Anthony Gonzalez: “I thank Ranking Member McHenry for his leadership on this issue. Let me start by saying that I fully support the…”

“I thank Ranking Member McHenry for his leadership on this issue. Let me start by saying that I fully support the Export-Import Bank and recognize the important role that the Bank plays in supporting businesses and jobs across my district and State. This is my first time having the opportunity to vote on this and state that, and I want to state it emphatically. I appreciate that the majority leader and Mr. Heck have articulated what specifically is at issue here. And what is at issue here is that outside groups have captured this bill and objected to every single provision, no matter how small, dealing with the People's Republic of China. They objected, in particular, to an amendment that I offered that would require exporters receiving Ex-Im assistance to certify that they do not punish their employees for private communications on issues that China is so sensitive to, specifically, freedom in Hong Kong and human rights in Xinjiang and Tibet--not throwing China out of the WTO, though I am very, very happy to have a debate on that. But that is not what this was about. This was about preventing our companies from censoring their own employees, domestic employees, on their own time, in the comfort of their own home. Nothing in this amendment would have affected a company's policies in the workplace or its ability to manage business communications.…”