Bioeconomy Research and Development Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of amendment 56, which I was proud to offer.

Madam Speaker, it is no secret what the Republican Party thinks of the Chinese Communist Party and their attack on our global leadership and the threat they pose to our exceptional Nation and the global order we established and maintained.

If you look at the COVID outbreak and coverup, the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, or the repression in Hong Kong, the facts clearly establish that the CCP is unaccountable, unreliable, and untruthful.

While some in this Chamber want to think of them as a partner, I cannot bring myself down to that level of naivety.

Let's call them what they are: they are a competitor; they are a threat. That is why when I read this bill I was shocked to see that Democrats are almost being complimentary when they refer to China and their emission goals.

They say China ``is likely to achieve its carbon emissions'' pledge to the Paris Agreement, and that their emissions will peak ahead of schedule in 2030, a full 15 years after they agreed to Paris.

Some Democrats go on to highlight China's pledge to be carbon neutral by 2060 and to phase down their coal-fired power generation. It reads like a press release for the Chinese Communist Party published in the Global Times or something tweeted by the bombastic foreign ministry spokesmen, not policy from the United States Congress.

Worst of all, there is not even an attempt to fact check this information. Take it as blind fact, despite coming from an autocratic, Communist regime.

Trust but verify will not do here. With China it should be do not trust until we verify and continue to verify.

Madam Speaker, are we so naive that we take China's word at face value? I believe I speak for my fellow Republicans, and probably a few of my friends on the other side of the aisle, when I say: No, absolutely not.

We have no reason to believe the Communist leadership that has publicly stated that their goal is to best us in every technological field and establish global dominance.

In fact, we already have evidence that they falsified emissions data before joining the Paris Agreement. But some still want to trust them? It doesn't take a classified intel report to call China's bluff.

They have no intention of meeting these goals, but that won't stop them from telling us that they are on track. If I had to guess, they will say they are doing it even better than we are in reducing emissions, if for nothing more than their ongoing information warfare to make us appear weak and ineffectual on the world stage.

Madam Speaker, that is the purpose of my amendment. We need to have the State Department, in consultation with the Department of Energy, come in and give us the facts. This amendment requires an annual briefing regarding the progress and efforts of China to meet emissions goals.

We need to know: Is China telling the truth about how much they have reduced emissions? Are they building more coal-fired power plants? Have they successfully deployed carbon capture technologies the way we have? These are answers we need for the United States to compete with China.

Knowledge is power and the quickest path to victory is understanding your adversary. Despite all the other problems scattered throughout this bill, I believe this amendment is a chance to at least do one thing right.

This amendment is about accountability, this is about accuracy, and most importantly, this is about knowing the full capabilities of our largest and fiercest competitor.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support accountability, to support accuracy, to support truth, and to support knowledge by supporting this amendment.

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Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser).

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Mr. CRENSHAW. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CRENSHAW. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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