Washington, DC – House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul delivered the following remarks on two amendments to the EAGLE Act at a full committee markup.

McCaul offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute to the EAGLE Act to actually address the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Highlights of McCaul’s ANS can be found here.

“I’m very concerned with the lack of meaningful actions in the EAGLE Act that would actually hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable. That’s why I’m submitting this amendment in the nature of a substitute. This measure builds on the bipartisan, Senate-passed Strategic Competition Act. And it strengthens it by adding provisions that implement real consequences for the CCP’s malign actions.”

McCaul also offered an amendment to prohibit research funding to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and implement sanctions until the PRC allows an independent team of international scientists to review files and experiments from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). 

“Until the PRC is willing to open up the WIV to inspection and be transparent, we may never know the cause and we may not be able to stop it from happening again. And the American taxpayer should never be forced to continue to help pay for their irresponsible experimentation that has caused so much damage throughout the globe.” 

-Opening Remarks on Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute as Delivered-

“Thank you Mr. Chairman. As I said in my opening remarks, I’m very concerned with the lack of meaningful actions in the EAGLE Act that would actually hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable. 

And that’s why I’m submitting this amendment in the nature of a substitute. This measure builds on the bipartisan, Senate-passed Strategic Competition Act. And it strengthens it by adding provisions that implement real consequences for the CCP’s malign actions. 

One of the biggest threats we face is the transfer of American wealth, technology and data to CCP-controlled companies and their military. 

As I said in my opening remarks, now is not the time to put profits ahead of American values and our national security. 

My ANS will mandate all CCP military companies be added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List. This will ensure American technology will not be transferred to the CCP military without a license.  

It also includes a framework to work with our partners and allies to cut the CCP off from critical technologies – like semiconductor manufacturing equipment – that it uses to threaten our national security and further its human rights abuses in Xinjiang province.

We also must stop Americans’ sensitive personal data – including our genomic and health care information – from being transferred into the CCP’s hands, where it will certainly be exploited.  

So, my ANS gets rid of outdated rules that prevent the United States from stopping this personal data from being exported to the PRC. 

The United States must also confront the CCP’s malign behavior on the global stage as well. 

So, my ANS will authorize the Countering CCP Malign Influence Fund, to ensure that our diplomats have the resources they need to get the job done. 

My ANS also improves our ability to counter the Belt and Road Initiative by prioritizing investments in projects that have the most impact – rather than picking projects based on which ones meet the arbitrary green energy priorities of the Biden Administration. 

It also incentivizes private companies and our allies to work with us to counter the Belt and Road Initiative. 

We must also address the CCP’s malign influence projects at the United Nations. For years, they have infiltrated the UN system to push their authoritarian agenda. 

This ANS will ensure the U.S. is using our leadership to counteract those who are trying to use the UN for their own purposes. In addition, my ANS removes the entire climate title. I had hoped we could address the climate provision in a separate vehicle so we could get a bipartisan product focused on countering the CCP.

Confronting the malign actions of the CCP is a generational struggle. And an American challenge. And nowhere is that more clear than in the CCP’s extensive human rights abuses. 

As we speak, Uyghur Muslims and other religious and ethnic minorities in China are being brutally persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party. More than one million people have been detained in internment camps.  

There are multiple, credible reports these innocent people are being subjected to forced labor; forced sterilization and abortions; torture; family separation; and sexual abuse.

Family members have reported disappearances and deaths of loved ones.

My substitute language will prohibit imports from Xinjiang unless we are certain the products were not produced using slave labor. 

It also includes targeted sanctions against those who are responsible for the genocide in Xinjiang. 

And it requires American companies disclose any engagement they have in China that could contribute to human rights abuses in the region.

This is the moral test of our time. And we must not fail. 

So, for these reasons, I urge my colleagues on both sides to support my amendment in the nature of a substitute. And with that Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.”

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-Opening Remarks on COVID-19 Amendment as Delivered-

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world and killed nearly four million people globally, 600,000 Americans, and has cost us well over $10 trillion. 

My amendment is based on a bill introduced by my colleagues, Representative Gallahger and Senator Rubio. 

It would simply prohibit research funding to the PRC and would implement sanctions until the PRC allows an independent team of international scientists to review the files and experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. 

It would also prohibit federal funding for any joint research between the United States based researchers and those in the PRC.

It prohibits federal funding from being used to do gain of function research with the PRC or genetic manipulation.

It levies asset and visa sanctions on the Chinese Academy of Scientists researchers and their families and associates. 

Until the PRC is willing to open up the WIV to inspection and be transparent, we may never know the cause and we may not be able to stop it from happening again. And the American taxpayer should never be forced to continue to help pay for their irresponsible experimentation that has caused so much damage throughout the globe. 

And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.”