With 365 votes in favor, including 145 Democrats, and just 65 against, the House of Representatives approved Tuesday the creation a committee to monitor business and competition in China. Mike Gallagher, elected chairman of the new committee, said he will subpoena executives from Big Tech, Disney and the NBA to testify about their ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The new committee will have several functions. In addition to monitoring Beijing's movements and interests in the U.S., it will also investigate China's progress in matters of technology, the economy and security. Following this analysis, it will propose to the legislators initiatives to counteract the advance of the CCP.
While the proposal was pushed by Republicans, it had significant support from Democrats as well. In general, the threat from China is usually an issue that unites the two parties. In that regard, Kevin McCarthy, speaker of the House of Representatives, said, "Defending America from Chinese Communist Party aggression should not be partisan."
Defending America from Chinese Communist Party aggression should not be partisan. The newly-created Select Committee on China will be a bipartisan committee in divided government. https://t.co/q0Ofx9Pq6F
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) January 10, 2023
The creation of a committee to oversee competition with China, which will have nine Republicans and seven Democrats, was one of McCarthy's promises before being elected speaker. The other measures were the cuts to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funds that would be used to hire 87,000 new tax auditors and investigation into the links between the Biden Administration and Big Tech.
Who is Mike Gallagher?
After being announced as chairman of the new committee, Gallagher said he wants major technology companies to be held accountable and to be transparent about the access they gave the CCP to sensitive information. In addition, the congressman told The Hugh Hewitt Show that winning the competition with Beijing requires companies "that out-[innovate] their Chinese counterparts" and "think of themselves as Americans."
Gallagher placed particular emphasis on the NBA and Disney and said he expects their respective executives, Adam Silver and Bob Iger, to report to the new body. According to Gallagher, the NBA "kneeling" before Chinese President Xi Jinping offers a taste of what could happen to similar American enterprises.
Rep. Gallagher's statement on being selected by @GOPLeader to serve as Chairman of the Select Committee on China. pic.twitter.com/Cxzoe141Qh
— Rep. Gallagher Press Office (@RepGallagher) December 8, 2022
