Young, Colleagues Introduce Substantive Legislation to Outcompete China

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced the STRATEGIC Act 2024, legislation to set up the United States and its allies and partners for success in the strategic competition against China.

“The STRATEGIC Act comes at an important time as the Chinese Communist Party continues its efforts to undermine security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. This legislative package contains several critical initiatives to counter the CCP, strengthen American supply chains, and bolster American support for Taiwan,” said Senator Young. “It includes my proposal to provide help to our foreign partners on an expedited basis when they are targeted economically for standing up to authoritarian regimes. By supporting our partners under threat of coercion, we protect America’s own national security interests.”

“Despite the significant threat China poses to the United States, the U.S. Congress has failed to enact legislation in a number of crucial areas that would set up the United States, its allies, and partners for success,” said Senator Risch. “This legislation takes strong positions to safeguard U.S. and allied interests and provides actionable provisions that will help us in our strategic competition with China. We cannot wait for more reports and studies – it is time to start implementing policies.”

The STRATEGIC Act:

• Reforms the Foreign Agents Registration Act by removing commercial and Lobbying and Disclosure Act exemptions for foreign adversaries and giving the Department of Justice authorities to issue civil investigative demands.
• Counters malign Chinese Communist Party influence by enhancing think tank transparency, prohibiting certain gifts and contracts with strings attached to U.S. universities, improving research security, and exposing China’s harassment and abuse of U.S. diplomats.
• Authorizes strategic infrastructure initiatives focused on digital, transport, and energy sectors, strengthens supply chain security, and lowers trade barriers in partner countries.
• Addresses predatory Chinese economic practices through anti-trust reform, a new initiative to counter economic coercion, and prohibition of World Bank contracts for Chinese companies. It also expands CFIUS to cover agricultural investments with national security risks.
• Strengthens international security by countering proliferation of Chinese unmanned aerial systems in the Middle East and modifying the Missile Technology Control Regime to increase AUKUS cooperation.
• Strengthens U.S. support for Taiwan and partner countries facing threats from China, and establishes a State/Treasury “Tiger Team” to start identifying targets for sanctions, export controls, other economic measures well before China takes military action.
• Protects U.S. interests in international organizations and support for human rights.
• Increases oversight of U.S. government funding for biological research with China.

In addition to Senators Young and Risch, Senators Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) also introduced the legislation.

A one-pager of the STRATEGIC Act can be found here. Full text of the STRATEGIC Act can be found here.