{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2024/9/issues/education/blackburn-kelly-cornyn-baldwin-introduce-bill-to-stop-school-bus-manufacturers-tied-to-chinese-communist-party-from-receiving-federal-funding", "Blackburn, Kelly, Cornyn, Baldwin Introduce Bill to Stop School Bus Manufacturers Tied to Chinese Communist Party from Receiving Federal Funding", "2024-09-25", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "Senate", "TN", "Marsha Blackburn", "B001243", "www.blackburn.senate.gov", "blackburn", "https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/news/cc8c80c1-d564-4bbb-93a4-f1d772346ae0", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) introduced the Secure School Buses Act to ensure school bus manufacturers tied to foreign entities and countries of concern, including the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), do not receive federal funding:\n\n\u201cUnder current law, federal funding for public transit is banned from going to companies tied to U.S. adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party, but the requirements do not apply to federal funding for school buses,\u201d said Senator Blackburn. \u201cOur Secure School Buses Act would close this dangerous loophole and safeguard national security and our nation\u2019s students.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Clean School Bus Program has provided school districts in Arizona and throughout the country opportunities to modernize their school bus fleets, while supporting bus manufacturers based here in the United States,\u201d said Senator Kelly. \u201cThis bill ensures companies that receive state support from the Chinese government can\u2019t take advantage of this program to unfairly compete against American manufacturers. We\u2019ve taken these same steps to protect public transit systems, and now it\u2019s time we apply the same standard to the buses carrying our kids to school every day.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is unacceptable for adversarial nations to receive any benefit at the expense of American taxpayers,\u201d said Senator Cornyn. \u201cThis bill would prohibit federal dollars from going to subsidiaries and spin-offs of predatory entities in China and other countries of concern that don\u2019t have our interests at heart, and I\u2019m glad to support it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen we use taxpayer dollars, we should be investing those dollars back into American businesses, workers, and communities \u2013 not sending money overseas to adversaries like China,\u201d said Senator Baldwin. \u201cI\u2019m proud to work with my Democratic and Republican colleagues to ensure taxpayer investments in our children\u2019s school buses won't line the pockets of bad actors like China and give them a competitive edge over our workers and businesses.\u201d\n\nBACKGROUND:\n\nSeveral years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the Clean School Bus Program to replace existing school buses with electric models. According to the EPA, they have awarded almost $3 billion in taxpayer funds through this program. Troublingly, certain companies in the electric bus industry have ties to the CCP and other foreign entities of concern.\n\nLocalities can currently use their federal funding to purchase buses from companies with ties to these foreign entities of concern, with some of these companies marketing buses specifically for the Clean School Bus Program. In the past, Congress has made clear that no federal taxpayer dollars should go to companies with ties to our adversaries.\n\nWhile federal funds are prohibited from going to companies with ties to the CCP and other foreign entities of concern for public transit, there are no such prohibitions for the procurement of school buses. If these products are not safe enough for public transit, they certainly are not safe enough for our nation\u2019s children.\n\nSenator Blackburn has worked extensively on the national security risks posed by Chinese-made connected cars and electric vehicles proliferating in the United States, due to many Chinese companies\u2019 subservience to the CCP. The same holds true for these electric bus companies with ties to the CCP and other foreign entities of concern.\n\nSECURE SCHOOL BUSES ACT:\n\nThe Secure School Buses Act would prohibit the award of federal grant funding to school bus manufacturers with certain ties to a foreign entity of concern.\n\nThis legislation is endorsed by the Alliance for American Manufacturing and Heritage Action.\n\nRELATED:\n\nBlackburn, Peters Probe Chinese Automakers on Ties to the Chinese Communist Party to Safeguard U.S. Security", 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://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2024/9/issues/education/blackburn-kelly-cornyn-baldwin-introduce-bill-to-stop-school-bus-manufacturers-tied-to-chinese-communist-party-from-receiving-federal-funding"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5820320695638657, "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"}