Political Quotes

“This amendment simply ensures that no undue influence can be wielded by the Chinese Communist Party using an existing provision, which I think reflects the overall sentiment behind this anti-CCP and forced labor provision of the entire bill. The underlying section allows the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to accept and expend funds from non-Federal entities in order to pay for staff and information technology system development to expedite permit processing. They are authorized to accept funds in fiscal years 2023 through 2025. This amendment prohibits those Secretaries from accepting contributions from non-Federal entities owned by the Communist Party of China or a person or entity acting on behalf of the Communist Party of China. Seems pretty common sense. There are already provisions in the bill which would prohibit the CCP's involvement in certain parts of our energy market. They should not be allowed to participate in this one any more than they do in the others. There is no reason that our government should be accepting money from this well. Let's remind ourselves that we are not talking about the people of China who wish to breathe free, like all people in the world do. We are talking about the Communist Party of China. We don't need anything from them. Mr. Chair, I urge support and adoption of this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.”