Gallagher plans to call Disney’s Iger, NBA’s Silver to testify before new China select committee
David M. Drucker
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Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) plans to call Walt Disney Corporation CEO Bob Iger and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver before the new House select committee established to investigate China.
“Consider this me giving them the initial warning order that they’ll have to testify before the committee,” Gallagher told conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt Wednesday in an interview. Gallagher was tapped by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to chair the new House Select committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
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“I’d be even willing to go out, when it comes to Hollywood or Disney, I’d be willing to go out and sit down with them where they are, you know, engage with them in a discussion,” Gallagher said. “But we want to have a discussion in front of the American people. I think it drives the American people crazy when they see the NBA bending the knee to [Chinese premier] Xi Jinping.”
The vote to create the House select committee on China was overwhelmingly bipartisan, and Democrats are eager to participate.
Gallagher, a foreign policy hawk, told Hewitt he wants to use the panel to uncover how the Chinese Communist Party uses access to the country’s consumer markets to influence American corporations. Gallagher also said he wants the select committee to help the U.S. fortify itself against Chinese espionage efforts on American soil.
The panel is to be comprised of just nine Republicans and seven Democrats, making it much smaller than the average House committee. Gallagher said that would encourage cooperation and focus among its members and make the committee more effective. “I actually think that is an asset. It makes us more nimble, it makes our ability to respond to things quickly, you know, more obvious and easier,” Gallagher explained.
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Although the China select committee does not have subpoena power, Gallagher said he does not anticipate that hampering its investigative powers.