Bucshon Votes Against Speaker Pelosi's America COMPETES Act

Statement

U.S Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-Ind.-08) released the following statement after voting against the America COMPETES Act. At 2,900 pages, and a $325 billion price tag, this supposed "competitiveness bill" is laced with partisan priorities and unvetted policies that do little to address the growing threat of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

"The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses a significant risk to America's national security both at home and abroad. Not only have they used this pandemic as a tool to extend their influence over the global economy, they also continue to engage in blatant intellectual property theft and perpetuate crimes against humanity on their own people.

"It is imperative that we do not allow Beijing to gain the upper hand and be in a position to threaten American values and our way of life. Sadly, Speaker Pelosi and Congressional Democrats have yet again missed a chance to pass serious, meaningful legislation on a bipartisan basis. This legislation does little to address the growing threat that is the Chinese Communist Party and instead, it is another attempt to jam through Congress a wish list of liberal policies such as Green New Deal priorities, imposing burdensome labor union requirements on previously bipartisan programs, and increased regulation on trade programs.

"If House Democrats were serious about passing a bill meant to maintain America's competitive advantage and address the threat posed by the CCP then why in this 2,900-page bill are coral reefs mentioned more times than China, and climate change mentioned more than twice as much as national security? There is no doubt that we should be working to maintain global leadership and combat the growing threat that is the Chinese Communist Party, however, this is not that bill."

Partisan Initiatives Contained in this Bill:

Provides $8 billion to an unaccountable "green climate" fund at the United Nations -- a fund that has awarded $100 million to China.
Creates a $45 billion fund that in name would be used to support strengthening the resilience of our supply chains but would actually be used as a slush fund by labor unions and other political allies of the administration.
Attempts to appease China by omitting the word "genocide" when describing humans rights abuses in Xinjiang -- despite two votes by the House to call it genocide.
Authorizes $52 billion to support semiconductor production in the US, but does not include protections against those funds being used by recipients to expand their operations in China.
The bill creates a completely new "W" visa program that doesn't include protections against CCP members from being selected.
Includes several items that are unrelated to China or American competitiveness, such as:
a reauthorization of the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (CRCA),
$22 million to investigate a residential building collapse in Surfside, Florida,
and a provision to make the Health Coverage Tax Credit permanent.
Spends $3 billion to produce solar panel components in the United States while failing to address the lack of critical minerals mined in the United States. China has over one-third of the world's rare earth element (REE) reserves, and so without robust domestic mining of REEs, American producers would still be reliant upon minerals imported from China to manufacture these solar panel components.

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