releases: https://riggleman.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-denver-riggleman-denounces-corrupt-practices-chinese-business-and
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://riggleman.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-denver-riggleman-denounces-corrupt-practices-chinese-business-and | Congressman Denver Riggleman Denounces Corrupt Practices by Chinese Business and Stands Up For American Consumers | 2019-11-15 | 2019 | 2019-11 | Republican | House | VA | Denver Riggleman | R000611 | riggleman.house.gov | legacy | Washington, D.C. -Congressman Denver Riggleman delivered an address on the House floor this morning that sent astrong messageof disapproval to China and one of support to American consumers.Congressman Riggleman offereda motion to recommit onH.R. 4863,the United States Export Finance Agency Act of 2019.H.R.4863 is a reauthorization of the Export Finance Agency,the officialexportcredit agency of theUnited States. Theagency helpsfacilitate international trade for United States companies.The bill in its current form does nothing to address Chinese threats and allows Chinese state-owned businesses to benefit from American financing, putting our national security at risk. "The question is do we, as Americans, as members of Congress that have sworn an oath to protect this country, allowEXIM to finance Chinese government-controlled entities that are building military installations in the South China Sea?" asked Congressman Riggleman. "Installations which one day may threaten the lives of U.S. servicemembers. Do we allow EXIM to support Chinese companies that support Beijing's brutal repression of religious minorities in western China, or the surveillance of freedom-loving protesters in Hong Kong?" The motion to recommit would have sent the bill back to the House Financial Services Committee instead of allowing a House of Representativesvote. You can watch the Congressman's speechhere, and a transcript of the speech canbe found below. I offer this MTR for a very simple reason, China is a problem, China is major human rights violator, China is responsible for unprecedented amounts of personal data and intellectual property theft, and China's military seeks to extend its reach throughout the world. [Staff1] Based on my experience in DoD and the intelligence communities, I can personally attest to the multitude of threats China poses! If my colleagues across the aisle believe that part of a healthy Ex-Im Bank is ignoring the issues China presents, then go ahead and vote against this MTR and guarantee uncertainty for a long term Ex-Im reauthorization. But, if like me, you understand and care about what happens to freedom and democracy around the world, and if you care about human rights around the world, and you want to see the Bank reauthorized with a purpose, then please join me in in supporting this MTR that imposes necessary and just requirements for entities wishing to do business with Chinese State Owned Enterprises. I want to share a quote from our Speaker of the House on China. When speaking to a group of survivors at the 30 year anniversary of Tiananmen Square Speaker Pelosi said, and I quote, We cannot allow economic interests with China to blind us to the moral injustices committed by China. Well said Madame Speaker, I couldn't agree more. I would also like to add, that missing from that quote, is that we should not allow economic interests with China to blind us to threats of national security. In that same vein, earlier this week the Financial Services Committee held a hearing focused on Multilateral Development Banks. My colleague Mr. Sherman, who is the Chair of the Asia Subcommittee on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, attended that hearing and spoke eloquently and forcefully, arguing and I quote, As long as China benefits one penny from this institution, it is an attack on the national security of the United States. Well, if Mr. Sherman is alarmed by World Bank loans benefitting small-scale farmers in China, surely he and his colleagues don't want Ex-Im assistance supporting China's largest semiconductor manufacturer, China's major technology providers such as Huawei, or China's Export-Import Banks, or their state-owned shipping group that is taking over ports in Europe, South America, and other parts of the world as we speak. The questions we face today are not partisan. The question is do we, as Americans, as members of Congress that have sworn an oath to protect this country, allow Ex-Im to finance Chinese government-controlled entities that are building military installations in the South China Sea? Installations which one day may threaten the lives of U.S. servicemembers. Do we allow Ex-Im to support Chinese companies that support Beijing's brutal repression of religious minorities in western China, or the surveillance of freedom-loving protesters in Hong Kong? I use these examples to make the point that we are united in this body, and we should be. Its easy, its simple, and its good for America and American businesses and good for the millions of oppressed people in China that we pass this MTR. To make this amendment even easier to implement, it does not mandate any particular bureaucratic procedures for Ex-Im. My amendment achieves the same objective of the original bipartisan Waters McHenry agreement but provides more flexibility so that Ex-Im can remain nimble. In closing I would say to all my colleagues who claim to be interested in helping American workers and American businesses, Pass the USMCA! Pass an Ex -Im reauthorization that is tough on China and also good for American workers, these things are not mutually exclusive! To borrow the phrase so many of my colleagues like to use, We can walk and chew gum at the same time. And we can do it easily, today, with bipartisan support. And if the People's House does the People's business then the Senate will take those measures up, and the President will sign them into law, and your constituents will thank you for it! I urge all of my colleagues to join me, thank you and I yield back my time. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |