Committee debuts with eye on major China shifts
WASHINGTON — A special House committee dedicated to countering China debuted Tuesday, the opening act in what lawmakers hope will be a robust effort to overcome partisan divisions and address a “generational challenge” to America’s national security.
The committee’s chairman, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-wis., says he’s looking to bridge differences rather than exploit them. One of the former Marine’s first efforts in that regard will be a hearing focused on informing Americans about what he says is the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
Gallagher has grand visions for the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. He hopes it can shepherd competing bills over the finish line during the next two years and issue a set of recommendations on long-term policies. But as the committee held its first hearing Tuesday evening in prime time, his first mission was to communicate to Americans what is at stake.
“We’re doing some level-setting here: Why should someone care about the threat posed by the CCP?” Gallagher said. “Or to put it differently, what did we get wrong about the Chinese Communist Party and what do we need to get right about it so as to have a more successful and enduring strategy going forward?”
So far, Gallagher appears to have Democratic buy-in and support. The vote to create the committee was bipartisan, 365-65. Opponents on the Democratic side largely voiced the concern that the committee could stir an even greater rise in anti-asian hate crimes. Gallagher said he is committed to ensuring the focus is on the Chinese Communist Party, not on the people of China.
“We want to lead with that sort of human rights focused, values-focused agenda,” Gallagher said. “And that’s an area of unity, too, for a lot of Democrats and Republicans.”
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-ill., the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the CCP is counting on lawmakers to be “fractious, divided, partisan and we have to do the opposite.”
“We have no choice but to rise to the challenge at this point. It’s that serious,” Krishnamoorthi said.
Rep. Ro Khanna of California, another Democrat on the committee, said he expects Gallagher will set a sobering tone.
“The hope is that Congress can still rise to a generational challenge, and that is getting our China policy correct,” Khanna said. “And there are areas that can be bipartisan, from bringing good jobs back to making sure we’re deterring any invasion in the Taiwan Strait.”
The witnesses for Tuesday’s hearing included two former advisers to President Donald Trump: Matthew Pottinger, the deputy national security adviser who resigned immediately after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol; and H.R. Mcmaster, who was national security adviser from February 2017 to April 2018.
Mcmaster is no stranger to testifying about the threats he sees from China. He has warned Congress that the U.S. clung too long to the idea that China would liberalize its economy and form of governance as it was welcomed into international systems like the World Trade Organization.
He has recommend the U.S. not engage in trade or investment that transfers sensitive technology the CCP can use to gain military and economic advantages. He also has testified the U.S. should not do business in China in a way that helps the CCP stifle freedom and perfect its technology-enabled police state.