Waukesha Times

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05) and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21) have introduced the Countering Chinese Espionage Reporting Act to bolster the U.S. response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) economic theft of U.S. intellectual property.

The bill directs the Attorney General to prepare an annual report on the Department of Justice activities related to countering Chinese national security threats, including trade secret theft, theft of United States intellectual property and research, and threats from non-traditional collectors, such as researchers in laboratories, at universities, and at defense industrial base facilities.    

“The Chinese Communist Party’s theft of United States intellectual property is estimated to cost our economy between $225 billion to $600 billion annually,” said Rep. Fitzgerald. “President Biden has shown poor judgement on this looming threat by scrapping the China Initiative, an initiative started by Republicans and aimed at addressing some of the most critical security threats posed by the Chinese regime. It is my hope that this legislation will refocus our efforts on this very cause and put our nation in a position of strength.”

“Communist China actively engages in intellectual property theft to steal our sensitive military, industrial, and agricultural technology. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration turns a blind eye offering excuses for the CCP’s malign aggression in the hopes of an unrealistic ‘thaw’ in relations,” stated Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. “I am proud to join Congressman Fitzgerald in introducing the Countering Chinese Espionage Reporting Act. This bill will direct the Department of Justice to report on Communist China’s economic espionage and work to ensure our critical industries and institutions of higher education are secure and free from malign foreign influence.”

This bill is the first in series of bills Rep. Fitzgerald is introducing to counter aggression from the CCP. 

Original source can be found here.