On the recordDecember 30, 2020
let me elaborate a little bit on something that my good friend from Rhode Island said about China. I think it is very, very significant that we realize that this is the toughest bill on China that has ever been passed. That didn't come just from me; that came from the American Enterprise Institute, which has all the credibility in the world. They talk about the serious things that are going on, and they actually said this bill has the most substantial and consequential China-related provisions since--in, probably, history. That is significant because all of us remember--I know that Senator Reed and I have both spent time in the South China Sea, the seven islands that they are doing right now. China--it is illegal, but they have taken over--no, they have created seven islands in the South China Sea. When you go down there, it looks as if, on those islands, they are preparing for World War III. A lot of our allies in that area are very much concerned because they are making a lot more noise than we are, and they are demonstrating very clearly some of the things that they do that we haven't done. Hypersonics is an example. That is a state-of- the-art thing that we do in modernizing our military equipment and abilities. It has been very successful, but they are still ahead of us, so we are in catchup mode.…
