Select Committee on China Democrats Send Letter to House Appropriations Committee Warning of Impact of Budget Cuts and Government Shutdown on Competition with CCP

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Democratic members of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the CCP sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee, highlighting the impact that budget cuts and a federal government shutdown would have on the United States’ ability to compete with the Chinese Communist Party.

“Massive budget cuts and political disfunction are not ways to win the strategic competition with the Chinese Communist Party. Democrats on our select committee are united in opposition to the kinds of actions that undercut our own competitiveness,” said Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Select Committee on the CCP. “We have a real chance to build on the progress we have made through the CHIPS and Science Act, the IRA and the bipartisan infrastructure law; but that progress is very much at risk if we let politics get in the way of winning the most important strategic competition of this generation.” 

The House Appropriations Committee’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations bill would cut U.S. strategic investments and allow the CCP to gain scientific leadership, diplomatic influence, and innovative dominance. These cuts would include a 31 percent cut to America’s diplomacy budget necessary to rally allies and partners, an 11 percent cut to America’s ability to counter CCP influence campaigns, and as much as an 80 percent cut to critical education and workforce development programs that would help America’s next generation better compete against the CCP.

The full letter to the House Appropriations Committee can be viewed here.

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