U.S. Senators hope to pass legislation in April to address the Chinese Communist threat

In a phone interview with reporters, Menendez said, “I hope we can meet and vote as early as April,” Reuters reported. His fellow Democrats took over the Senate in January, a few weeks before he began his second term as chairman of the committee.

Menendez said he is working with Republicans on the bill and that the two sides agree on many issues.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced in February that he had directed lawmakers to draft a package of bills to address the rise of the Chinese Communist Party, echoing the tough bipartisan stance against Beijing in Congress.

Menendez said the package would address economic competition with the Chinese Communist Party in technology and other areas, but would also address humanitarian and democratic values, such as the treatment of minority Uighur Muslims, the Communist Party’s crackdown on dissidents in Hong Kong, and the Communist Party’s aggression in the South China Sea.

Menendez said:-“Both Republicans and Democrats agree that this is probably the most challenging security and national interest issue facing the United States.”