As Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) mentioned in his weekly audio address, he supported several critical pieces of legislation this week to hold China accountable for its abuses, protect our national security and safeguard our interests. The House passed a set of 28 bills, 15 of which had bipartisan support. These bills build on the critically important work done by the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Top bills are as follows: 

H.R. 1398 – Protect America's Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act – Rep. Lance Gooden (TX-5)

This legislation addresses national security risks posed by People’s Republic of China’ (PRC) economic espionage by reestablishing the Trump Administration’s Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Initiative at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to identify and prosecute individuals engaged in the theft of trade secrets and protect critical U.S. infrastructure.

• The annual cost of the theft of American intellectual property (IP) by the PRC has been estimated at as much as $500 billion. To stop the theft of U.S. trade secrets, the Trump DOJ established a China Initiative in 2018. Over 160 individuals and entities were indicted under the China Initiative, at least 45 of which have since been convicted or pled guilty.
• Despite this success, the Biden-Harris Administration bowed to pressure from liberal activists who alleged that the program stoked anti-Asian bias and canceled the China Initiative in February 2022. Given the industries and technologies targeted by the PRC and the economic cost of IP theft, there can be no doubt that canceling this initiative exposed the U.S. to significant national security risks.
• H.R. 1398 restores a vital tool for DOJ to prioritize investigation and prosecution of PRC-backed IP theft. Specifically, this legislation:
  • Establishes the ‘‘CCP Initiative’’ within DOJ’s National Security Division to counter nation state threats to the U.S. and curb spying by the CCP on U.S. IP and academic institutions.
  • Directs DOJ to prioritize identifying and prosecuting individuals engaged in the theft of trade secrets, hacking, and economic espionage, as well as protecting U.S. critical infrastructure from foreign investment and supply chain compromises.
  • Requires consultation and coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other relevant elements of DOJ and federal agencies as necessary, and mandates that DOJ provide an annual report to Congress regarding the effectiveness and progress of the CCP Initiative and related information.

H.R. 1425 – No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act – Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI-7)

This legislation ensures Congressional oversight of decisions made by international bureaucrats at the World Health Organization (WHO) by requiring that any convention or agreement on pandemic-related issues resulting from the WHO’S intergovernmental negotiating body be deemed a treaty requiring the advice and consent of the Senate.

• The World Health Assembly, comprised of the Member States of the WHO, is currently negotiating a wide-ranging convention intended to define each country’s responsibilities for future pandemic preparedness and response, and the Biden-Harris Administration is actively engaged in these negotiations. Alarmingly, the convention draft:
  • Adds social, cultural, political, environmental, and climate issues to pandemic preparedness, and is unlimited in its potential scope;
  • Does not include clear protection of United States sovereignty;
  • Deliberately uses vague and undefined language that could be read as requiring support for abortion and other progressive priorities;
  • Commits signatories to contribute large sums to a Coordinating Financial Mechanism and to the World Bank’s Pandemic Fund;
  • Tramples intellectual property rights and hinders biotechnology innovation;
  • Fails to include accountability or improved transparency measures for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) given its role in covering up the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The CCP actively engaged in a cover-up designed to obfuscate data, hide health information, and suppress doctors and journalists who attempted to warn the world of the COVID–19 outbreak, and the WHO was complicit in those efforts. WHO Director-General Tedros praised the CCP for their ‘‘transparency,’’ despite internal documents showing WHO frustration with the CCP’s failure to share critical data. Further, the WHO repeatedly parroted CCP talking points while ignoring conflicting information from reputable sources.
• Given the WHO’s role in the CCP’s cover-up of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the vast reach of any pandemic-related convention, it is critical that Congress consider and make any final determination on any such agreement to protect the health and well-being of the American people and preserve American sovereignty.

H.R. 1516 – DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act – Rep. August Pfluger (TX-11)

This legislation combats Chinese Government influence and espionage by prohibiting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from providing funding to any U.S. institution of higher education that has a relationship with a Confucius Institute funded by the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or a “Chinese entity of concern.”

• Confucius Institutes are marketed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a mechanism to promote Chinese language and culture and facilitate cultural exchanges. In reality, they are used by the CCP to influence the decisions of American academic institutions, conduct espionage, and promote Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) programs – programs designed to help the PRC develop the most technologically advanced military in the world by 2049, often through the theft of American intellectual property and trade secrets.
• While there are currently less than five active Confucius Institutes left in the U.S., the Government Accountability Office found that 43 out of 74 schools surveyed still maintain a relationship with an entity that supported their previous Confucius Institute.
• There is little to no transparency from American universities in what type of assistance they receive from the PRC. Data from the Department of Education from June 22, 2020, to April 6, 2023, shows that U.S. institutions of higher learning have collected over $3 billion from entities connected to the PRC and the CCP.
• H.R. 1516 protects national security and holds American universities and other institutions of higher education accountable, ensuring they prioritize their students’ education and the security of their scientific research and technological development efforts above a paycheck from the CCP by:

• • Prohibiting DHS from providing any funds to any U.S. institution of higher education that has a relationship with a Confucius Institute funded by the PRC.
  • Barring funds to any ‘‘Chinese Entity of Concern’’ that has a relationship with the CCP, supports China’s MCF programs, the PRC’s Ministry of State Security, or the PRC’s Ministry of Science and Technology.

