Sanctioning Tyrannical and Oppressive People Within the Chinese Communist Party Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman from Iowa for yielding.

Mr. Chair, there were 14,700 pounds of fentanyl seized in fiscal year 2022; 27,000 pounds of fentanyl seized in 2023; and 19,700 pounds of fentanyl seized so far in fiscal year 2024.

Mr. Chair, 76,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses last year. Tens of thousands or more of Americans have died from fentanyl overdoses since this administration took office. Hundreds of thousands have died from drug overdoses in general.

Chinese state-owned enterprises are seeing an opportunity to profit off of the deaths of Americans, and this administration is letting it happen.

Americans are crying out for new leadership. Until they have their say on November 5, we should be sanctioning the daylights out of every single one of these Chinese Communist Party's genocidal thugs.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party is the highest organ of authority within the 2,000-member National Party Congress. The 205 full members of the Central Committee have critically important decisionmaking authorities and voting rights which include the selection of the general secretary, the politburo, and the politburo's standing committee.

Thankfully, the underlying legislation leaves the possibility of not only permitting the U.S. President to sanction these 205 members but also 171 so-called alternate members of the Central Committee who do not have voting rights but are nevertheless members of the committee.

This amendment provides both clarification that the legislative's punitive sanctions may also be used against these alternate members and also provides congressional support for blocking and prohibiting all transactions in property against these top Chinese Communist Party cadres.

It further lends support for making these alternate members ineligible to receive a visa to enter the United States.

There should be no confusion as to the nature of the threat posed by the PRC. The Chinese Communist Party seeks to destroy the United States. It is already actively involved in sending the fentanyl precursor chemicals necessary to kill our fellow Americans across our border.

For context, 76,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses alone in 2023.

This fiscal year alone, 35,400 Chinese nationals have taken advantage of our porous southern border and come into our country. The CCP has also co-opted every meaningful international institution to the point where our Nation is now funding organizations like the WHO and the wider U.N. to promote policies that are undermining our own national interests.

The CCP engages in gray zone warfare against Taiwan and other Indo- Pacific allies, risking the start of another global conflict.

Communist China steals hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of intellectual property from our Nation every single year, and it uses its diplomatic presence to engage in massive espionage operations.

Our government opens a new China-related counterintelligence case every 10 hours, and approximately 50 percent of all of our Nation's counterintelligence cases are related to China.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, nothing? It gives the President of the United States, whether Republican or Democrat, the ability to defend our country, to create accountability when a bad actor engages in undermining our national interests.

My colleagues say we need better communication, and when we were communicating to them that Americans were dying because of precursor chemicals, they did nothing. When we communicated that we needed them to stop because our kids were dying, they did nothing. This idea of communicating and appeasement did not work, and hundreds of thousands of Americans paid the price.

I will not sit idly by and allow China to bully our country. Now, if others want to do that, then that is up to them, but this bill is permissive. It gives the President of the United States another tool, another opportunity to hold China accountable.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, I think it is shortsighted to allow Americans to die on our streets because the Chinese Communist Party is flooding our country with fentanyl.

I think it is shortsighted that we allow the Chinese Communist Party to influence our foreign policy.

I think it is shortsighted that we don't stand up for Taiwan and let them take full control over their own destiny.

It is time that America stands up for its allies: Israel, Taiwan, and all of those beacons of democracy around the world.

Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, the underlying bill rightfully includes a robust set of preconditions prior to lifting any sanctions on members of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

However, when it comes to those who have been sanctioned for their role in the political oppression of minority groups in the PRC, the bar of accountability ought to be set even higher. The ones suffering in Communist China aren't just the people of East Turkestan.

Over the years, the United States has demonstrated its solidarity with the people of Tibet and with the plight of the Tibetan people. Seven decades after the CCP began its illegal occupation of the country of Tibet, the Chinese Communist Party continues its policy of wholesale persecution of the Tibetan people.

This amendment simply states that the sanctioned members of the PRC's Central Committee must also cease any and all oppression of the Tibetan people. The amendment references the State Department's 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, a report which details the numerous different ways the PRC authorities are oppressing the Tibetan people.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, just to be clear, the persecution is rather stark: enforced disappearance, torture or cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment or punishment; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrests or detentions; serious problem with the independence of the judiciary, particularly regarding political prisoners; transnational repression against individuals located in other countries; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; punishment of family members for alleged offenses by a relative; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including censorship; serious restrictions on internet freedom; and substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly.

This is the Chinese Government. This is whom some on the other side of the aisle seek to appease. It is important that we leverage every tool to stand firm as the dominant superpower in the world and that we continue to be the light of freedom and hope for our tired world.

It is time we take a stand. It is time that we say no to China. It is time that we pass my amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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