March 31, 2022
Washington, DC
Conservatives strongly support the need to confront the Chinese Communist Party and hold it accountable for aggression against American allies and friends in the Indo-Pacific, its theft of intellectual property, human rights violations, and COVID-19 coverup.
Instead of crafting sensible legislation designed to address these threats, however, Congress is currently conferencing the House-passed COMPETES Act and the Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. Together, these two bills make up $325 billion in spending which represents largely special interest handouts masquerading as anti-China legislation.
Both bills are filled with wasteful spending proposals that do little to confront the China challenge, hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable, or enhance American competitiveness. In fact, some of the provisions would undermine America’s ability to compete effectively with China – that is, if they even address China at all.
In legislation purportedly about addressing the threat from China, there are provisions to send $8 billion to the United Nations climate slush fund, $2 billion to foreign countries to help them fight climate change, provisions of the PRO Act, which would remove the secret ballot in union organizing elections, and billions in spending for solar energy projects, among other unrelated issues. The House-passed COMPETES Act even contains a sense of Congress to implement Biden’s commitments under the Paris climate treaty – which would cost the already precarious economy tens of trillions of dollars.
Moreover, while the bill provides billions to support America’s domestic semiconductor production capacity, it includes no requirements that these companies alter their business relationship with China – raising the possibility that taxpayer funds in a bill meant to out-compete China could end up with U.S. companies sharing technology with the CCP.
Congress needs to directly address the threats China poses to the American homeland and our global leadership. This includes ensuring a robust business climate at home, creating a permanent, China-resistant economy through strategic economic disentanglement, addressing China’s manipulation and use of our university system for espionage purposes, preventing Chinese theft of American intellectual property, and fully investigating the COVID-19 cover-up.
Rather than address the legitimate issues raised by China, the House and Senate proposals currently on the table are stuffed with unrelated spending and parochial priorities. We urge conservatives to reject these proposals in favor of ones that seriously meet the growing threat of the CCP.
| The Honorable Edwin Meese III Attorney General President Ronald Reagan (1985-1988) |
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell Chairman, Conservative Action Project Chairman, CNP Action, Inc. |
| Kevin Roberts, Ph.D. President The Heritage Foundation |
Jenny Beth Martin Chairman Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund |
| Kelly J. Shackelford, Esq. President and CEO First Liberty Institute |
Lisa B. Nelson Chief Executive Officer American Legislative Exchange Council |
| The Honorable Russ Vought Director Office of Management and Budget (2020-2021) |
Terry Schilling President American Principles Project |
| Thomas E. McClusky Principal Greenlight Strategies, LLC |
L. Brent Bozell III Founder and President Media Research Center |
| Alfred S. Regnery President Republic Book Publishers |
Lori Roman President ACRU Action Fund |
| The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. Chief Domestic Advisor President Ronald Reagan (1987-1988) |
The Honorable Morton C. Blackwell President The Leadership Institute |
| Myron Ebell Director, Center for Energy and Environment Competitive Enterprise Institute |
Rachel A. Bovard Senior Director of Policy Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI) |
| The Honorable Bob McEwen U.S. House of Representatives Former Member, Ohio |
Chad Connelly Founder and President Faith Wins |
| David N. Bossie President Citizens United |
The Honorable Tony Perkins President Family Research Council |
| William L. Walton The Bill Walton Show Resolute Protector Foundation |
The Honorable Jim DeMint Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute Member, US Senate (SC 2005-2013) |
| Ed Corrigan Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project President & CEO, Conservative Partnership Institute |
The Honorable Paul S. Teller, Ph.D. Executive Director Advancing American Freedom |
| The Honorable Brooke Rollins President and CEO America First Policy Institute (AFPI) |
Nancy Schulze Founder, President RCW Speakers |
| The Honorable James C. Miller III Budget Director for President Reagan, 1985-1988 |
Kevin Freeman Founder NSIC Institute |
| Charles J. Cooper Assistant Attorney General, President Ronald Reagan (1985-88) Cooper& Kirk, PLLC |
The Honorable Matthew Buckham Former Special Assistant to President Trump and Founder of American Accountability Foundation American Accountability Foundation |
| Elaine Donnelly President Center for Military Readiness |
Frank Gaffney Executive Chairman Center for Security Policy |
| Rod D. Martin Founder & CEO The Martin Organization, Inc. |
Guillermo J. Aragon Chief Strategy Officer Martin Capital |
| Christina Murphy Lusk President The Martin Foundation |
Lourdes Cosio Campaign for the American Future |
| Sherri R. Martin Executive Vice President The Martin Organization, Inc. |
Shawn A. Mitchell Former National Chaplain National Federation of Republican Assemblies |
| Craig Shirley Reagan Biographer Presidential Historian |
Tim Throckmorton President Lifepointe Ministry |
| Jay Mount President MDS Communications Corporation |
Judson Phillips Founder Tea Party Nation |
| Matthew Tyrmand Principal Matthew Tyrmand LLC |
Joan Holt Lindsey President Lindsey Communications |
| Carey Woodruff Executive Vice President Foundation for American Christian Education |
Willes K. Lee Immediate Past President National Federation of Republican Assemblies |
| Ron Pearson Executive Director Conservative Victory Fund |
Gary Marx President The Concord Fund |
| Sheryl Kaufman Board Member Americans for Limited Government |
Robert K. Fischer Meeting Coordinator Conservatives of Faith |
| Susan Carleson Chairman/CEO Carleson Center for Welfare Reform |
The Honorable Gary L. Bauer President American Values |
| Seton Motley President Less Government |
C. Preston Noell III President Tradition, Family, Property, Inc. |
| The Honorable George K. Rasley Jr. Managing Editor ConservativeHQ.com |
Robert Chambers Executive Vice President AFA Action |
| Gerard Kassar State Chairman NYS Conservative Party |
Richard G. Scurry Co-Founder Bible Literacy Project |
| Sean Noble President American Encore |
Richard D. Hayes Partner Hayes, Berry, White & Vanzant, LLP |
| Tom DeWeese President American Policy Center |
Paavo Ensio Chairman Universal Minerals Group |
| Floyd Brown Founder The Western Journal |
Kay R. Daly President Coalition for a Fair Judiciary |
| Jack Park Conservative Activist and Donor Law Offices of Jack Park |
William P. Mills, III Executive Committee Member Council for National Policy |
| The Honorable Peter Jon Thomas Chairman The Conservative Caucus |
Kathleen Patten President & CEO American Target Advertising |
| Allen Hebert Chairman American-Chinese Fellowship of Houston |
The Honorable Mike Hill Former Member Florida State Representative |
| Richard Rounsavelle Trustee MRC |
Lee Beaman CEO Beaman Ventures |
| Jeremy Cerone Member Council for National Policy |
Rick Scarborough President Recover America |
| Saulius “Saul” Anuzis President 60 Plus Association |
James L. Martin Founder/Chairman 60 Plus Association |
| The Honorable Diana Denman Chairman/President The Reagan Legacy Forum |
The Honorable Mary Vought Executive Director Senate Conservatives Fund |
All organizations listed for IDENTIFICATION purposes only.
