A bipartisan bill to counter China, introduced by a bipartisan group of congressional foreign affairs leaders, was voted out of a Senate committee, setting a blueprint and providing resources for the United States to compete with China in diplomacy, trade and human rights. At the same time, Senate leaders formally introduced another major investment bill that has been in the works for a long time, aimed at countering China in related areas by providing funding for research and development in key U.S. technology industries.
The Senate said the Foreign Relations Committee passed the Strategic Competition Act on Wednesday (April 21) by a near unanimous vote of 21 to 1, making it the first major piece of bipartisan legislation to counter Beijing this year since Washington announced a full-scale competition with Beijing.
The only dissenting vote in the committee came from Republican U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
The Strategic Competition Act
“The Strategic Competition Act is an unprecedented legislative measure following a cross-party effort to use all of America’s strategic, economic and diplomatic tools for the Indo-Pacific strategy, allowing us to truly confront the challenges China poses to our national and economic security.” Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) of New Jersey, chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said on the floor, “This moment requires a coherent response strategy that will allow us to rebuild American leadership, enhance our ability to outperform China competitively, and reposition diplomacy grounded in our core values.”
Menendez added that the United States has now had a full discussion of the threats and challenges posed by China, but lacks a substantive response strategy, and that this Strategic Competition Act will set the foundation and direction for Washington to develop a policy to counter Beijing.
“From the beginning, I’ve said that any legislation to deal with China has to be solid, workable and truly cross-partisan. I think this bill that we’re passing out of committee today meets all of those conditions,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) of Idaho, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said during Wednesday’s markup session.
The Strategic Competition Act is being pushed by the committee’s bipartisan leaders, Menendez and Risch. In addition to the original bill, dozens of new amendments were approved at Wednesday’s meeting, including one that would require the U.S. government to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics as a “diplomatic boycott,” meaning that only participating athletes and their families would attend the games, but no U.S. government officials or senior representatives would be sent to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The Endless Frontier Act
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also announced an updated version of the Endless Frontier Act on Wednesday. The bill calls for $100 billion in basic and advanced technology research and development over the next five years, as well as $10 billion to create new “regional technology hubs” across the United States.
Competing with China in the Indo-Pacific region and globally has become a unifying goal for both the Democratic and Republican parties. Both the Strategic Competition Act and the Endless Frontier Act now have cross-party support in both houses of Congress, where partisanship has been fierce in recent years. The Biden Administration has also expressed support for both of these legislative measures.
The Strategic Competition Act focuses on developing a blueprint for diplomatic competition
The 280-page Strategic Competition Act aims to ensure that the United States has the power to compete with China “in all aspects of national and international power” in the coming decades, strengthens U.S. diplomatic strategy to address threats from the Chinese government, reaffirms U.S. resolve to support allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world, and requires the United States to reassert its position in international organizations and other multilateral forums. It reaffirms the U.S. commitment to supporting allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world, and requires the United States to reassert its leadership in international organizations and other multilateral forums.
The bill also prioritizes security assistance in the Indo-Pacific region and strengthens U.S. diplomatic efforts to address the challenges posed by China in the Western Hemisphere, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Arctic, and Oceania.
The bill plans to provide $650 million in foreign military assistance funding for the Indo-Pacific region and $450 million for the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative (IPMSI). The bill would also provide $10 million for the U.S. Department of State to promote democracy in Hong Kong.
The bill expands the authority of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to enhance oversight and review of international financial transactions to avoid risks that could pose a threat to U.S. national security.
In addition, the bill contains a number of measures to enhance Taiwan’s defense capabilities, as well as other elements to enhance U.S.-Taiwan relations. The bill would increase funding for international development and emphasize cooperation with allies and international organizations to counter China’s expanding global presence.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and a U.S. senator from Virginia, told VOA after the meeting that the high level of bipartisan support the Strategic Competition Act received from the committee released an important signal.
“From a bipartisan perspective, we all agree that dealing with competition with China is the most important thing going forward, and we want to work with each other and also with the Biden administration to make sure that the United States has the greatest competitiveness that we can have,” Sen. Kaine said.
Kaine further said the Strategic Competition Act will elevate the focus of U.S. diplomacy. “The bill elevates our focus. There are so many issues to focus on right now, but I think the vote today with bipartisan support shows that this is the most important issue we need to focus on,” he told Voice of America.
Endless Frontier Act Focuses on Enhanced Technology Development
The Endless Frontier Act, co-authored by Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Republican Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) of Indiana, builds on the bill of the same name introduced last May and adds more programs to strengthen supply chain and research and development to enhance competition with China in key technology areas.
The Endless Frontier Act, which has received bipartisan support from 12 members of Congress, would expand the National Science Foundation (NSF) and create a “Technology and Innovation Steering Committee” within the agency and provide $100 billion over five years for the newly created unit to invest in “basic and advanced technology research, commercialization, and development. basic and advanced technology research, commercialization, education and training programs.
The bill would focus on research and development in areas such as artificial intelligence, robotic learning, quantum computing, biotechnology, cybersecurity and advanced energy. In addition, the bill would provide $10 billion to establish “regional technology centers” that would serve as hubs for research and development, entrepreneurship and manufacturing. The bill would also provide $2.4 billion for manufacturing to establish a “Supply Chain Resilience and Crisis Response Program.
“The Endless Frontier Act is the key to preserving America’s current and future technological leadership on the global stage in the 21st century,” Schumer said Wednesday in his remarks to the House.
May go through fast-track adoption process
The Strategic Competition Act and the Endless Frontier Act are part of a major bill to counter China that Schumer announced in February would be fast-tracked for passage. After passing the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Strategic Competition Act will await a vote in the chamber, while the Endless Frontier Act still needs to be considered and voted on by the Senate Commerce Committee.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Republican from Florida, said in an interview with Voice of America that he did not rule out the possibility that Schumer could eventually combine the two bills for a vote.
“It could end up being combined for a vote,” Rubio said, “which (referring to the Strategic Competition Act) is just the diplomatic aspect, but the two go hand in hand.”
Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Menendez told VOA that it is unclear to him when Schumer will bring the Strategic Competition Act to a vote, and he hinted that the bill’s process would have to wait for the Endless Frontier Act to clear the Senate Commerce Committee first.
“After that, I hope we can get to a vote in the chamber, probably, I think the earliest is after the next recess, but hopefully before then (there will be progress),” Sen. Menendez told Voice of America.
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