Some far-left lawmakers unveiled a new political attack against lawmakers who want to focus attention on responding to the threat posed by the CCP.
Some far-left lawmakers unveiled a new political attack against lawmakers who want to focus congressional attention on responding to the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), condemning a newly established committee on China as xenophobic.
While the House approved a new congressional committee on the CCP in a 365–65 vote today — earning support from a majority of the House Democratic caucus — a handful of far-left lawmakers claimed that the bipartisan panel would elevate “hate in all its forms.”
Representative Jamaal Bowman slammed the committee as “more xenophobia, Cold War posturing, and scapegoating from the GOP,” in a post on Twitter:
We need a serious national conversation on China policy – not more xenophobia, Cold War posturing, and scapegoating from the GOP. Why would anyone trust them to lead responsibly on this important issue? I am voting NO on their push for a new Select Committee.
— Congressman Jamaal Bowman (@RepBowman) January 10, 2023
Representative Nikema Williams, meanwhile, claimed that the new select committee “isn’t about rational policy — it’s another platform to elevate hateful, xenophobic rhetoric”:
House Republicans' new select committee on competition with China isn't about rational policy – it's another platform to elevate hateful, xenophobic rhetoric. I stand against hate in all its forms, so I voted against the creation of the committee.
— Congresswoman Nikema Williams (@RepNikema) January 10, 2023
While neither lawmaker is regarded as a reputable voice on national-security matters outside of fringe activist circles, they expressed positions in line with those of controversial think tanks and advocacy groups in Washington which often carry water for foreign authoritarian regimes, such as Code Pink and the Quincy Institute. Both groups were quick to praise Bowman, and they played a leading role in 2021 advocacy campaigns that sought to pressure lawmakers to vote against legislation sold as necessary to counter China.
Other progressive firebrands, such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley, voted against the legislation. In addition, Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, voted no on the resolution today.
However, it received support from at least one lawmaker who might typically be associated with the caucus’s progressive bloc: Ilhan Omar, who, in 2021, warned about U.S. policy cleaving toward a “Cold War mentality” supported the resolution today. Unlike some of the lawmakers she is frequently associated with, Omar is a staunch advocate for Uyghurs.
The attacks from Bowman and Williams seemed to ignore comments by the committee’s incoming leadership that specifically drew a distinction between the regime in Beijing and the people whose decisions it harms.
In a speech on the House floor explaining the intent of the committee, Representative Mike Gallagher, the GOP lawmaker who will chair the panel, emphasized that, often, “It is here at home that the party’s extraterritorial totalitarianism terrorizes Chinese students studying at our universities and targets Americans of Chinese descent.”
And Gallagher also explained, “We are drawing a distinction between the party and the Chinese people, with whom we have no quarrel and who are often the primary victims of CCP aggression and repression.”
Most Democratic lawmakers supported the resolution establishing the committee today, and it’s not clear whether Bowman and Williams are emblematic of the 65 no votes. Meeks, for his part, quietly killed legislation in 2021 which would have subjected the United Front Work Department — the CCP’s powerful political influence bureau — to sanctions.
The committee’s detractors are part of a vocal minority of progressive lawmakers that is likely continue to oppose taking action to counter malign CCP activity.