Editor’s Note: U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY) appears on Fox News to discuss the CCP spy balloons on Saturday, February 4, 2023.
Washington, D.C.— Ahead of the President’s State of the Union Address, U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY) released the following statement after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) flew multiple spy balloons across large swaths of the U.S. mainland over the weekend:
“The CCP’s latest violation of international law and U.S. airspace over the weekend is why Congress must immediately pass my legislation, the Chinese Military and Surveillance Company Sanctions Act of 2023. This legislation would choke off CCP access to American investment that is helping fuel the rise of the CCP’s military and surveillance infrastructure. It would take the air out of their next spy balloons and any other initiative that is dangerous to U.S. national security.”
Congressman Barr’s bill expands on the Trump-era Executive Order that prohibited investment in publicly traded securities of Chinese military companies listed on U.S. exchanges that pose a threat to national security. The Biden Administration adjusted the Executive Order and expanded to list of entities to include surveillance companies, and designated Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as the entity to name the list.
While the Biden and Trump EOs prohibited investment in public securities in these companies (i.e., equity investments), the Barr bill would direct the President to actively sanction these entities. This will stop foreign capital from flowing to entities that pose a risk to national security.