Senate mostly unified on China provisions despite NDAA fights
Samantha-Jo Roth
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A measure that would require U.S. investors of Chinese tech companies to report investments overwhelmingly passed in the Senate, underscoring growing worries about China’s rapid advanced technology development.
The bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, offered by Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Cornyn (R-TX), passed 91-6 on Tuesday. The NDAA sets policy and funding for the Pentagon.
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The senators who voted against the measure were Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and Thom Tillis (R-NC).
The amendment requires U.S. investors to report their stakes within two weeks to the Treasury Department. It also requires them to report their investments to other “countries of concern,” such as North Korea, Russia, and Iran.
“We need this type of outbound investment notification to understand just how much … critical technology we are transferring to our adversaries via these capital flows,” Casey said on the Senate floor on Tuesday. “With this information in hand, we can begin to take control of our economic future.”
The measure is similar to the Outbound Investment Transparency Act, which called for restricting investments to foreign adversaries, but a number of senators objected. Unlike a version introduced in 2021, the amendment requires notification of investments instead of prohibition of certain deals. It also targets fewer industries.
“When American companies invest in technology like semiconductors or AI in countries like China and Russia, their capital, intellectual property, and innovation can fall into the wrong hands and be weaponized against us,” Cornyn said in a statement.
“This bill would increase the visibility of these investments, which will help the U.S. gather the information needed to better evaluate our national security vulnerabilities, confront threats from our adversaries, and remain competitive on the global stage.”
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Members have spent the last week debating the NDAA, which sets Pentagon policy and authorizes $886 billion in defense spending for fiscal 2024. The Senate is racing to push the must-pass bill through the chamber before the August recess, which unofficially begins when business concludes on Thursday evening. The final version of the bill will not be determined until later this year, when the Republican-led House and Democratic-controlled Senate reconcile their differences in a conference committee. The House passed its version of the bill earlier this month.
On Tuesday, the Senate also passed an amendment to prevent future purchases of American agricultural land by foreign adversaries, 91-7. The amendment was offered by Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) in an effort to prevent countries such as China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran from purchasing American farmland. The senators said there were concerns after reports of China posing an even greater national security risk by acquiring U.S. farmland near military installations.