A Republican congressman wants to make sure none of the proposed economic relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic is funneled into businesses owned by the Chinese government.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced the “No CHINA Act” on Tuesday, legislation that would ensure no money appropriated by Congress in fiscal 2020, including relief funds used to prop up American businesses reeling from quarantine orders, goes toward supporting China, which has engaged in a blame game with the United States about the origins of the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
“China’s inaction, distortion of data, and outright lies have exacerbated the global coronavirus epidemic, and helped fuel its rapid global spread,” Gaetz wrote in a statement describing the legislation. “Under the ‘No CHINA Act,’ companies owned by the Chinese government will not receive any American taxpayer dollars from Congressional aid packages.”
The Senate has hit a rut in trying to pass an economic relief bill to fund small businesses and workers struggling as much of the country takes an extended break to slow the spread of the virus. Another vote on the roughly $2 trillion relief package is expected later today or tomorrow.
Gaetz and other lawmakers have criticized the Chinese Communist Party for stifling whistleblowers and for not responding more quickly and transparently when they first learned about the highly contagious flu-like disease late last year. President Trump has repeatedly referred to the disease as the “Chinese virus,” placing blame for its spread on China, where the coronavirus is widely believed to have originated.
“The global coronavirus pandemic has been exacerbated by the Chinese government’s malicious misinformation and propaganda campaign against the United States and its citizens,” Gaetz said. “Allowing American taxpayers’ money to go to companies owned by the Communist Chinese government is antithetical to our ‘America First’ agenda.”
Gaetz’s bill notes that Taiwanese interests are excluded from the restrictions and contains a waiver that states Trump “in consultation with the Secretary of State, may waive the restriction under subsection (a) on a case-by-case basis if the President determines it is in the national security interests of the United States to do so.”
