Overview of China Week
Last week, the House held its long-awaited “China Week” to vote on a series of legislation targeting various aspects of the U.S.-China relationship. The bills targeted national security, economic relations, technology, the pharmaceutical industry, and other key sectors. China Week was originally expected to occur in June as a lead up to the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) review, but it was postponed. Over the summer, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) expressed his interest in passing a series of China-related legislation to empower the next president to take tougher action on China. Last week’s vote series is the culmination of efforts from almost every House committee and showed overwhelming bipartisan support for increasing U.S. capabilities to counter the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The most notable bills China Week voted on were the BIOSECURE Act (H.R. 8333), the Countering CCP Drones Act (H.R. 2864) and the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act (H.R.9456). The Countering CCP Drones Act has already been included as a proposed amendment to the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and would restrict the use of Da Jing Innovations (DJI) technology drones in U.S. communications network space for national security reasons. The BIOSECURE Act bans five China-based biotech companies, and potentially other biotech companies from countries of concern, from operating in the United States and from contracting with the federal government, with exceptions. The Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024 introduces restrictions on purchases of U.S. agricultural land by foreign adversaries with the aim of protecting American farmland and national security.
The bills under consideration for China Week fall into two categories. Five were considered under a special rule and the other 21 were considered under suspension. The Select China Committee highlighted how 12 of the bills were either directly from or aligned with policy recommendations it put forward in a December 2023 Economic Report and a May 2023 “Ten for Taiwan” Report. Most of the legislation passed via voice vote and in an overwhelming bipartisan effort. Only two bills were amended, the No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act (H.R. 1425) and the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act (H.R. 1516). Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) offered an amendment to the No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act to offer a statement of policy in support of Taiwan’s participation at the World Health Organization (WHO), which passed the House. Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) offered two amendments to the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act. One provided technical changes to the bill, and the other added the Chinese Academy of Sciences under the bill’s definition to Chinese entities of concern.
For a bill-by-bill breakdown of the legislation passed during China Week, please click this link.
What’s Next
Now that China Week is over, we expect the bills will either be reviewed on the Senate floor or under consideration to be included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) following the November election. The Senate is not projecting to have formal NDAA conference this year, and the informal negotiation process has already begun. Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-RI) confirmed Congress will quickly pass the FY 2025 NDAA following the November election. As a result of the informal negotiations, we expect the NDAA to become a vehicle for other legislation, including, but not limited to, the China Week bills. The informal negotiation process allows for members of Congress to push policy priorities forward that may not fit under the germaneness rule applied during committee and House floor consideration.
However, despite the ability for the NDAA to be used as a policy vehicle, we do not expect outbound investment to be included in the list of priorities. Certain members, such as Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), have other legislative priorities they wish to focus the remaining legislative calendar on, and there is still little agreement toward which version of the legislation Congress wishes to vote on. Congressional leadership is needed in the final decision on which framework for outbound investment will be voted on; however, there is low interest in passing outbound investment this year.
Select China Committee Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) has also expressed an interest in continuing the momentum of China Week to hold another series of votes on legislation of interest. There is congressional interest to vote on legislation regarding outbound investment, de minimis, fentanyl and critical minerals, which were all excluded from last week’s vote series. We expect the next China Week to address some of these legislative concerns.
