Andy Barr: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, once again, the bill we have been considering today is puzzling for…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, once again, the bill we have been considering today is puzzling for Republicans, as it probably is for a large number of my Democratic friends as well. On the one hand, the far left seeks to blame so much of what is bad in the world on large public companies. But then they turn around and claim that these same companies will see the light and embrace extreme leftwing policies if only they disclose more of their activities in obscure SEC reports. Mind you, these are perfectly legal activities, too. But no serious Member of the House can believe the world works like this. The far left wants to claim they are heroes using the Securities and Exchange Commission to fight the scourges of our time, from foreign dictatorships to environmental degradation. But in reality, they are weaponizing financial regulation, and their support for this bill comes in the form of empty political rhetoric masquerading as sound corporate governance. Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, this bill is about politicizing securities regulation. Far from this fantasy land live the majority of House Members who understand that there are actual urgent problems we can solve only if we work together to address them. Perhaps the gravest of these problems is represented by the goals of the Chinese Communist Party, which is perpetrating the great crime of our age against the Uighurs and other minorities in China.…”