BY REP MIKE ROGERS & REP. JIM BANKS
OPINION —
The United States confronts two near-peer nuclear-armed autocratic adversaries: Communist China and the Russian Federation.
Both Beijing and Moscow seek to stamp out the sovereignty of nearby democratic nations. As the world has seen in Ukraine, what the Russian military lacks in capability it makes up for in horrific brutality. In China, an even more brutal regime, enabled by a vast surveillance state, enforces party loyalty with an iron fist. At the same time, Xi Jinping openly engages in genocide against the Uyghur people. On the House Armed Services Committee, we’ve heard from every top military leader that China is a threat to U.S. security at home and to China’s democratic neighbors abroad. We must respond to this challenge.
Unfortunately, President Joe Biden doesn’t seem to take China’s threat that seriously.
The Biden administration and Democrats in Congress prioritized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) America COMPETES Act. It was sold as legislation to take on the Chinese Communist Party, but the bill provided for a zero percent increase in defense funding. It did, however, allocate billions in new spending on Green New Deal projects. In the next Congress, House Republicans are fully committed to reversing course and standing up to Xi and his Chinese Communist Party.
House Republicans are clear about where we stand. Our “Commitment to America” pledges to create a select committee tasked exclusively with countering China. Under a Republican majority, the House Armed Services Committee will prioritize securing America against the People’s Liberation Army. We’ll assist the select committee on China’s work on national security concerns. At the same time, Armed Services Republicans will use our committee’s oversight power to ensure that the Biden administration is following existing laws to keep the Chinese Communist Party in check. We will ensure that Defense Department funds are not used to conduct research in China. It is common sense to stop the flow often of millions of U.S. tax dollars to Chinese entities. Sadly, this has been happening for years. Another component of our oversight will involve ensuring that federal agencies provide Congress with up-to-date, comprehensive information about China’s hypersonic missile capabilities and any advances in China’s military technology.
The need for bold action from Congress is urgent.
As China continues an unprecedented nuclear expansion drive, with evermore intercontinental ballistic missile silos seemingly sprouting up like weeds, Russia and North Korea have threatened nuclear first-use strikes and modernized their own strategic forces at a rapid clip. The need for the U.S. to modernize its own nuclear arsenal has never been more crucial. One problem? Biden has refused to invest adequately in our nuclear deterrent. He ignored the advice of senior military leaders by trying to cancel a crucial weapon system — the Nuclear Sea-Launched Cruise Missile. Congress restored funding for the program in the House-passed fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.
Still, given China’s rapid military buildup, it is imperative that we do more, more quickly. We must urgently strengthen the U.S. naval shipbuilding program. Biden has embraced a “divest to invest” strategy that shrinks the Navy’s fleet over the next five years — at the exact same time as we enter into what the former head of the Indo-Pacific Command testified will be a window of profound vulnerability with China. Biden’s strategy is incredibly shortsighted. Indeed, it is dangerous. Once again, Republicans, working with some like-minded Democrats, rejected the president’s strategy and sought to expand the Navy fleet. The safety of U.S. trade and U.S. citizens in our Guam and Northern Mariana Islands territories relies upon it.
A strong Navy is also a critical tool in deterring China from invading Taiwan and holding hostage the global economy. In that same vein, we are committed to ensuring that Taiwan has the resources and weapons it needs to deter Chinese aggression. This requires clearing out the backlog of foreign military sales to Taiwan and boosting the production of munitions. The Biden administration made a critical mistake by not surging advanced weapons to Ukraine before Russia’s invasion — we cannot afford to make the same mistake in Taiwan. Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee are committed to tackling China’s aggression before it’s too late. We must ensure the U.S. remains the world’s foremost power. We must again provide peace through strength