledge that they have learned back home to Beijing and start operating as agents of China.

The CCP designated the Thousand Talents Program to recruit 2,000 highly qualified overseas talents within 5 short years.

Since its inception, the program has reportedly recruited more than 15,000 people, many of them serving as espionage agents.

There are massive incentives for these individuals to steal intellectual property right here at home.

In exchange for the information gathered in the U.S., these scholars receive large salaries, research funding, lab space, and other lucrative rewards upon returning to China.

If the U.S. is to remain a global leader and innovation sectors continue to be undaunted, we must ensure that American research and solutions stay out of the hands of our near-peer competitors and certainly our enemies.

My bipartisan amendment adds the highly concerning Thousand Talents Program to the list of Chinese entities of concern ensuring that no Homeland Security funding goes to higher education institutions that have contracts or affiliations with the Thousand Talents Program--or to put it in another term, espionage.

Not only will this protect taxpayer funds, but it will protect America's economy, intellectual property, and national security from CCP counterintelligence operations.

I urge everyone to not only support this amendment but to support the good work being done by this committee. I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for standing up to China when they do wrong.

Mr. Chair, I thank the Chair and the leadership that has been done on both sides of the aisle in moving this forward in further advancing America's security here at home.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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