During remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) spoke about the FIGHT China Act.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Mr. President, a lot has changed in Washington, D.C. in the last six weeks.
00:09That is an understatement, perhaps.
00:13But one of the things that President Trump has done is shifted the Overton window when
00:19it comes to the People's Republic of China.
00:23Years ago, when the Clinton administration invited China to join the World Trade Organization,
00:30the idea behind that was that somehow communist China would change with being part of the
00:39rules-based international order.
00:41Well, of course, we know China doesn't follow the rules and has taken advantage of the United
00:47States for decades.
00:50But under President Trump, that will no longer be the case.
00:55For example, last month the White House announced its America First investment policy, which
01:01will be critical for holding China to account.
01:05One of the avenues that China has exploited to gain the upper economic hand is through
01:09both inbound and outbound flows of capital.
01:14By investing in U.S. companies, the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist
01:20Party can obtain access to intellectual property and know-how.
01:25And of course, they have no shame.
01:27Again, they don't play by the rules.
01:30They are not afraid to cheat or steal our technology, if it's possible.
01:36On the other side of the coin, U.S. investments from the United States are flowing into China
01:42and have for a long time.
01:45In 2020, one estimate was that the market value of U.S. investments in China were valued
01:54at more than a trillion dollars.
01:58Now the reason why that's important is that China has used that investment to build their
02:03economy and their military.
02:07It's allowed them to advance technologies that one day might be used against the United
02:13States.
02:15So I'm very glad that President Trump, by his executive order, has brought this issue
02:19from the back burner to the front.
02:23It's no secret to any of my colleagues that I've been working on this issue for a while
02:27now.
02:28I was proud to partner with President Trump during his first administration to update
02:33CFIUS, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
02:39This interagency committee reviews foreign investments and real estate transactions to
02:44determine whether they pose any security risks for the United States.
02:50Through the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, or what was known as FIRMA,
02:56we strengthened and modernized CFIUS to rise to the occasion of new threats coming from
03:03the People's Republic of China.
03:06The President's first American investment policy builds on this by directing CFIUS to
03:12restrict PRC investments in U.S. tech, agriculture, energy, raw materials, and more.
03:22But as Chinese companies get richer and richer from American investment, it's clear restricting
03:30inbound investment is not enough.
03:35We need to prevent the People's Republic of China from using capital investments by the
03:40United States to gain access to and copy our technological advances, and most importantly,
03:48in certain critical sectors.
03:52As of 2023, the United States and investors were investing close to $2 billion in Chinese
04:00critical technology sectors, including semiconductors, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence.
04:08A report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission noted that, quote,
04:14the United States is the most important foreign source of investment to semiconductors, quantum
04:22computing, and AI in China.
04:26Let me say that again.
04:27The United States is the most important foreign source of investment in China to semiconductors,
04:36quantum computing, and AI.
04:39So it's these investments, which are largely opaque to we as policymakers, that are helping
04:48China basically compete with us.
04:52And we know, of course, it's not just about economic competition.
04:57We know that China has a strategy of military-civil fusion, which means that these investments
05:03are not simply benefiting China's economy and consumer tech sector.
05:09They are directly helping build China's military strength.
05:15It's not too dramatic to say that, as I stand here, U.S. dollars are funding the development
05:22of technologies that could one day be used against Americans, potentially even to kill
05:29Americans or American troops.
05:33Inbound and outbound investments are simply two sides of the same coin.
05:38We can't be giving away all of our intellectual property and our incredible innovation for
05:44Chinese companies to copy at will.
05:47And we can't be giving them the capital to recreate our ideas or reverse engineer and
05:53then use them against us.
05:56How can we expect to out-compete our most significant competitor on the world stage
06:03if we're sending billions of dollars directly into their arsenal?
06:10President Trump has been a great partner with Congress on ending this exploitive relationship
06:16with China.
06:17Again, this is not dealing with another country on the basis of good faith and a knowledge
06:25that everybody is operating from the same set of rules and norms.
06:30China does not.
06:32And we've recognized that more recently, but it's important to reemphasize because some
06:39people I think still naively assume that China operates by the same rules that the United
06:45States does.
06:46So I'm glad the president is as excited as I am to finish the job that we started with
06:51CFIUS reform.
06:53Today, I'm proud to announce I'm introducing legislation to finally tackle this issue called
07:00the Foreign Investment Guardrails to Help Thwart China Act, or the acronym is FIGHT
07:07CHINA.
