Last month,  I sent a letter to the director of the enforcement and compliance division at the Environmental Protection Agency asking the agency to inspect the Smithfield Foods meat processing plant in St. Charles to address the effect of the foul odors coming from its plant on the surrounding community. This week, the EPA responded to my letter, informing me that, following my call for oversight, it has launched an investigation “into the wastewater treatment processes an equipment at the Smithfield Foods facility.” While the Smithfield plant serves our communities in many ways, it is critical that it be held to the same health and safety standards as all other facilities, and I welcome the news that the EPA has launched its investigation as I requested. You can read my letter to the EPA on this issue from August here and the EPA’s response from this week here.

This week, I partnered with Chairman Mike Gallagher to lead members of our Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in holding a field hearing and a series of related meetings in New York City regarding threats posed by the CCP to the American financial system. Through our meetings with leading experts on American investments, pensions, and retirement savings, we gathered information on the risks posed by the CCP to American investors and what steps Congress can take to mitigate those risks and protect the American people.

Fundamentally, my efforts going forward on these issues will focus on safeguarding American investments while also ensuring that Americans’ savings do not go toward the development of CCP military and surveillance technology that make us less safe. These companies make, among other things, fighter aircraft and ship engines for the People’s Liberation Army and pose a direct national security risk. They also use Uyghur forced labor to produce textiles, clothing, household electronic goods and medicines. By investing in these companies, we risk supporting the CCP’s military aggression and human rights abuses. But that’s not the only risk facing American investors from the CCP: as of January 2023, there were more than 250 Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges with a total market cap of over $1 trillion.

These are stocks that Americans are investing in everyday; but they don't come with what most Americans consider to be standard investor protections. Their complicated corporate structures carry massive risk, all while the CCP is cracking down on the very act of disclosing risks. The CCP is doing this by cracking down on due diligence to the point where the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has said that “risk can’t be properly assessed.” The CCP is so afraid of bad news getting out that they’ve stopped publishing their skyrocketing youth unemployment numbers and instructed investment banks to avoid publishing politically sensitive data that could make the Chinese economy look bad. 

As Ranking Member of the Select Committee, I am dedicated to ensuring that our communities and our country face less risk and see more certainty by ensuring that just as we protect our national security and food supply from the CCP, that we are protecting Americans’ savings too. The stakes for our country are too high to ignore and I refuse to settle for inaction when addressing these vulnerabilities early will make all the difference. You can watch my opening statement here and my closing statement from the hearing here.

Chairman Gallagher and I also participated in a discussion, moderated by Michael Froman, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, on Monday. We touched on the latest news regarding the Select Committee’s work, including our thoughts on trade with the People’s Republic of China, how to deter CCP military and economic aggression, the need to reform our high-skilled immigration system, and much more. You can watch the full discussion here.

Chairman Gallagher and I also appeared on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins on Monday night, as well as CNBC’s Squawk Box on Tuesday morning, to further discuss our work to better prepare our country, our economy, and our workers to out-compete the CCP.

If you are unable to make it to our district office in Schaumburg, our staff is available at mobile office hours throughout the district. Share your concerns, questions, issues and get help navigating federal agencies at convenient locations across the district.

Our Next Wood Dale Office Hours: Tuesday, September 19^th: 10:00am – 1:00pm in the Wood Dale Public Library at 520 N Wood Dale Rd, Wood Dale, IL RSVP HERE.

We will continue to hold additional office hours in Wood Dale on the third Tuesday of each month: October 13^th, November 21^st, and December 19^th.

Our Next Pingree Grove Office Hours: Tuesday, October 3^rd: 12:00pm – 4:00pm at the Pingree Grove Municipal Center at 555 Reinking Rd, Pingree Grove, IL RSVP HERE.

We will continue to hold additional office hours in Pingree Grove on the first Tuesday of each month: November 7^th and December 5^th.

Our Next Des Plaines Office Hours: Tuesday, October 10^th: 9:30am – 11:30am in the Des Plaines Public Library at 1501 Ellinwood St, Des Plaines, IL RSVP HERE.

We will continue to hold additional office hours in Des Plaines on the second Tuesday of every other month: December 12^th.

The best way to stay up to date on these issues beyond our newsletter is through my social media accounts, which I update multiple times each day. You can follow my Twitter here, my Facebook page here, and my Instagram here. Thank you for staying engaged in our community.

P.S. I always enjoy hearing from constituents, so feel free to comment and share my social media posts! Here are the links: Twitter here, Facebook page here, Instagram here and Threads here.