Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise in support of this amendment that adds the Chinese Academy of Sciences, or CAS, to the list of Chinese entities of concern outlined within the bill due to the vulnerabilities and threats posed by openly collaborating with an organization that answers to the Chinese Communist Party and compares notes with the People's Liberation Army. CAS has repeatedly been called out for its problematic ties with the CCP by the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China stating that it not only is a state-controlled entity but reports directly to China's State Council. Further, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission reports that CAS has connections to Chinese military, nuclear, and cyber espionage programs. If that wasn't enough to raise alarm bells, it may be of interest to know that the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the parent organization of the now infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology, which engaged in gain-of- function research. This amendment is essential because, even as I speak here today, there are American institutions of higher learning engaging with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to study the highly infectious avian bird flu, and they are being paid taxpayer dollars in the form of USDA grants to do it.…”