Protect America's Innovation and Economic Security From Ccp Act of 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOODEN of Texas. 1398.

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Mr. GOODEN of Texas. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, H.R. 1398, the Protect America's Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act focuses our attention on the single greatest threat to the American people: the Chinese Communist Party.

Our intelligence community has been raising these concerns for years, labeling China the defining threat of our generation. These concerns were also echoed in FBI Director Wray's testimony before our House Judiciary Committee back in July.

China's multipronged war against our people, economy, and infrastructure has caused the CCP to infiltrate our communities, sow disharmony, and steal our hard-earned successes. The CCP achieves this by aggressively targeting and recruiting civilians to spy on other Chinese nationals and to steal critical data from their employers.

Trade theft alone costs our economy over half a trillion dollars annually, with China behind most of it. This bill addresses this problem by creating a dedicated program under the DOJ called the CCP Initiative, prioritizing the focus on countering economic espionage.

The initiative establishes an enforcement strategy to protect critical sectors most vulnerable to the CCP's thievery: academic institutions, R&D labs, and the defense industrial base.

The rollback of the China Initiative left us lacking a dedicated approach and no oversight on issues of critical national interest. This bill fixes the administration's mistakes by adopting a clear, multifaceted approach. It builds a framework of multiagency cooperation and mutual consultation, ensuring that effective measures against our Nation's greatest threat are never compromised by an incompetent executive wing.

To ensure DOJ's cooperation and dedication of at least some resources in this area, an annual reporting requirement has been included that secures congressional oversight and involvement. The bill also requires no additional funding from Congress and has a negligible impact on the DOJ's current budget under the program.

I would like to underline that the worst affected by this rollback are people of Asian descent. People of Chinese origin in the United States, especially Chinese-American citizens, are identified and disproportionately targeted by the CCP for their schemes. The CCP ruthlessly targets and harasses people, especially those who refuse to bow down and are considered dissidents.

Letting this continue without a strong counter leaves our people extremely vulnerable to the CCP's cruelty, which emboldens China. Passing this bill will not only counter existing cases and deter new attempts to infiltrate our country but also signals that the CCP's days of targeting our communities are over.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of safeguarding our economy, our people, and our future against the greatest threat of our lifetimes. Join me in supporting H.R. 1398. I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. GOODEN of Texas. Mr. Chair, I have heard a lot about the ruined lives of intellectuals and academics. I have also heard about the conviction rate. It is true there were only eight convictions, but one of the comments made was we should focus resources on actual problems.

What happened when we did that, when we took away this China Initiative and replaced it with nothing? In the last 2 years we have only had two convictions. Our Department of Justice has really failed to protect our domestic industry. It has really failed to protect those who have been preyed on by China, and the CCP Initiative serves to correct that.

Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cline).

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Mr. GOODEN of Texas. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I want to say first, the current DOJ, the Biden DOJ, performed their own review, and they found not a single case was handled or considered with bias or prejudice. They concluded that all decisions were borne out of genuine national security concerns. That is in response to this claim that lives have been ruined and that these were racist pursuits.

The other thing I want to say is this bill is race, gender, and nationality neutral. Investigations are conducted based on the factual reality of the situation.

Foreign nationals tend to favor recruiting people of their own origin, and that is especially so with the CCP. A full review by the current DOJ--again, this is the Biden DOJ--found not one case of bias or prejudice.

Everything we have heard today about all these racist pursuits were based in bad intentions, which was actually unfounded and proven incorrect by the current Biden DOJ. They said that there was not one single case of bias or prejudice.

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Mr. GOODEN of Texas. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would think the Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus would want to stand against China with me, but I will do it alone on behalf of those who are willing to stand up against the Chinese Communist Party.

I denounce everything that has been said about this bill being racist. I absolutely denounce the false claims of racism. They are baseless.

I actually join with the Biden DOJ in saying that with the Trump prosecutions there was no bias, there was no racism. I actually would like to stand up for Chinese-American citizens that are being prosecuted, persecuted, searched after, and in some cases destroyed while some of our friends across the aisle do nothing. They get on the mike and say you guys are racist for pushing this legislation, and I think folks are tired of it. I really do.

I am really tired of seeing Chinese police stations in cities across our Nation. I am really tired of turning on the news and seeing that a spy in the New York Governor's office has been signing orders and doing all kinds of stuff in the name of the Chinese Communist Party. I am really tired of hearing stories about American citizens, Chinese- American citizens, living here--these are our people, these are our people--being persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party. That is what this bill seeks to do.