07:10Two years ago, I sponsored an amendment to the NDAA requiring transparency for these
07:15outbound investments.
07:17It passed the Senate overwhelmingly with a final bipartisan vote of 91 to 6.
07:25We don't see many votes here in the Senate these days where there's such strong bipartisan
07:30support.
07:31So I'm grateful for that.
07:33Regrettably, even in the face of such overwhelming consensus, this amendment did not make its
07:39way into the final version of the bill for reasons I won't dwell on now.
07:45But as my colleagues can attest, I'm not one to give up easily.
07:51And this issue is simply too important to American national security to take no for
07:56an answer.
07:58So I've continued to work with great partners in the House and the Senate and the Trump
08:03administration to continue to make progress on this and bring us to where we are today.
08:10The legislation we're introducing today has been the culmination of years' work.
08:15And I believe it's stronger as a result of the input and the collaboration that's
08:21occurred.
08:23The FIGHT CHINA Act will establish a program at the Department of Treasury to prohibit
08:27U.S. investments in certain sensitive technologies in the PRC.
08:34Now some people may say, well, if you stop all U.S.-based investment in China, that's
08:40a big problem.
08:41But we're not talking about that.
08:43I could care less how many Starbucks or Burger Kings are built in China.
08:50It only addresses certain of the most sensitive technologies.
08:54These include advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and hypersonics.
09:01And of course, all of these have a military application.
09:06So this is not just an economic question.
09:09This is a national security issue.
09:12We know all of these critical industries directly support the Chinese military.
09:18And this is a military that's been instructed by President Xi to be ready to invade Taiwan
09:26or to absorb Taiwan one way or another, either by force or by coercion, by 2027.
09:37It's simply foolish to continue to send money to fuel these technologies that could be used
09:46perhaps in the next few years against the United States and our allies.
09:51This legislation would require a notification regime to require more transparency around
09:59investments that are not prohibited.
10:02You know, as long as we are blind to how much money is being invested in China and
10:09in what technology and what sectors it's being invested in, we as policymakers can't do our
10:14job and the administration can't do its job, which is primarily to keep our country safe
10:21and the American people safe.
10:24This legislation will authorize the president to impose sanctions against any PRC entity
10:31that engages in PRC military or intelligence sectors.
10:36I want to express my gratitude to our colleagues, people like Senators Cortez Masto, Warren Banks,
10:44Slotkin, Ricketts, Bennett, Hagerty, Kim, McCormick, Schumer, Sullivan and Fetterman
10:50and others for their partnership on this legislation.
10:54I especially want to recognize the Chairman of the Banking Committee that has principal
10:58jurisdiction over this subject matter, Senator Tim Scott, and thank him for working with
11:04me and co-sponsoring this legislation.
11:09Last but not least, President Trump has been a great partner to see this project to the
11:15finish line.
11:17Everything we are doing here is working hand in glove with the administration to ensure
11:23that the People's Republic of China is not allowed to meddle with the United States under
11:29the guise of simply doing business.
11:33But time is running short.
11:35We know China, as I said, has an interest in reincorporating Taiwan as early as 2027,
11:42not two years from now.
11:45Now is not the time to continue to allow them access to copy all of our work, and particularly
11:52the most sensitive areas.
11:54Nor is it a time to allow them to continue to benefit from U.S. investment dollars now
12:01that they are no longer a developing country, but they are one of the most advanced economies
12:07in the world and certainly a rising military power.
12:12We know that China, Iran and Russia have conducted joint naval drills in the Middle East called
12:19the Maritime Security Belt 2025.
12:23These exercises took place in the Gulf of Oman near the strategic Strait of Hormuz,
12:29the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, through which a fifth of all crude oil traded in the
12:35world passes.
12:38This is an ominous sign, and we know that they are strengthening their cooperation together
12:46in a way to undermine and challenge the West, including the United States.
12:51The last thing the United States should be doing is to join this cooperation by investing
13:00in the Chinese military, and that includes not just the government of the United States,
13:05but all Americans and American businesses and investors.
13:10So the President has been right to highlight this growing threat, and I look forward to
13:15continuing to work with President Trump and Secretary Besant to ensure that U.S. dollars
13:21no longer are able to help build the Chinese military and line the pockets of the country
13:29that's working to undermine the international rules-based order and the United States first
13:36and foremost.
13:37Mr. President, I yield the floor.
13:40I would note the absence of a quorum.