The key objective in economic warfare is to do more harm to your enemy than you do to yourself, and President Donald Trump is doing what every American president should do: putting America first and making sure the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cannot use our own resources against us.
Let’s be clear about what we are dealing with. The CCP is not our friend. It is a strategic adversary that wants to weaken the United States, challenge our military and place itself in leadership around the world. China is pouring resources into the technologies that will define the next generation of warfare. It wants more advanced weapons, better targeting systems, stronger cyber capabilities and every technological advantage it can get its hands on. And you better believe they will buy, cheat and steal their way to getting it, so in no way should we, the United States of America, be helping them get there faster.
For too long, American capital and expertise have found their way into Chinese companies developing technologies with military applications. And for anyone to argue that every part of China’s economy isn’t linked directly to the CCP military clearly hasn’t been paying attention. That is a serious national security failure. We should never allow our investments, our ingenuity or our world-class research to give the CCP an advantage over the United States.
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That’s why I couldn’t be happier to see the Trump administration propose new rules to put an end to Chinese infiltration. By strengthening restrictions on investments that could help build China’s military-industrial base, the administration is taking meaningful action to protect the technologies that keep America strong. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the administration deserve a huge amount of credit for advancing these protections and working to ensure that American money does not end up strengthening our greatest foreign adversary.
The COINS Act was a great step forward to provide a stronger foundation for preventing American investment from supporting sensitive technologies in countries that threaten our national security. Now, we are making sure those protections have teeth.
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We are closing loopholes, addressing the ways financial and professional services can help Chinese companies advance and ensuring that restrictions keep pace with the technologies Beijing is trying to acquire.
Because this is not just about money. It is about American lives.
I served in the Army. I know what it means to put on a uniform and accept the responsibility of defending this country. To pray that our military is better and stronger than our enemy’s.
But our service members don’t get to choose whether the enemy they face has better technology. And we should never ask them to confront an adversary that we helped make stronger.
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Think about the consequences. Every technological advantage China gains can make it harder for our troops to detect a threat, defend against an attack, protect their communications or accomplish their mission and come home safely. When the CCP develops more capable weapons and more advanced military systems, it is our service members who may ultimately have to face them.
Our troops should never have to face a more powerful Chinese military because American dollars helped build it.
That is why we cannot afford to be careless about where American money goes. We cannot warn the American people about China’s military buildup with one hand while allowing our capital and expertise to help finance it with the other. Protecting our national security means making difficult decisions, confronting uncomfortable realities and refusing to let short-term financial interests come before the safety of the American people.
We also need to recognize that this competition is about more than the next investment or the next regulation. It is about who will control the technologies that shape the future on and off the battlefield. Artificial intelligence (AI), advanced semiconductors, quantum computing and other critical technologies will determine economic strength and military power for generations to come.
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America has the talent, the resources and the ingenuity to lead that race. But we cannot win if we keep handing our advantages to the Chinese Communist Party. We have the responsibility to protect our breakthroughs, strengthen our defense industrial base and make sure American innovation serves American interests.
It’s for this very reason I have been so passionate about passing legislation to do these very things. During this Congress, we in the House Foreign Affairs Committee have been staunch supporters of codifying the president’s AI Action Plan with legislation such as AI OVERWATCH Act, the MATCH Act and the Remote Access Security Act, to strengthen oversight of advanced AI chip exports, close loopholes in semiconductor equipment controls, and prevent China from bypassing our safeguards through remote access to sensitive technology.
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We cannot let the CCP exploit gaps in our laws to get the chips, equipment and computing power it needs to strengthen its military. If we close one door but leave another wide open, China will always find a way through and it will mean dangerous consequences for the U.S. on the other side.
I applaud President Trump for taking action to protect America’s technological edge and for recognizing that we cannot allow the Chinese Communist Party to exploit our own success against us.
