Jackson/Photo by U.S. House
U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Amarillo) introduced his first piece of legislation as a member of the House on Thursday, taking aim at the Chinese Communist Party.
Jackson’s bill, the Opposing Business with Chinese Military Companies Act, would amend the Fiscal Year 1999 National Defense Authorization Act to require the President to produce a list of Chinese Communist military companies operating in America and impose sanctions on them. Jackson’s office says the current 1999 NDAA provides an authorization to create the list and impose sanctions, but his bill would turn the authorization into a requirement.
In a statement, Jackson said the bill is needed in order to stand up to “China’s aggression.”
“President Trump confronted the Chinese Communist Party in a way no President had before him. It should be common sense to prohibit investment in Chinese Communist military companies, which threaten America’s national security, jeopardize American intellectual property, and aid China in carrying out genocide against its own people. Now President Biden wants to abandon these important sanctions, making clear that Congress needs to change the law from an authorization to a requirement. I, along with my colleagues in the Republican Study Committee, are committed to standing up to China’s aggression. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I am proud to introduce the Opposing Business with Chinese Military Companies Act as my first piece of legislation, and I fully intend on inserting it into this year’s NDAA.”
Original co-sponsors of the bill include U.S. Reps. Lisa McClain, Mario Diaz-Balart, Michael Waltz, Burgess Owens, Ralph Norman, Ashley Hinson, Steven Palazzo, and Jim Baird.