GOP: Establishing the China Select Committee
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (CA-20) delivered remarks on the House floor where he called on his colleagues to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party by voting to establish a Select Committee on China.
McCarthy was Tuesday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”. Here are his words:
“One of my greatest worries about the future is that we fall behind Communist China. The fact of the matter is – the danger posed by our dependence on China is dire.
We spent decades passing policies that welcomed China into the global system. In return, China has exported oppression, aggression, and anti-Americanism.
Today, the power of its military and economy are growing at the expense of freedom and democracy worldwide.
It didn’t start under this administration, but the current administration has clearly made it worse. Their policies have weakened our economy and made us more vulnerable to threats from the CCP.
But here’s the good news – there is bipartisan consensus that the era of trusting Communist China is over.
I had the idea for the China Select Committee when I was on a CODEL to Normandy. I was there with then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi to honor the 75th Anniversary of D-Day.
As you walk those hallowed grounds, you notice crosses and Stars of David on many of these young American men. It made me wonder what could be done for that day to never take place.
It dawned on me in that moment of time. Instead of American government not speaking with one voice, with all these different messages we’ve been providing — could we have a bipartisan committee?
It would look at all aspects, from economics to COVID, and when we fell into COVID, not knowing whether we could have medical supplies because China controlled so much.
We’ve since learned how they’re buying farmland and stealing our intellectual property.
But we weaken ourselves when we fight about which way to do it, wouldn’t it be better if we all came together?
For nine months, we worked on it. We did get an agreement that we would start a bipartisan task force. We even had the Washington Post interview the Members who would be on it.
Unfortunately, the night before, the then-Majority party pulled back. You have my word and my commitment, this is not a partisan committee. This will be a bipartisan committee that is my hope, my desire, to speak with one voice on the challenges that we have.
How do we bring jobs back from China to America?
How do we secure our intellectual property?
How do we make sure our farmland is protected?
All of that would be brought up within this committee. The threat is too great for us to bicker amongst ourselves. The future should be determined by us.
I’ve heard my colleagues on both sides say that the threat posed by Communist China is serious. I fully agree. This is an issue that transcends political parties. And creating the Select Committee on China is our best avenue for addressing it.
You want to end our dependence on China? This Committee will investigate it.
You want to protect our national security? The Committee will work to do that.
You want to stop the theft of intellectual property and bring supply chains back to America? The Committee will work to make it happen.
Worried about Chinese propaganda in our schools and lobbying efforts in Washington? The Committee will shine a bright light on it.
Outraged that the CCP is buying American farmland? The Committee will work to stop it.
But we’ll stop it with one voice, it’s not one party saying it, it’s America united and determining our own future.
You want to stop trillions of American dollars from financing communist genocide and military modernization? The Committee will work to prevent it – including by investigating how ESG benefits the CCP.
The Select Committee on China will create the plan that will take us where we really need to go. It will get us all on the same page and move us in the right direction.
Members of the Select Committee will work closely with their colleagues on every committee to get the job done.
Is it partisan? Absolutely not.
I sat with the new leader of the Democrats. I told him early on of what this committee will be, and who we will be putting on it.
We want serious lawmakers. This isn’t for someone to go in and go viral because they want to make a point. This is for us to work together, as one Congress, with one of our greatest challenges for the future.
No longer will we be dependent on China, and no longer will we be as vulnerable.
America will be stronger, dependent upon ourselves, and we will do this together. That’s what the American people expect.
I want this Committee to last beyond who’s in the majority. And never let this be a partisan committee.
And if at any time, I feel whoever the Leader puts on this committee from the other side is trying to make it partisan, I told him I’d approach him and tell him the other side is trying to make it partisan.
Let’s start with the right philosophy and the right goals in mind, and let’s work together to make it happen.
I think if you see that the Chairman will be Rep. Mike Gallagher, you’ll know he’s sacrificed a lot. This is a man who’s focused and studied. This is not a man who is going to make it partisan.
We want the very best ideas, and it doesn’t matter where they come from. At the end of the day, we won’t need a minority and majority report. We’ll just need one philosophy, with one principle, and America will be stronger for the future to come.”
The “Newsmaker of the Day” is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
