As Casey-Cornyn bill to screen U.S. investments in China is dropped from NDAA, conservative think tanks, national security experts, and more criticize House Republicans
The Outbound Investment Transparency Act was included as amendment to Senate NDAA bill by vote of 91-6, but House Republican leadership killed the bill in conference stage
National Review Editorial Board: “The House GOP is about to make a huge mistake”
Heritage Foundation: “On this issue, House Republicans have it backwards”
ICYMI: Sen Casey Op-Ed: When it comes to China, Speaker Johnson’s talk is cheap
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Senate released final text for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that omitted the Outbound Investment Transparency Act, a bill introduced by Senators Casey (D-PA) and Cornyn (R-TX) that passed the Senate by 91-6. Conservative think tanks and national security groups have urged Congressional leaders to pass the bill in NDAA. and as reports that House Republican leadership were considering dropping the bill came out, many of those experts publicly criticized that decision as “a huge mistake” and have accused House Republican leadership for “making matters worse.” Senator Casey authored an op-ed earlier this week accusing Speaker Johnson of aligning himself with Chinese President Xi by refusing to pass this bill.
See below on what others are saying about House Republican leadership’s decision to drop the Outbound Investment Transparency Act from NDAA.
National Review Editorial Board: “House Republicans Going Soft on China”
The House GOP is about to make a huge mistake that will redound to the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party. The leadership of the House Financial Services Committee is poised to prevent a crackdown on a very troubling trend: Beijing’s use of U.S. capital flows — and the expertise that comes with private investment — to develop technologies with which it hopes to one day kill Americans. [National Review, 11/30/23]
Heritage Foundation Senior Policy Advisor Bryan Burack: House Republicans “have it backwards,” “are making matters worse”
“Unfortunately, rather than pushing the Biden administration to do more, some House Republicans are making matters worse by actively resisting efforts to monitor and restrict the flow of investment into China….On this issue, House Republicans have it backwards: they should be pushing for a more aggressive effort, not seeking to water down or block measures that are already too weak. As it stands, the Biden White House’s feeble executive order and the Democrat-controlled Senate’s even weaker bill amount to a more ambitious agenda than the Republican House has adopted to address dangerous investments in China.” [Heritage Foundation, 12/1/23]
Oren Cass, Executive Director of American Compass: “An obvious table-stakes issue for getting serious about the China challenge”
“If conservatives want to understand why we can't have nice things, watch what @PatrickMcHenry is doing in the House to block restrictions on outbound investment to China. This is an obvious table-stakes issue for getting serious about the China challenge...” [X, 11/28/23]
Heritage Action President Dr. Kevin Roberts: “Failing to advance outbound investment reform would be a gift to Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party”
“Failing to advance outbound investment reform would be a gift to Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party… It is long past time to stop funding our own destruction and end business as usual with Beijing. Politicians like talking the talk about being tough on China— it’s time to walk the walk.” [Heritage Action Press Release, 11/29/23]
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are also touting the broad, bipartisan support outbound investment legislation:
Representative Mike McCaul, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee: A “truly bipartisan piece of legislation”
On similar outbound investment legislation: “What we have here is truly a bipartisan piece of legislation that should be expedited to the House Floor. Indeed, this type of forward-looking, outbound framework is supported by nearly every senator—my dear friend Senator Cornyn has a similar bill, which got over 90 votes in the Senate….It seems like nearly the entirety of Congress—Republicans and Democrats—agree that U.S. dollars and investment shouldn’t be supporting the CCP’s development of critical technologies.” [McCaul Press Release, 11/30/23]
Senator John Cornyn: “Almost everybody in the House agrees with us”
Almost everybody in the House agrees with us — Chairman McCaul, [Select Committee on China] Chairman [Mike] Gallagher, [House Intelligence] Chairman [Mike] Turner — it’s Chairman McHenry who's the one who derailed it,” Cornyn told reporters Thursday. “I’ve made my request to the guy who can make it happen.” The move puts the squeeze on Johnson, who may have to choose between McHenry's less onerous approach to regulating outbound investment and the policy championed by China hawks, who have elevated criticism of Beijing to a conservative cause. [POLITICO, 11/30/23]
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer: House Republicans “talk a big game on China” but “are actually sabotaging some of the best tough-on-Chinese-government accomplishments we’ve passed in the NDAA.”
On the Senate floor, the New York Democrat blasted GOP resistance, which has been led by House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.). Schumer didn't identify a specific lawmaker, but it offered a preview of future Democratic attack lines if McHenry ends up blocking the provisions. McHenry has pushed back on the inclusion of bipartisan China investment screening in favor of a sanctions-based approach that his committee has approved. He has also held up other finance-related measures in a bid to force the addition of cryptocurrency legislation. Schumer said House Republicans "talk a big game on China" but "are actually sabotaging some of the best tough-on-Chinese-government accomplishments we’ve passed in the NDAA." [POLITICO, 12/4/23]
