Sydney Kamlager-Dove: “I strongly oppose this bill which is blatantly counterproductive to U.S. interests in our strategic competition with…”

“I strongly oppose this bill which is blatantly counterproductive to U.S. interests in our strategic competition with China. Nearly identical legislation was marked up in the Foreign Affairs Committee last year with unanimous and vigorous opposition from Democrats. This measure would undermine one of our key advantages in the competition with China: soft power. Instead of investing in bolstering this advantage, my Republican colleagues are bent on undermining one of our biggest cultural strengths, American artists, storytellers, and filmmakers. This bill is a knee-jerk reaction to the perennial tension inherent in our relationship with China of when our openness meets closed societies and anti-democratic governments. In these cases, do we say the problem is the openness and not the actions of the government seeking to erode it? Do we respond by trying to effectively ban our companies from those markets and decimate their ability to operate there? The majority frames competition with China as an ideological battle, yet they wage this competition by trampling over the very principles that uphold the system they purport to defend. When we start viewing our strengths as weaknesses because they don't look like our competitors', then we start to become the very thing we are working to oppose. Nevertheless, most concerning about this amendment is that it helps the CCP achieve exactly what it wants.…”