{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news?ID=B32738B5-0664-4A6B-92A8-540D30685696", "VIDEO: Fischer Outlines Her NDAA Provision to Fight Threats of Chinese Propaganda in Hollywood", "2023-07-26", "2023", "2023-07", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Deb Fischer", "F000463", "www.fischer.senate.gov", "fischer", "https://www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "\u201cThis New Policy Will Ensure That Taxpayer Dollars Are Never Involved in Anti-American Messaging Efforts\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, spoke on the Senate floor today about the importance of pushing back against the growing influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the entertainment industry. During her remarks, Senator Fischer highlighted instances of potential Chinese propaganda in prominent films like the new Barbie movie and the pervasiveness of China\u2019s authoritarian agenda in seemingly innocent messages.\n\nSenator Fischer also discussed how she successfully secured language in the last two National Defense Authorization Acts to prevent the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) from participating in entertainment projects with ties to the CCP.\n\nBecause of these provisions, the DoD is now prohibited from assisting with entertainment projects that censor the content of the project in a material manner to advance the national interest of the People\u2019s Republic of China.\n\nClick here to watch Senator Fischer's remarks\n\nClick here to download audio\n\nClick here to download video\n\nFollowing is a transcript of Senator Fischer\u2019s remarks as prepared for delivery:\n\nEarlier this month, the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s relentless propaganda efforts rose to the forefront of international discussion yet again.\n\nChina\u2019s authoritarian government squashes opposition at home without hesitation, but its censorship and propaganda spreads far beyond Chinese borders. The CCP uses an array of insidious means to push its messages across national boundaries.\n\nConcerns that the CCP\u2019s influence is seeping into Hollywood continue to grow. This issue flared up once again this month. Why? Well, in a word, Barbie.\n\nYou heard me right, M. President. A movie about a plastic doll is the last place you\u2019d expect national security questions to arise. But it was.\n\nOne trailer for the Barbie movie depicted a cartoon map of the title character\u2019s world travels. On the map is a roughly-drawn continent of Asia. But it might be more than just a cartoon character\u2019s doodle. The map includes a dotted line extending out from the east shore of China.\n\nThat line is curiously similar to what\u2019s known as the nine-dash line. Everyone in the defense space is familiar with this line \u2014 it\u2019s a Chinese-drawn boundary in the South China Sea.\n\nChina uses this boundary to claim ownership of maritime territory \u2014 even though the United Nations\u2019 International Court of Justice rejected its claims on that territory in 2016. The country\u2019s neighbors, including Vietnam and the Philippines, certainly contest these claims as well.\n\nChina appeals to this false boundary when its naval presence creeps into new areas of the South China Sea, and it intimidates boats, fishermen, and others from neighboring countries who cross that invisible line.\n\nNow Barbie the movie is a great movie \u2014 Americans loved it this past weekend, but the Barbie movie treads far too closely to depicting what looks like the nine-dash line. Hollywood must become more aware of the ways the CCP tends to push its propaganda.\n\nUse of the line is a trigger for geopolitical sensitivities. Including its likeness on a map \u2014 even as part of a child-like drawing \u2014 has real global ramifications.\n\nYou may say, come on, it\u2019s just a movie \u2014 but Vietnam\u2019s authorities banned Barbie from playing in theaters because of its offensive alleged depiction of nine-dash line. And members of the Philippines\u2019 government raised concerns as well, eventually deciding to blur the map line in showings across the country.\n\nDespite the Barbie movie\u2019s content, allegations of Chinese propaganda in Hollywood aren\u2019t child\u2019s play. China continues to take advantage of our unprecedented global media network to do real damage.\n\nIt\u2019s no accident that China is financing some of the biggest films. And China runs the second largest box office in the world, second only to North America. When a movie doesn\u2019t play in China, Hollywood loses literally billions of dollars.\n\nRemember the controversy around Top Gun\u2019s sequel last year? The Department of Defense worked with Paramount Pictures to make that movie happen. But when Top Gun: Maverick\u2019s first trailer was released in 2019, viewers noticed that the Japanese and Taiwanese flags on Tom Cruise\u2019s bomber jacket had been replaced in an attempt to appease China. The studio wisely reversed course on that decision after public outcry \u2014 but that\u2019s not where the CCP\u2019s influence ended.\n\nThe film made no mentions, or even implications, of the United States\u2019 primary adversary: China. Any movie related to our national defense that doesn\u2019t bring up China \u2014 well, it must be set in an alternate universe, because that is the biggest defense challenge facing our country.\n\nThis isn\u2019t a conspiracy theory \u2014 it\u2019s China\u2019s strategy. The defense world is well aware that China maintains a well-oiled propaganda machine that\u2019s enmeshed in modern media.\n\nYou may say, come on, it\u2019s just a movie. No, this is a serious problem \u2014 so serious, that it\u2019s one our government should address. We can\u2019t allow our federal agencies to help elevate messages that support the CCP\u2019s goals. And we certainly cannot involve our own defense department \u2014 and taxpayer dollars \u2014 in entertainment projects beholden to Chinese propaganda.\n\nAs a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I\u2019ve successfully secured language in the last two National Defense Authorization Acts \u2014 or NDAAs \u2014 to prevent our government\u2019s Department of Defense from participating in entertainment projects with ties to the CCP.\n\nThanks to our persistent efforts, the Department of Defense recently released new regulations around how the Department of Defense can provide assistance to entertainment projects. Pursuant to these NDAA provisions, the Department is now prohibited from assisting with entertainment projects that censor the content of the project in a material manner to advance the national interest of the People\u2019s Republic of China.\n\nIt\u2019s my hope that this new policy will ensure that taxpayer dollars are never involved in anti-American messaging efforts \u2014 as well as send a clear signal to the CCP that we will no longer turn a blind eye to its sinister propaganda efforts.\n\nThis is just one example of the many provisions in this year\u2019s NDAA that stand up to China and advance our national security. I encourage my Senate colleagues to vote yes on the NDAA so that we can deliver a strong package that keeps China in line.\n\nThank you. I yield the floor.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:25:20Z"]], "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.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news?ID=B32738B5-0664-4A6B-92A8-540D30685696"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1616789270192385, "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"}