Newhouse Rejects Partisan, Pro-China Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) released the following statement after voting against H.R. 4521, the America Competes Act.

“Not only does this legislation fail to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from achieving its goal of overtaking the U.S. in science and technology, but it actually helps them get there by sending our resources directly to them. To make matters worse, Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats hijacked a once-bipartisan effort to insert socialist provisions from the Green New Deal and Build Back Better Act—which the American people already rejected.

I am disappointed in my Democratic colleagues for once again refusing to consider Republican input on this legislation, including my amendment which would have prevented the CCP from purchasing American farmland. It is imperative that Speaker Pelosi gets serious about addressing CCP’s aggression and protecting our national interests before it’s too late.”

Background:

H.R. 4521, the America Competes Act:

• Authorizes $8 billion for the Green Climate Fund, a U.N. slush fund that has already sent $100 million to the Chinese Communist Party and fails to include guardrails to prohibit this money from being used for Chinese solar panels, batteries, and other supply chains tainted by forced labor and genocide against the Uyghurs.
• Creates “Climate Change Officers” within the Foreign Service, weakening our diplomats’ focus on core U.S. national interests.
• Excludes Trade Promotion Authority, which traditionally is passed alongside TAA and helps American workers by empowering the President to establish new trade agreements.
• Expands Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) criteria with a problematic, partisan environmental criterion, which could bring Paris Agreement obligations into play when considering GSP eligibility—when GSP is supposed to be about helping developing countries and American small businesses.

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