{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=82EEAEC9-0FA9-4750-AC07-B95E6C082FFB", "House Passes Rep. Andy Barr's Bill to Combat Chinese Communist Party's Global Influence", "2024-09-10", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Andy Barr", "B001282", "barr.house.gov", "barr", "https://barr.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the \u201cCountering the PRC Malign Influence Fund Authorization Act of 2023,\u201d introduced by Congressman Andy Barr (KY-06), which authorizes $325 million annually for fiscal years 2023 through 2027 to combat the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s global influence. The funds support initiatives to counter CCP disinformation, promote transparency, reduce corruption, and combat coercive economic practices like those tied to China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative. A senior State Department official will oversee these efforts, ensuring they align with U.S. national security priorities and include annual reporting to Congress on the effectiveness of the funded activities.\n\n\"The Chinese Communist Party\u2019s growing global influence is a direct threat to the sovereignty of nations and the free and open international order we are committed to defending,\" said Rep. Andy Barr. \"This legislation equips us with the tools to counter China's coercive tactics, ensuring that America and our allies can stand strong against authoritarianism while protecting our national security interests. For too long, funds meant to safeguard these interests have been diverted to questionable projects\u2014like $6 million for Pacific island weather and ocean data collection, $5 million for English language training in Angola, and $2.5 million for scooter charging stations in Vietnam. With this bill, we send a clear message: the United States will not allow the spread of malign influence that threatens freedom and democracy worldwide.\"\n\n\u201cFor far too long, China has sought to change the status quo and upend America\u2019s democracy at every turn,\" said Chairman Michael McCaul. \"I am proud to support this bipartisan legislation \u2014 thanks to Congressman Barr\u2019s leadership \u2014 that authorizes the PRC influence fund and creates the desperately needed guardrails to ensure the money is going to combat the CCP\u2019s malign actions.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe U.S. needs more effective and agile tools to better compete with the Chinese Communist Party around the world,\u201d said Chairman John Moolenaar. As the Select Committee endorsed in its economic and technology competition report, Rep. Barr\u2019s critical legislation will strengthen the State Department\u2019s Countering the PRC Malign Influence Fund and better enable it to successfully advance American interests abroad. My thanks to Rep. Barr for his relentless leadership on this issue.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://barr.house.gov/press-releases?ID=82EEAEC9-0FA9-4750-AC07-B95E6C082FFB"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4270900283008814, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}