While the Deep State is distracting Americans with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it is pushing a major so-called “anti-China” bill in Congress that, if enacted, would actually benefit Communist China while advancing the Left’s Marxist agenda.
In the House, H.R. 4521, titled the “America COMPETES Act of 2022,” is sponsored by U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) and cosponsored by 101 representatives — 100 Democrats and one Republican. On February 4, 2022, the House passed H.R. 4521 by a vote of 222-210.
In the Senate, S. 1260, titled the “United States Innovation and Competition Act,” is sponsored by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and is cosponsored by 13 senators, including seven Republicans and six Democrats. On June 8, 2021, the Senate passed S. 1260 by a vote of 68-32.
On Wednesday, March 23, the Senate voted to begin the process of reconciling the House and Senate bills. On March 28, it voted 68-28 to pass an amended version of the bill, setting the stage for formal negotiations with the House.
H.R. 4521, as passed by the House, would spend a total of $335 billion while S. 1260 would spend $250 billion. Regardless of what version, or what portions of the two versions, are ultimately agreed to, H.R. 4521 and S. 1260 both violate U.S. national interests and only serve to advance the Left’s agenda.
In an interview with The New American, U.S. Representative Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) highlighted the threat H.R. 4521 poses to American liberty and national security:
The overall intent of the bill really was to sell us out to China, and it was more of a messaging bill so that Democrats could feel good about themselves, thinking that they actually did something … to make America competitive. But what we all know is that if we want to make America competitive, you put America first.
… We’re not surprised that the Democrats have become … supportive and advocates of the Chinese Communist Party. After all, the liberal Left wants to create a Communist-socialist utopia here at home.
Representative Cammack is correct, and H.R. 4521 is particularly egregious in these respects. Among multiple other provisions, the bill, as passed by the House:
- includes 24 amendments from members of the socialist Congressional Progressive Caucus related to climate change, “equity,” and other leftist priorities;
- implements an extremist “climate change” agenda, including codifying a requirement that the U.S. implement the Paris climate agreement, and directing the U.S. Armed Forces to implement climate-change training;
- provides billions of dollars in funding to foreign countries — including China — in the name of combating climate change. This includes $8 billion to the UN Green Climate Fund, $2 million a year to other countries, and gives China financial assistance from the World Banks Group and Asian Development Banks;
- enables the importation of thousands of additional refugees and economic migrants, including CCP agents;
- implements Critical Race Theory in the federal government, including by requiring the National Science Foundation to promote “diversity, equity, and inclusion in the technology sector”;
- require the U.S. to work even more closely with Communist China, giving the latter even more opportunities to steal U.S. intellectual property; and
- fails to take multiple actions that would actually push back against Communist China.
S. 1260, the Senate version, is nearly as harmful to U.S. interests. In addition to failing to include substantive anti-CCP provisions, the bill provides billions in wasteful, unrelated spending. And as with the House-passed bill, nearly all of S. 1260’s spending is unconstitutional.
It is imperative that neither H.R. 4521, S. 1260, nor a mix of the two versions get enacted. Rather than countering Communist China, they enable the totalitarian regime while also advancing a Marxist agenda at home. Rather than continuing negotiations over these bills, Congress would be wise to scrap them entirely and to instead enact legislation advancing real anti-CCP policies while also abiding by the U.S. Constitution as the Founding Fathers intended.
To urge your U.S. representative and senators to oppose the fake “anti-China” bills H.R. 4521 and S. 1260, visit The John Birch Society’s legislative alert here.