You can get up here and say this is racist and the last administration wasn't successful, but the facts are Republicans want to do something. We want to stand up to China, and we want to stand up for the Chinese-American citizens who in many cases are seeing their Representatives get on the microphone and say, you know what, we are not going to do anything. We are going to say that China is a threat, but we are not going to support any legislation that would do something about it.

I am really excited about this bill. I am even more excited about the Trump administration that is coming up because we are going to really go after China. Chinese Americans across the United States should really, really be excited about Donald Trump taking over as President because they will finally have an advocate in the White House after 4 years of being disregarded.

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Mr. GOODEN of Texas. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, I am sorry that my colleagues are amused because Republicans are horrified. We are sickened by what China is doing to Chinese Americans. If the Asian Pacific American Caucus would love to put their sign up there while they denounce this fantastic bill, if they would like a member of their caucus who will fight for and on behalf of Chinese-American citizens, then I would be happy to join. Get me an application. However, until that happens, until all Members of this Chamber wake up and realize that China is the real threat here and realize that the main talking point, what they do as they come, and any time someone stands up against China, they start playing the race card because they know if they play the race card, they will get folks to shut up.

China just loves it. I am sure they are watching this debate in Beijing and laughing every time someone gets up and calls this policy racist. I am sure they are just loving it to see folks get up and talk about the China Initiative that the Biden DOJ so fantastically got rid of and what a success it was for China.

The Biden DOJ has even said since then that there was no bias and there was no racism.

So everything we are hearing today is just false. I am not going to call someone a liar, but I am going to tell you that what we are hearing today, Mr. Chair, is false. I heard from Mr. Nadler before he reserved a while ago. He said crimes against Asian Americans were up in the Trump era.

What person with a brain in America thinks that Donald Trump is the reason crime is up anywhere?

Joe Biden is the reason, and Kamala Harris is the reason that crime is through the roof in this Nation. Americans are unsafe.

Mr. Nadler said: I wouldn't count on a Trump victory.

Frankly, I am not going to count on anything in the days we live in, but I can count on the American people to not hold Donald Trump responsible for the crime epidemic that we are experiencing in this Nation.

I am baffled by the opposition to this bill and the silliness on the other side that insinuates Donald Trump as somehow behind some kind of crime spike. Give me a break. The American people know who is behind this crime, and they are going to watch her talk about it tonight. If she won't talk about it, then I hope Mr. President, Donald Trump, will, as I know all Americans believe he is the one to stand against this spike in crime that I am so happy Democrats acknowledge exist.

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Mr. GOODEN of Texas. Mr. Chair, I will just say this: If you believe that crime is down under Joe Biden, then you probably believe the border is secure.

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Mr. GOODEN of Texas. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, fear and division is what the Chinese Communist Party hopes that we will become all about.

This bill seeks to stop China and the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to destroy this Nation. That is their ultimate goal. Every time a Member of Congress gets up and says that any effort to defeat China is a racist effort is really unfortunate.

However, I do believe that common sense will prevail. I do believe we will pass this tomorrow, and I want to thank everyone for their support.

This bill is an important tool. It is one of many tools we are passing this week.

We are spreading the word and sharing with the American people that Republicans are serious about standing up to China, that Donald Trump is serious about standing up to China. Despite the fact that we have taken the last 4 years off and let China climb ahead, and we have opened our borders and said send as many millions of folks that you want, I do believe the American people deserve better, and I think they will vote for better. We have let the crime rate spike, we have just let it happen, and it is a real shame.

Mr. Chair, I appreciate my colleagues' consideration, I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. GOODEN of Texas. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition, even though I am not opposed to the amendment.

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Mr. GOODEN of Texas. Mr. Chair, the amendment would require the annual report to Congress in this bill to include a description of the level and effectiveness of coordination and information sharing between government entities and private companies about economic espionage threats.

American companies and innovation have led the way for over a century, and the first line of defense to preventing economic espionage and intellectual property theft is the vigilance of the owners of this property. Including this information in the report will ensure that Congress can adequately oversee the CCP Initiative and ensure that it is meeting its objectives.

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

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Mr. GOODEN of Texas. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition, even though I am not opposed to the amendment.

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Mr. GOODEN of Texas. Mr. Chair, this amendment would require the annual report to Congress in this bill to include a description of the CCP's financial intelligence capabilities.

The CCP has decided that the fastest way to catch up to the technological leadership of the United States is to steal U.S. intellectual property. This theft is not only an economic issue but also a national security issue.

Technological success often leads to financial success. By engaging in financial intelligence activities, the CCP can ascertain which companies and entities have the most valuable intellectual property.

To appropriately counter the economic and national security threats posed by the CCP, we need to understand their ability to conduct financial intelligence activities.

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

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