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

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment, which would require the Department of Justice's report, as mandated under this bill, to examine public-private sector coordination regarding economic espionage threats.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, there have been 224 documented cases of Chinese espionage directed at the United States since 2000, and that doesn't even count the more than 1,200 cases of intellectual property theft lawsuits brought by American companies against Chinese stakeholders. These tactics cost Americans billions, yes, billions with a b, each year.

Individuals tied to the Chinese Government have been caught spying on companies that are producing our Nation's critical infrastructure. In 2022, a Chinese national was convicted of spying while working as an engineer at General Electric. Back in 2024, the Department of Justice charged five Chinese military hackers for spying on U.S. Steel, Westinghouse Electric, and more.

From energy to consumer electronics to advanced technologies, CCP- backed individuals aim to steal secrets that give Chinese industry a leg up over American industry and undermine our country and economy.

This espionage is as much a national security threat as it is an economic issue. As a member of both the Intelligence and Financial Services Committees, I believe it is critical that the public and private sectors work together to detect, coordinate, and develop responses to espionage.

Private-sector companies are the hardest hit by this espionage, and they have been on the front lines of responding to breaches and hackers. We in the Federal Government have much to gain by coordinating with the private sector.

With this amendment, we are making it clear that protecting American innovation is a team effort. We need everyone, business leaders, the intelligence community, lawmakers, and researchers, working together to stop economic espionage, maintain America's economic leadership, and guarantee our national security.

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Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment, which would require the Department of Justice report, as mandated under this bill, to examine the Chinese Communist Party's financial intelligence capabilities and, more broadly, the role of China's intelligence agencies and economic espionage.

Let me start by outlining the scope of the problem. China is the main source of economic espionage against the United States. About 80 percent of the economic espionage cases that the Department of Justice prosecutes involve China and its affiliates. Anything that we can do to monitor the Chinese intelligence ecosystem will help in our fight to stop economic espionage here at home.

As a member of the House Committee on Financial Services and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I am keenly aware of the public-private sector fusion in China. Because of its 2017 intelligence law, the CCP and Chinese intelligence agencies have disproportionate power over the country's industry. As we have seen with TikTok, industry and government are working in concert, at the direction and funding of the CCP, to undermine our country.

Chinese intelligence agencies are the linchpin to understand the coordinated campaign to steal and profit from American trade secrets. That is precisely why I have offered my amendment. We need the United States Federal Government to monitor these agencies' role in economic espionage.

Maintaining America's economic competitiveness is something that we can all agree on. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this amendment so that we can get a fuller picture of Chinese intelligence agencies' role in economic espionage and actually stop them in the process.

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Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Mr. Chair, I thank Mr. Gooden for the support of these two amendments, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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