Thirty-one years ago, I smuggled cash and computers behind the Iron Curtain in a clandestine effort to assist democratic activists fighting the Soviet Empire from the inside. I was in Moscow on the day the Berlin Wall fell. It was the job of a lifetime.

One of the lessons I learned from that experience is on my mind today as I watch U.S. policymakers deal with the threats posed by China. I fear that one recent proposal by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, his so-called SCRIPT Act, could set us back significantly.