Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy of California is seen before a gathering of the House Republican Steering Committee to elect committee chairmen at america Capitol, Monday, May 9, 2023.
Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Members of the US House of Representatives from each the Democratic and Republican parties voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to appoint a recent select committee to handle the multi-faceted threats China poses to america.
The ultimate vote count was 365 for and 65 against, with all Republicans and 146 Democrats joining them to support the enterprise. The brand new panel might be called the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between america and the Communist Party of China.
After per week of historic intra-party Republican battles for the Speaker of the House unfolding before the chamber cameras, the vote within the China Committee provided a rare opportunity for Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy of California to win a real bipartisan victory.
Pursuant to the resolution establishing the brand new special committee, its powers might be mainly investigative, not legislative. It should even be given jurisdiction to call witnesses and hold public hearings in reference to the investigations.
There might be 16 members on the committee, nine Republicans and 7 Democrats. It should be chaired by Republican Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, a number one voice within the GOP caucus on China issues.
It wasn’t clear on Tuesday which Democrats would join the panel, because the committee’s tasks are still fluid on either side of the aisle because the 118th Congress takes shape under the brand new Republican majority.
Speaking within the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Gallagher signaled the committee’s bipartisan approach from the highest, starting his remarks by quoting Democratic President Joe Biden’s top diplomat.
“As Secretary of State Antony Blinken put it last 12 months, China is the one country with the intention of fixing the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to achieve this,” Gallagher said.
He said the panel would reveal “the CCP’s whole-society coordinated technique to undermine American leadership and American sovereignty, working on a bipartisan basis and with jurisdictional committees to take a look at the long-awaited common sense approach to countering the CCP’s aggression.”
I watched with dismay as our firms’ electronic supply chain became increasingly depending on China.
Bill Foster
Democratic Representative, Illinois
Gallagher said Republicans and Democrats could have to work together “because that is the only way we’ll achieve success in the long term.”
Moments later, high-ranking Democrat Congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said within the House of Representatives that he would vote to form the panel, immediately giving it bipartisan good faith, culminating in massive Democratic support throughout the afternoon vote.
Several Democrats followed McGovern in advocating a recent select committee.
“I’ve watched with dismay as our firms’ electronic supply chain has turn out to be increasingly depending on China,” said Democratic Congressman Bill Foster of Illinois.
However it was McCarthy who took the highlight most memorable on Tuesday, as the brand new speaker promised that the committee can be serious and truly bipartisan, not only bipartisan for show.
“We would like serious lawmakers,” McCarthy said. “It isn’t for somebody to go viral and say something. It’s about working together as one Congress on certainly one of our biggest challenges for the long run.”
McCarthy continued: “You have got my word and my commitment. It isn’t a partisan committee. … I would like this committee to last more than whoever is in the bulk, and never, ever be a partisan committee.”
The creation of the brand new China commission underscores the rare ability of US-Beijing affairs to bring together lawmakers of all political persuasions. This was also evident throughout the presidential race, with each then-President Donald Trump and Biden campaigning by promising to be tough on China.