H.R. 7980 – End Chinese Dominance of Electric Vehicles in America Act – Rep. Carol Miller (WV-1)

This legislation prevents China from receiving a windfall funded by American taxpayers by closing Biden-Harris Administration tax loopholes that benefit foreign adversaries.

• In the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Democrats created generous new tax subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs) at an enormous cost to American taxpayers. While drafting the IRA, an attempt was made to prevent subsidies from going to foreign entities of concern (FEOC), including entities with ties to China or other adversaries. However, when drafting FEOC regulations to comply with the IRA, the Biden-Harris Treasury caved to radical, far-left interest groups and wrote lenient FEOC rules that benefit China.

• • Under the IRA, EVs are supposed to be ineligible for a tax subsidy if they contain battery components or critical minerals sourced from an FEOC. This is similar to a restriction on semiconductor grants included in the CHIPs Act.

• In September 2023, the Commerce Department issued rules under the CHIPs Act that defined an FEOC as an entity in which 25% or more of the voting interest, or board seats, or equity interest is held directly or indirectly by the government of a country of concern (China, Russia, North Korea, or Iran) or its officials, or by any person that is a citizen, national, or resident of such country.
• In December 2023, Treasury issued FEOC rules for the EV tax subsidies but excluded “any person that is a citizen, national, or resident.” Under this definition, an entity owned by a Chinese billionaire could benefit from the EV subsidies as long as his or her ties to the Chinese Communist Party or other hostile government were unofficial.

• • Treasury also defined “battery component” in such a way that Chinese manufacturers can produce all materials and parts upstream of the battery component and remain eligible to benefit from the EV tax subsidies.

• H.R. 7980 ensures taxpayer dollars don’t go to Chinese billionaires and manufacturing companies by:

• • Ensuring that Treasury follows the same definition of FEOC developed by the Commerce Department in CHIPS.
  • Expanding the FEOC limitations to prevent batteries designed, manufactured, or produced using any process attributable to any licensing, royalty, service contract, or similar agreements with a prohibited entity – including China – from being eligible for the IRA EV credit.

H.R. 9456 – Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act – Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-4)

This legislation enhances national security by strengthening the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ (CFIUS) ability to inspect foreign agriculture-related investments, including land purchased by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entities.

• CFIUS reviews foreign investments for potential national security risks, including agricultural business transactions. The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 expanded CFIUS’s jurisdiction over real estate purchases and leases that are near sensitive national security sites.
• According to reports, CCP-linked entities have purchased farmland in close proximity to at least 19 U.S. military installations. Further, a recent Government Accountability Office report found that foreign ownership of agricultural land in the U.S. grew to 40 million acres in 2021, a 40% increase since 2016.
• H.R. 9456 updates CFIUS’ authorities to counter national security threats posed by foreign land investments. Specifically, H.R. 9456:
  • Ensures foreign purchases of American farmland are thoroughly scrutinized by formally adding the Secretary of Agriculture to CFIUS for reviews of foreign investments involving the control of an agribusiness and purchase of U.S. farmland.
  • Ensures important agriculture related CFIUS cases are reviewed by requiring the Department of Agriculture to share information on all foreign investments in agriculture with CFIUS.

In case you missed it, this week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) questioned Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes about the importance of election integrity and what measures Arizona is taking to combat address and signature verification issues with mail-in ballots in a House Administration Committee hearing. 

Click here or below to tune in. 

In case you missed it, this week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) asked witnesses about his critical concern that U.S. banking regulators are taking policy recommendations from global governance bodies and applying them to our nation's banking system during a House Financial Services Committee hearing. 

Specifically, he discussed with Ms. Christine Paragon Skinner, Associate Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, how activist policy undermines the political independence of federal bank regulators and creates risk in the the U.S. banking system. 

Click here or below to tune in. 

In case you missed it, this week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) sat down with Washington Times Commentary Editor Kelly Sadler for the paper's Politically Unstable Podcast to discuss his recent opinion piece and detail why the American people still need the truth on the more-than 3-hour delayed DC National Guard deployment to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 and how senior DoD leaders were concerned with optics over security that day. 

Read the full op-ed here and the full interview here. 

This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) joined the Georgia Congressional Delegation in a letter to the White House expressing support for Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's request that a major disaster declaration be issued for counties impacted by Hurricane Debby. 

In the letter, the members write, “in full support of Governor Brian Kemp’s request for a major disaster declaration for the counties in the state of Georgia significantly impacted by Hurricane Debby, which caused severe damages beyond the combined capabilities of our state and local governments’ ability to respond.”

The members continue: “Several of the rivers in Southeast Georgia flooded, forcing some communities to evacuate, and persisted for days with extensive damages…A major disaster declaration will provide a wide range of important federal assistance programs for…counties impacted by Debby.”

