Transcript Of Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi’s Opening Statement From The First Hearing of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party

Washington, D.C. (February 28, 2023)—Below is the opening statement from Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party during its first hearing, titled "The Chinese Communist Party's Threat to America."

Footage of Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi's opening statement is available here.

Good evening, and thank you, Mr. Chairman.

It's an honor to serve as the Ranking Member of this select committee as I join the Chairman and my colleagues in a bipartisan effort to address the economic, security, and technology challenges our country faces from the Chinese Communist Party, also known as the CCP.

I believe three overarching themes will underpin our success as a Committee:

1. First, we must always, always protect American interests and values;
2. Second, at our best, this committee can help us as Americans to "up our game" as a people— for example, through investments in technologies of the future, workforce improvement, and by fixing weaknesses in our economy, such as in our supply chains and our legal immigration system;
3. Third, we must practice bipartisanship and avoid anti-Chinese or Asian stereotyping at all costs. We must recognize that the CCP wants us to be fractious, partisan, and prejudiced—in fact, the CCP hopes for it. But what they don't get is that the diversity of our viewpoints and backgrounds is not a "bug" in America's operating system, it is our defining feature and strength.

As Nancy Pelosi, for whom this room is named, has said, "our diversity is our strength, and our unity is our power" -- our unity of purpose, our unity in action, and our unity as Americans. We must summon that unity if we're to safeguard our values and our economic way of life going forward.

Over the last three decades, both Democrats and Republicans underestimated the CCP and assumed that trade and investment would inevitably lead to democracy and greater security in the Indo-Pacific region, including in the PRC. Instead, the opposite happened.

As China's economy has grown more than tenfold since gaining access to U.S. and world markets, the CCP has among other things:

• Strengthened its authoritarian control at home, including engaging in the genocide of the Uyghur people.
• The CCP has funded a massive military build-up, threatening its neighbors including Taiwan,
• And it has pursued economic and trade policies that flat-out undermine the U.S. economy.

The goal of the CCP has become clear: to displace U.S. and other competitors, especially in tomorrow's strategic industries. As Chairman Xi himself has recently said, "the East is rising while the West is declining.[i]" And by 2049, in roughly 25 years or the PRC's 100^th anniversary, Chairman Xi wants to ensure that China "leads the world in terms of [composite] national strength and international influence." [ii]

As a committee, we must use the insights we learn here today to make our country stronger at home and more secure in the world.

Here are some principles I respectfully submit for our consideration:

First, we must continue to invest in high technology sectors of the future and boost U.S. manufacturing. The Chips and Science Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law were a strong start. But more work needs to be done.

Second, we must deter aggression by the CCP. We do not want a war with the PRC, not a cold war, not a hot war, we don't want a "clash of civilizations." But, we seek a durable peace. And that is why we have to deter aggression.

Last August, I joined Speaker Pelosi and my colleagues in visiting Taipei to show support for the people of Taiwan. Together, we demonstrated that the CCP will not be allowed to dictate Taiwan's security, or ours.

Third, we must strengthen our global partnerships and coalitions, not only to counter the CCP's security challenges, but also to address its anti-competitive economic policies.

Finally, we have no quarrel with the Chinese people or people of Chinese origin. That's why we should never engage in anti-Chinese or anti-Asian stereotyping or prejudice. Comments that question the loyalty of Asian-American Members of Congress are completely unacceptable and must be rejected. These comments only feed the scapegoating and targeting of Chinese Americans, further endangering them and other Asian Americans. Indeed, this xenophobia and stereotyping is what the CCP would want to happen.

The CCP is counting on us being divided. We must rise to the occasion and prove them wrong.

Thank you and I yield back.