Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio is teaming up with Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto from Nevada on a proposal to that tackles influence from China on the United States.
Titled the “Countering the Chinese Government and Communist Party’s Political Influence Operations Act,” the proposal has the Director of National Intelligence and the United States Secretary of State overseeing an interagency task force that will investigate how China attempts to influence the United States. In addition, the task force will advise the White House and Congress on whether it’s necessary to create an office that will monitor any influence from China on American politics.
Explaining the motive behind the proposal, Senator Rubio explained that “To effectively combat the Chinese Government and Communist Party’s political influence operations, we must better understand the full scope and breadth of their efforts. This bill, which requires an unclassified interagency report, aims to do just that, not only for policymakers, but for the American people, media, academia and other impacted sectors.”
Senator Cortez Masto also added that “Given evidence of growing efforts by the Chinese government to undermine democratic institutions in the U.S. and abroad, it is incumbent on the United States government to protect our national security and our democracy from any foreign, political influence. This bipartisan bill sets necessary requirements for the government to investigate and report on potential Chinese government influence, and allow the United States to create a strategy that will counter threats to our democracy.”
