Washington, D.C. – Congressman Andy Barr (KY-06) and his Republican colleagues on the U.S. House of Representatives China Task Force (CTF) are preparing to issue their final report on October 1. Barr serves as the Co-Chair of the CTF Subgroup on Competitiveness and the Subgroup on Economics and Energy. The CTF was established in May by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23), to hold the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) accountable for its lies about person-to-person transmission that led the COVID-19 virus to become a worldwide pandemic.
“The CCP is the greatest national security challenge the United States has faced in a generation,” said Congressman Barr. “The CTF will provide Americans with a full-scale report on the military, economic, political and technological threats the CCP poses to our republic. The CTF also offers a roadmap of strategic proposals Congress should enact to counter the CCP’s most dangerous initiatives and limit their influence on the international stage.
“Additionally, confronting the CCP must be a bipartisan effort,” Barr continued. “America won the Cold War because both political parties joined together against Communism and fought to preserve our freedoms, civil liberties and capitalist economic system. Democrats need to reengage in a bipartisan commitment to counter this present Communist threat.”
Democrats originally agreed to participate in the CTF, but pulled out abruptly before the launch without explanation, according to Josh Rogin of The Washington Post.
As part of his work on CTF, Congressman Barr proposed H.R. 7988, the NIST Cyber-Security Act. This proposal protects COVID-19 research being conducted at universities in the United States from CCP cyber-attacks. Barr’s legislation instructs the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to produce standards for reducing and preventing cyber-attacks against American universities researching COVID-19. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted two hackers with ties to the CCP for attempting to steal COVID-19 research in July.
Lastly, Congressman Barr is also leading H.R. 7924, the Transparency in Chinese Government Investment Act (TCGIA) of 2020. The TCGIA requires public disclosure from any company listed on the U.S. stock exchange receiving CCP financial support. Companies must also disclose any company director or officer currently or formerly part of the CCP. Finally, companies must expose any ties to CCP strategic initiatives, such as “Made in China 2025,” that endangers American national security. Barr will be proposing additional legislation in the coming weeks to address the CCP threat.