Washington, D.C. — On December 24, 2024, Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY) and Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party joined to introduce legislation that restricts U.S. investments that fuel the CCP’s military, technological development, or gross human rights abuses.
The Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security (COINS) Act creates clear guardrails to protect the savings and retirement funds of Americans while setting a framework to prohibit American dollars from being invested in critical sectors of the Chinese military and economy. Senate companion legislation was introduced by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), who has led the charge to restrict outbound investments to China since 2016, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), incoming chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.
“China’s aggressive ambitions and actions require a decisive and strategic response,” said Congressman Barr. “This legislation establishes a comprehensive framework to protect American innovation, strengthen national security, and ensure transparency in critical economic and technological sectors. Congress is sending a clear message: the United States will not stand idle in the face of CCP threats.”
“Every American has the right to expect their savings and retirement funds to be invested responsibly, and not be used by the Chinese Communist Party to build weapons that threaten the United States," said Chairman Moolenaar. "For the last two years, the Select Committee has articulated a clear red line: America must stop the channeling of billions of dollars to Chinese companies blacklisted by the U.S. government for helping the CCP’s human rights abuses, strengthening its military, and developing the next generation of national security threats from China.”
Background:
Just one year ago, the Select Committee published its economic report, entitled Reset, Prevent, Build: A Strategy to Win America’s Economic Competition with the CCP. One of the bipartisan report’s top recommendations became the genesis of the COINS Act – a three-pronged approach to restricting problematic outbound capital investments into the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that addresses sanctions, strategic sectors, and public markets.
The Select Committee’s extensive oversight and investigations of American financial institutions highlighted the pressing need for this legislation and directly informed its language. In February, the Select Committee released the findings of its bipartisan investigation into U.S. venture capital investments in the PRC, entitled The CCP's Investors- How American Venture Capital Fuels the PRC Military and Human Rights Abuses. The Select Committee uncovered that these firms funneled more than $1.9 billion to AI companies that support China’s human rights abuses or military modernization, and at least another $1.2 billion went into the PRC’s semiconductor industry– directly advancing the CCP’s military ambitions.
In April, the Select Committee released the findings of another bipartisan investigation, this time into passive investment in problematic PRC companies facilitated by asset managers and index providers. Entitled How American Financial Institutions Provide Billions of Dollars to PRC Companies Committing Human Rights Abuses and Fueling the PRC’s Military, the investigation found that index providers and asset managers, who passively invest the retirement savings of Americans, facilitated the investment of more than $6.5 billion into 63 PRC companies the United States government has blacklisted for advancing the CCP’s military capabilities or supporting its human rights abuses.
To read the full legislative text, click here.
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