Congressman Dusty Johnson’s Weekly Column: Cracking Down on China

In week one of our House Republican Majority, we brought a number of bills to the House Floor to counter the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.

A huge win on our second day of voting was the overwhelming passage of H.Res. 11 to establish the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, which is commonly referred to as the “Select Committee on China.” The Select Committee is prepared to investigate China’s influence over our supply chain, COVID-19 origins, TikTok, China’s purchases of American farmland, deceptive trade practices, and much more. We know China poses threats to our national security, food security, and economic security.

On Thursday, we voted on a bill (H.R.22) to prohibit the Biden Administration from selling oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to China. President Biden’s decision to sell oil from our SPR amidst record-high gas prices and inflation has caused the SPR to be at the lowest level in fifty years. One of the recipients of our oil is the Chinese Communist Party, which now has the largest government-controlled oil reserve in the world. There’s no reason, no excuse, to be selling oil from our reserves to our adversaries. H.R. 22 is a great first step, but I believe we should take it one step further—prohibiting oil sales from our SPR to companies that are headquartered in countries such as Russia, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Venezuela.

This Congress is off to a strong start in taking a stand against our adversaries. I’m looking forward to seeing what the Select Committee on China uncovers, getting some long-awaited answers, and action steps to protect America and our citizens from the threat of the Chinese Communist Party.

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