Last week, news outlets around the country had wall-to-wall coverage of a spy balloon sent by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) transiting across America. While a balloon itself does not sound very dangerous, it’s the intent behind it that’s concerning—the CCP is testing us to see how President Biden responds, which should raise alarm bells for every American. We simply cannot take this threat lightly and must respond with tough policies to protect our sovereignty from the CCP.
As more information arises about this situation, it’s becoming clearer that the Biden Administration should have acted to neutralize the threat immediately after learning about it. The spy balloon first entered Alaskan airspace near the Aleutian Islands and was only brought to the public’s attention by a local reporter after going through Canada and re-entering U.S. airspace above Montana. Simply put, President Biden failed to act for an entire week and let indecision paralyze him. Only after the spy balloon completed its mission and was too far away to retrieve its data was it shot down. Given the vast area of open space the spy balloon covered, the administration’s claim that they waited to take it down because of the “fear of debris” just doesn’t hold water.
The American people deserve to know why this administration waited so long to act, and they should not have to live in fear of foreign aircraft hovering above their homes, military bases, and nuclear silos while collecting sensitive information. What’s more, this is just one example of aggression from the CCP. We must connect the dots to expose the pattern of aggression we are seeing from the CCP so we can defend the frontiers of the free world from their threats.
This Congress, I was appointed to the House Select Committee on China, where we will investigate the continuous aggression from the CCP and discover just how deep their deceptions lie. It is of highest importance to invest resources and energy into preparing the United States to counteract the threat they pose.
I have long been a strong leader against the CCP’s attempt to undermine our democracy and put our nation’s resources at risk—in particular, their actions to buy up American farmland. The CCP currently owns about 200,000 acres of agricultural farmland in the United States, which is worth about $2 billion, and have increased their purchases by a factor of 10 over the last decade. When I speak to the farmers and landowners in Central Washington, they are deeply concerned about our foreign adversaries purchasing American farmland. This poses an immediate threat to our food supply chains and national security, and we must take a defensive stance against their encroachment of our land. That’s why last week I reintroduced the Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People’s Republic of China Act to prohibit the purchase of agricultural land by the People’s Republic of China and prohibit them from benefiting from our farm programs. This legislation, which has the strong support of my House colleagues, is crucial in protecting our country’s farmland and standing up to the CCP’s efforts to expand their influence over our great nation.
The United States must be keenly aware of the threats made by the CCP, especially when they’re happening right in our backyard. I will continue to lead with tough policies to safeguard our national security, defend our farmland, rebuild our national food supply chains, stand up for human rights, and protect American sovereignty.
