Opinion Pieces

Statesboro Herald
By: Rep. Rick Allen

With the Beijing Winter Olympics underway, you may notice that there is no official U.S. government delegation. This is intentional, and sends a message that America will not tolerate China’s history of human rights abuses.

Even our U.S. Olympic athletes are being surveilled while in Beijing. Our athletes deserve to enjoy this experience that they’ve spent their careers working toward, not be subject to a police state. That is why I am a proud cosponsor of the GENOCIDE GAMES Act, a bill that would impose sanctions on officials of the International Olympic Committee if any athlete, fan, or participant disappears, becomes detained or is deprived of internationally recognized human rights.

While I’m excited to cheer on our U.S. athletes and know they will make us all proud, unfortunately, for too long, China has been given a pass for their malign activities.

Our intelligence community has warned for years of the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party as they pursue their global ambitions.

China’s strategic plan is multifaceted and includes building up their military capabilities, launching influence campaigns on social media, investing in U.S. companies and institutions, and stealing intellectual property and technology — just to name a few. That’s why it’s critical for U.S. policymakers to fully understand the threat and respond accordingly.

Sadly, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats are more interested in messaging than they are in taking meaningful action.

Last week they put forward a bill on the House floor that does nothing to compete with, or thwart the threat posed by China. In fact, it concedes to them.

The America Competes Act, which is better called the “America Concedes Act,” gives $8 billion to the unaccountable “green climate” slush fund at the United Nations, creates a $45 billion slush fund that can be used by labor unions and other political allies of the administration, and pours billions more into federal research agencies, like the National Science Foundation (NSF), without fully guarding against China stealing our intellectual property. Additionally, it invites malign actors into the country via a new visa cap carveout program; not to mention, the bill fails to hold China accountable for their role in the COVID19 pandemic.

This weak bill isn’t a solution, and thankfully the Republican Study Committee — of which I’m a member — has crafted a comprehensive bill that would actually address the threat posed by the CCP.

I’m proud to cosponsor the Countering Communist China Act, which will hold the CCP accountable for COVID-19, strengthen our military, sanctions and law enforcement capabilities to counter CCP threats, modernize U.S. law to stop intellectual property theft, and more.

In July 2021, I introduced the American Science First Act, which is part of the Countering Communist China Act, and would prohibit the NSF from providing grants to any individual or entity that is affiliated or has a relationship with a Chinese Communist Military Company. I believe it’s incumbent on Congress to protect taxpayer dollars by closing current loopholes that China could exploit to gain access to our research.

While people around the world are watching our athletes compete, our adversaries are watching the U.S. closely to see if we are willing to stand up to malign actors and finally hold China accountable.