Washington, D.C.— The toughest crackdown on military and surveillance capabilities by our adversaries ever passed out of Congress is one step closer to President Trump’s desk. This landmark legislation is a major victory and is the culmination of work across multiple Congresses by members in the House and Senate. The final product will restrict U.S. investment in Chinese military and surveillance companies passed the House and now awaits Senate action as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The FIGHT China measure, spearheaded by U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY) and U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), represents the most comprehensive effort to date in restricting American investment into Chinese Communist Party (CCP) military and surveillance companies and other sensitive technologies of adversarial nations. This legislation will make President Donald J. Trump’s America First Investment Policy permanent and prevent American investors from unknowingly bankrolling military and tech companies that threaten U.S. national security.
A 2024 report found U.S. index funds steered $6.5 billion of Americans’ retirement money into 63 Chinese companies blacklisted for supporting the CCP military or human-rights abuses. Barr worked with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI), Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL), and others in House Republican leadership to fight for this provision to be included in the NDAA.
“This legislation takes President Trump’s America First Investment Policy to the next level and puts Beijing on notice,” said Congressman Barr. “It establishes the strongest framework in history to protect American investments, strengthen our national security, and enforce real transparency across critical economic and technological sectors. Congress is sending a clear message: no more American money for the CCP to build missiles aimed at our troops, the next spy balloon that will fly over our communities, or any other product that could harm Americans.”
“The need to address capital flowing from the U.S. to countries of concern was realized during the first Trump administration, and my legislation presents a generational opportunity to confront the threats China, Iran, North Korea and others pose to our national and economic security,” said Sen. Cornyn. “This landmark legislation would prohibit and require notification of U.S. investments in certain technologies in countries of concern, ensuring American ingenuity, innovation, and investment do not end up in the hands of adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party to be weaponized against us. I’m proud this long-awaited effort is approaching the finish line and am grateful to colleagues past and present for their contributions to this effort, and I look forward to President Trump signing it into law as part of the annual defense bill.”
“The FY26 NDAA advances President Trump and Republicans’ Peace Through Strength agenda and delivers historic wins that have taken years of sustained effort across multiple Congresses to achieve. President Trump has made clear the past few decades of investments propping up Communist China’s aggression must come to an end. The inclusion of outbound investment restrictions in this year’s NDAA are an important step to protect our nation’s national security and economic competitiveness,” said Speaker Johnson. “This achievement is the result of persistent work by House and Senate committees and Republican leaders in Congress like Rep. Barr who championed these reforms and made it reality. Under President Trump, the U.S. is rebuilding strength, restoring deterrence, and proving America will not back down. President Trump and Republicans promised peace through strength. The FY26 NDAA delivers it.”
“Our Committee and our Conference delivered a huge win for American national security – finally cutting off American investors to feed the Beijing military machine,” said Chairman Mast. “I want to thank Rep. Barr for his leadership in helping get this across the finish line and to President Trump’s desk.”
“Since day one, Rep. Barr has led the charge to hold Communist China accountable, and the inclusion of his bipartisan FIGHT China Act in the House-passed NDAA bill is another important step toward ending the CCP’s exploitation of America’s financial markets. We urge the Senate to move quickly to end CCP military companies from using the ‘passive index loophole’ to access American capital,” said Chris Iacovella, Chief Executive Officer of the American Securities Association.