Patrick McHenryChairman

Washington, January 26, 2022 -

Today, the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry (NC-10), issued the following statement regarding the partisan so-called China competitiveness bill released yesterday by House Democrats:

"This Democrat bill does nothing to combat the rise of the Chinese Communist Party,” said Republican Leader McHenry. “Speaker Pelosi has once again put together a partisan bill with no Republican input.

“Financial Services Democrats’ provisions include: policies to cover up for the Biden Administration’s giveaway of $40 billion in no-strings-attached IMF money to the CCP last spring, and their support for $130 billion more last summer; as well as granting Treasury unchecked authority to block Americans’ digital currency payments worldwide. 

“Most of these partisan provisions have never been marked up by our Committee and three were already rejected during NDAA negotiations. This is bad process, bad policy, and represents an unserious approach born of Democrats’ desperation for a win—after failing on everything from inflation to the COVID response.”

Background:

Last year, the Republican Leaders on the House Financial Services Committee released principles to guide Congress’ evaluation of legislation intended to counter the rise of the Chinese Communist Party. Democrats’ partisan bill misses the mark.

Republican Proposals to Actually Counter the Global Threat of China:

• The Chinese Military Company Sanctions Act, introduced by Rep. Andy Barr (KY-06), closes loopholes in U.S. restrictions on publicly traded securities of Chinese military and surveillance companies by requiring the President to impose OFAC sanctions following the listing of such companies by the Department of Defense and Treasury.

• The IMF Reform and Integrity Act, introduced by Rep. Bill Huizenga (MI-02), prohibits an International Monetary Fund (IMF) quota increase for China unless China abides by the principles of the IMF and is committed to Paris Club rules.

• The Special Drawing Rights Oversight Act, introduced by Rep. French Hill (AR-02), limits Treasury’s unilateral authority to allocate Special Drawing Rights, which could be used without conditions to send China billions of dollars in hard currency and allow its borrowers to repay Chinese loans.

• The International Nuclear Energy Financing Act, introduced by Republican Leader McHenry, responds to Chinese financing of energy infrastructure abroad, including nuclear power, by requiring the U.S. Executive Director at the World Bank to support financial assistance for the generation and distribution of nuclear energy.

• The Neutralizing Unfair Chinese Export Subsidies Act, introduced by Rep. Lee Zeldin (NY-01), requires a Treasury strategy and progress reports to advance international negotiations to bring China into compliance with the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits.

• The Taiwan Non-Discrimination Act, introduced by Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16), requires the U.S. to support Taiwan’s membership and meaningful participation in the IMF.

• The Chinese Currency Accountability Act, introduced by Rep. Warren Davidson (OH-08), makes any increase in the Chinese renminbi’s weighting in the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights currency basket conditional on Treasury certifying that China is complying with key provisions of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the Paris Club, and the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits.

• The 21^st Century Dollar Act, introduced by Rep. Hill, requires Treasury to assess the risk regarding internationalization of the Chinese renminbi and a U.S. strategy on maintaining the U.S. dollar’s position as the global reserve currency.

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