In January 2023, the U.S. Speaker of the House at the time, Kevin McCarthy, chose Representative Mike Gallagher to chair the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
Although its work has been needed for much longer, the Committee has existed only since January 10, 2023. Its immediate predecessor was the China Task Force that emerged after Republicans tried and failed to create the Select Committee during Nancy Pelosi’s tenure as Speaker.
In December 2023, the Committee issued a report reviewing its findings to date and detailing myriad policy proposals.
The concerns discussed in the report include Americans’ use of China-developed technologies that pose a security risk, the witting and unwitting support by American companies and investors of China’s defense industry and systematic violations of human rights, China’s theft of intellectual property and technology to advance its security interests at the expense of U.S. security interests, and dangerous U.S. dependence on China for “critical mineral imports” and “pharmaceutical and medical device supply chains.”
In its brief life, the Committee has conducted many hearings and investigations and published many letters, reports, and recommendations.
Among the subjects: “American VC Firms Investing Billions into PRC Companies Fueling the CCP’s Military, Surveillance State, and Uyghur Genocide”; “security vulnerabilities in the U.S. maritime sector, particularly relating to CCP cybersecurity and supply chain risks”; Ford’s partnership with the CCP-linked battery firm CATL, which relies on forced labor by Uyghurs; “The Chinese Communist Party’s Threat to U.S. Financial Stability”; “Fast Fashion and the Uyghur Genocide”; “Chinese Military Activity in the Arctic Region”; “U.S. Cell Phones and Devices Using Chinese, Russian GPS Satellites”; the U.S trade group BIO’s lobbying on behalf of “Wuxi Apptec, a Chinese company deeply entrenched with the People’s Liberation Army and the Chinese Communist Party.”
Gallagher has just gotten started on the Committee, which itself has just gotten started. Now he’s leaving Congress in the middle of his current term. His successor as chair will be Representative John Moolenaar (shown above, at the mike), under whose leadership the Committee will, we hope, pursue its mission with the same energy and ever more effectively.
