House Votes to Establish Select Committee on China

Today, the House of Representatives voted to establish a Select Committee on the strategic competition between the United States and Chinese Communist Party (H. Res. 11). The resolution passed overwhelmingly (365-65). Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), who is expected to lead the Committee, stated that its top priorities will be to expose and fight against the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) cyber, trade and military threats against the United States. He emphasized that the Committee seeks to prevent war over Taiwan, and examine the long-term investments the United States needs to win the “new Cold War” with China. Provided below are the most salient points on the China Select Committee.

Composition

• 16 Members – nine Republicans (appointed by the Speaker of the House) and seven Democrats (appointed after consultation with the Minority Leader).
• Rep. Gallagher to Chair the Committee.
• The Democratic Chair has not been announced. Reps. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Chris DeLuzio (D-PA) and Bill Foster (D-IL) are all mentioned as possibilities for the Democrat Ranking Member.
• Expected to include members from key Standing Committees (e.g., Financial Services, Ways & Means, Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, etc.).
• Members who spoke on the floor on the Committee—and thus are likely candidates for membership—include the following:
  • Andy Barr (R-KY); Ami Bera (D-CA); Earl Blumenauer (D-OR); Tom Cole (R-OK); Gerry Connelly (D-VA); Judy Chu (D-CA); Bill Foster (D-IL); Mike Gallagher (R-WI); French Hill (R-AK); Hank Johnson (D-GA); John Joyce (R-PA); Ro Khanna (D-CA); Darrin LaHood (R-IL); Jim McGovern (D-MA); Cory Mills (R-FL); Victoria Spartz (R-IN); Mark Takano (D-CA); Michael Waltz (R-FL); and Ryan Zinke (R-MT).

Functions

• The Committee’s sole authority is to “investigate and submit policy recommendations.”
• The Committee has subpoena power to support this function and will be empowered to access classified U.S. intelligence.
• The Committee does not have legislative authority.

Approach

• The Committee is expected to hold traditional hearings as well as field hearings both domestically and internationally, strongly wield its investigatory and subpoena power, and it intends to conduct simulated war games.
• Speaker McCarthy and Chair Gallagher have expressed repeatedly their strong preference for the Committee to act in a bipartisan fashion.

Priority Issues

• In Speaker McCarthy’s opening address to the 118th Congress, he noted, “As for the Chinese Communist Party, we will create a bipartisan Select Committee on China to investigate how to bring back hundreds of thousands of jobs that went to China and win the economic competition.”
• In a joint op-ed with Speaker McCarthy, Rep. Gallagher outlined four objectives for the Committee: (1) Restore supply chains and end critical economic dependencies on China, (2) strengthen the military, (3) end the CCP’s theft of American personal data and intellectual property, and (4) contrast the CCP’s techno-totalitarian state with the values of the free world.
• Additionally, we expect the Committee to focus on:

(1) Investigating U.S. companies doing business in China

(2) Investigating Chinese companies doing business in the United States

(3) Promoting action to ban TikTok in the United States or otherwise impede its ability to operate/raise concerns about its operation

(4) Limiting U.S. pension fund investment into China

(5) Supporting Taiwan militarily and economically

(6) Supporting the Foreign Affairs Committee’s efforts on export controls, such as a focus on the implementation of the “emerging and foundational technologies” portion of the Export Control Reform Act

(7) Supporting other committees on inbound and outbound investment screening, including ways to address foreign technology transfers.

The impact of the Select Committee’s influence on Standing Committees’ legislative agendas on China is unknown at this time, but is worth watching closely. The member composition of the Select Committee is ongoing and could have a bearing on that interaction.