Bipartisan members of the U.S. Senate agreed on Oct. 31 that federal funding for military construction and the departments of Veterans Affairs (VA), Transportation, Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development should not benefit China.
In a 61-36 vote, members approved an amendment to the Senate’s spending package for those agencies that would prohibit the use of appropriated funds to provide “grants, funding, or any financial benefit” to China-based entities or their subsidiaries.
“Whatever other disagreements we may have about the spending in these bills, surely we can agree that this money ought to go to Americans and American companies and our allies,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), the amendment’s sponsor, on the Senate floor.
“All this amendment does is it says that none of the money we are appropriating can go to China,” he explained. “It can’t go to Chinese companies, or companies that are owned and controlled by China—that’s it. It’s simple: No American taxpayer dollars to the People’s Republic of China. This should be an easy vote.”
While a majority of the chamber clearly agreed, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) warned the amendment could have “far-reaching, unintended consequences” that could complicate agencies’ abilities to do their jobs.
“If this amendment passed, VA could face challenges in obtaining products for essential mission needs like pharmaceuticals or medical devices,” she argued.
Ms. Murray further contended that school lunch programs could face difficulties procuring meat given that some meat producers and processing companies, like Smithfield Foods, are owned by Chinese companies. And the Federal Aviation Administration, she added, would no longer be able to purchase Chinese-made drones for research, testing, and training.
“We should have more time to carefully consider the impact of this amendment and the serious unintended consequences it could have before adding it to this legislation,” she concluded.
But Mr. Hawley, in response, questioned why those consequences should be considered negative.
Staying Vigilant
The move to restrict the flow of federal funds to China comes at a time of increasing tension between the communist nation and the U.S., as the two countries remain at odds over the independence of Taiwan and the war in Ukraine.In recent months, leaders in the United States have sought to limit China’s influence domestically, particularly in relation to the food supply.
And U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, in a September interview with CNN, said that the Biden administration is also being “vigilant about not allowing Chinese investment in the U.S. that we think hurts our national security.”
“We have to be real about those concerns,” Ms. Raimondo said. “So, to the extent that Chinese investors, buying farmland, buying U.S. businesses, erodes our national security, then we should stop it.”
