Hank Johnson: “We have seen this movie before, and it did not end well. On the Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet…”

“We have seen this movie before, and it did not end well. On the Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Subcommittee where I am ranking member, we have discussed with real concern economic espionage and theft of trade secrets by the Government of China. While we have legitimate concerns, this bill is a foolish attempt and a damaging way to address those concerns. The Department of Justice already had a China Initiative from 2018 to 2022. It failed to achieve any convictions related to economic espionage or trade secrets, yet it did cause significant real-world harm. Many academics faced long-term personal and professional damage, and there was a chilling effect on researchers of Chinese descent. Chinese- American scientists, American citizens, mind you, reported that fear of discrimination kept them from pursuing cutting-edge research and made them avoid Federal grant applications. That chilling effect spread beyond Chinese and Chinese-American professionals. A 2021 survey of thousands of physicists found that 43 percent of early career researchers believed that the U.S. was unwelcoming for international students and scholars. America has thrived because it has been a land of innovation, and the China Initiative stifled that innovation. Wisely, DOJ canceled that program in 2022. It was a failure then and it would be a failure now. Let's leave it in the past where it belongs.”