House Approves Creation of Select Committee on U.S. Competition with China in 365-65 Vote

The House passed Tuesday’s resolution to establish a committee to examine U.S. competition in China. This fulfills a campaign promise that Republicans made prior to the 2022 midterm elections.

The resolution passed in a 365-65 voteWith 146 Democrats joining Republicans to support the measure,

The select committee, chaired by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), will zero in on the Chinese Communist Party’s economic, technological and security progress and the strategic competition between Beijing and Washington. This resolution requires that the panel investigate and submit policy recommendations.

The group — which will be made up of seven Republicans and five Democrats — has the authority to hold public hearings.

“I’ve heard my colleagues on both sides say that the threat posed by Communist China is serious. I fully agree,” During Tuesday’s debate on the House Floor, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R. Calif. “This is an issue that transcends political parties. And creating the select committee on China is our best avenue for addressing it.”

“We want the very best ideas, and it doesn’t matter where they come from. At the end of the day, we won’t need a minority and majority report. We’ll just need one philosophy, with one principle, and America will be stronger for the future to come,” He concluded.

McCarthy stated that House Republicans would establish a committee on China if they were to take control of the chamber in November, ahead of the midterm elections. He stated that he would like to “look at every industry that China has tried to take control on” And “look at where China has been stealing our technology as well.”

Gallagher was tapped to chair the panel in December. This was a crucial step. In a Fox News op-ed McCarthy and Gallagher stated that the panel would fix supply chains, end dependence on China, and strengthen the U.S. military among other functions.

McCarthy has long wished to create a China panel, and the creation of the select committee fulfills that goal. McCarthy was close to achieving this goal in the year before Democrats pulled out.

McCarthy, Tuesday’s speaker, pledged that the China panel of current will not be influenced by partisanship.

“You have my word and my commitment, this is not a partisan committee. This will be a bipartisan committee that is my hope, my desire, to speak with one voice on the challenges that we have,” He said it on the floor.