Texas Border Business
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed the need to prohibit investments by American entities in sensitive technologies in countries of concern like China, an effort he has led in the Senate with Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), and urged House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) to support provisions prohibiting certain investments in such countries before the end of the year. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.
“At this very moment, American entities are fueling China’s aggression by funneling huge amounts of capital into capabilities that could eventually be used against the United States and our allies.”
“From advanced semiconductors to quantum computing to artificial intelligence, it’s high time that the United States becomes serious about limiting the flow of U.S. dollars into the arsenal of our biggest strategic adversary.”
“By some estimates, U.S. Investments in Chinese companies totaled more than $2.3 trillion in market value in 2020… That includes $21 billion in semiconductors, $54 billion in military companies, and a whopping $221 billion in artificial intelligence.”
“Last year, the Senate made good progress on this issue by including a provision to address outbound investment transparency in the Senate-passed National Defense Authorization Act.”
“The Senate voted 91-6 to include my amendment in the NDAA last year, showing an overwhelming bipartisan consensus on the need to address this issue.”
“We’ve had some great partners in the House. I want to thank, in particular, John Moolenaar, Chair of the Select Committee in the House, Congressman Michael McCaul, Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, and the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, who have all contributed to our efforts to advance this issue.”
“The Senate had another opportunity to include these provisions in the Defense Authorization Act this year, but House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries chose to block these provisions.”
“I understand over the last day, Leader Jeffries has listened to the voice of reason and come back to the negotiating table, and I’m hopeful that these conversations will continue to be productive and yield a positive outcome.”
“The national security of our country depends on it, and we must not squander this opportunity to confront the Chinese Communist Party while time is running out.”