In addition to issuing a Hazard Mitigation statewide, the Governor has requested:

• Individual Assistance for Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, Evans, Liberty, Long, and Screven Counties.
• Public Assistance for Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Echols, Effingham, Evans, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Lanier, Long, Lowndes, McIntosh, Pierce, Screven, Tattnall, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Ware, and Wayne Counties.

Click here to read the full text of the letter. 

This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) joined Rep. Tom Emmer (MN-6) in cosponsoring H.R. 8066, the Ammunition Supply Chain Act to identify and address vulnerabilities in our nation's ammunition supply chain. 

BACKGROUND

The increased use of ammunition and artillery in the Middle East and Eastern Europe has led to a global shortage of essential materials used in ammunition production. This shortage has raised serious concern over the United States’ military readiness and has resulted in skyrocketing domestic ammunition prices, limiting Americans’ ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

The Ammunition Supply Chain Act requires the Secretary of the Army to provide a comprehensive report to Congress on the supply chain of ammunition manufacturing. The report will include information on sourcing raw materials used in ammunition production, examining weaknesses in the existing supply chain and the global demand for ammunition, and providing strategies for fostering public-private partnerships.

To read the full bill text of H.R. 8066, the Ammunition Supply Act, click here 

This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) joined Rep. Andrew Clyde (GA-9) in cosponsoring H.J. Res. 144, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval to overturn the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives' (ATF) rule titled "Definition of 'Engaged in the Business' as a Dealer in Firearms."  

BACKGROUND

On April 10th, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland signed the ATF’s final rule 2022R-17F, “Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms,” which redefines language pertaining to buying and selling guns. The rule requires private citizens to obtain a federal firearms license, conduct a background check, and complete gun registration paperwork to sell even a single firearm.

To read the full bill text of H.J. Res. 144, click here.

This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) joined Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Mike Turner (OH-10), Brendan Boyle (PA-2) and Max Miller (OH-7) in cosponsoring H.R. 7764, legislation to take a critical step in transferring the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, a highly regarded museum dedicated to the history, culture and contributions of Jewish Americans to the Smithsonian Institution. 

This legislation would create a commission to study the potential transfer of the Weitzman Museum to the Smithsonian Institution, which is the necessary first step to put the Weitzman Museum on a path toward acquisition by the Smithsonian. Specifically:

• The commission will consist of nine members, with two members appointed by the majority and minority leaders of each chamber, and one nonvoting member appointed by the board of the Weitzman Museum.
• The commission will write a report to Congress with a recommendation on whether the Weitzman Museum should be transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. The report will also detail the current collections of the Museum; the impact of the Museum on educational and governmental efforts to study and counter antisemitism; the financial assets and liabilities of the Museum and costs of operating and maintaining the Museum; the governance and organizational structure of the Museum should it be transferred; and the impact such a transfer would have on the Smithsonian Institution.
• The commission will not receive any federal funding and will accept private contributions to pay for its expenses.

Click here to read the full bill text. 

This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) joined Rep. Mary Miller (IL-15) in cosponsoring H.R. 9218, the Defining Male and Female Act, which will constitutionally codify the definition of gender as male and female. 

Click here to read the full bill text. 

This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) spoke to the Cobb Chamber during their Washington D.C. Fly-in. He gave them a congressional update and discussed how the chamber's federal priorities are being met as we wind down the 118th Congress. Rep. Loudermilk focused his remarks on the importance of building a strong economy, advocating for small businesses, and supporting Dobbins Air Reserve Base and our defense community.

This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) gave a congressional update at the Wallbuilders Pastors' Congressional briefing where 125 pastors from across the nation were in attendance. Rep. Loudermilk discussed the importance of faith in American politics and need for prayer over our great country. He also reflected on his time in Congress and how his strong faith is important in his public service. 

Roll Call: 

... Georgia Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk has been leading a reinvestigation of the work completed by the select committee in the previous Congress that probed the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

Loudermilk, who leads the House Administration Oversight subpanel, said he intends to continue that push and wants to see legislative action “to set the record straight so that [the select committee’s] report can’t be used anymore as fact.” 

With the support first of Speaker Kevin McCarthy and then Johnson, Loudermilk has led the effort to publish online all the estimated 44,000 hours of security footage captured that day as a pro-Trump mob overran the Capitol and tried to stop lawmakers from certifying Joe Biden’s election. Much of that has now been uploaded, Loudermilk said Monday. 

In a series of releases and a report issued earlier this year, he sought to cast doubt on the findings of the select committee. His investigation has been perhaps the panel’s most controversial line of business, and one that Steil has routinely refused to comment on, though he said last week that he “empowered” Loudermilk to undertake it.

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Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 

House Speaker Mike Johnson postponed a vote Wednesday on legislation to temporarily fund the federal government and avoid a shutdown at the end of the month because he didn’t have enough support from fellow Republicans to pass it.

But GOP members of Georgia’s delegation don’t want him to give up the fight. They say they support Johnson’s proposal in its current form, which extends current funding levels for six months and tacks on language requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.

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