Embassy Construction Integrity Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. MILLS. Mr. Speaker, the Embassy Construction Integrity Act is very simple: America's adversaries must not be involved in building our diplomatic and consular posts.

This, in my opinion, is a commonsense bill, or at least it should be. Last year, Congress was made aware that a Chinese state-owned enterprise was involved in the construction of a post in south Asia.

Despite all of the bureaucratic red tape the State Department goes through to establish these posts, somehow checking whether the Chinese Government controls the companies constructing the building didn't quite make the list.

The Chinese Government has established a pattern of leveraging its state-owned enterprise to serve dual functions during and after construction to spy on sensitive facilities.

Chinese-owned companies built the African Union headquarters. Like many things, they can't just build something, they have to build it with Chinese characteristics. In this case, those Chinese characteristics were spyware that was utilized to quietly siphon enormous amounts of data every night for the Chinese Government.

According to a study by Joshua Meservey, an expert in African geopolitics, Chinese companies have built nearly 200 government facilities in Africa, a number that is sure to have only increased since the study was published.

I am not telling other countries who they can or cannot employ to construct their buildings. My bill is simple, however, that when our adversaries show us how they operate, that we should believe them and take steps to mitigate those risks.

Specifically, this bill requires the State Department, before establishing a new diplomatic or consular post, to identify the beneficial owners of the companies involved in the construction and maintenance of those buildings.

Further, this bill prohibits the State Department from entering into contracts or agreements if the beneficial owners of the companies are affiliated with the Chinese Government.

Finally, if inconsistent actions are discovered, the Secretary of State would be required to report it to Congress within 7 days.

Briefly, it is important to address the fact that it would be impossible for the State Department to operate in China if they weren't allowed to contract with some of these companies. The bill is carefully crafted to avoid stifling the important work of the State Department in China or the limited other locations where inconsistent measures may be the only option. However, even in these cases, Congress should be notified so that we do our job and have proper oversight for all of these activities.

Aside from those extraordinarily limited circumstances, the State Department must conduct greater due diligence to secure the integrity of our embassies and other consular posts around the world.

I express my sincere gratitude to Chairman McCaul, Ranking Member Meeks, my bipartisan colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Committee who unanimously voted in favor of this bill during its markup, and each of their staffs who worked with me to secure it.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support passage of H.R. 6306.

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