Transcript of Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi’s Opening Statement from Hearing on Biden Administration’s PRC Strategy

July 24, 2023
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier today the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held a hearing on the Biden Administration’s strategy related to the PRC.
The following witnesses provided testimony:

Below is a transcript of the opening statement from Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi. Footage of the Ranking Member’s opening statement can be found here, and his questions to the witnesses can be found here.

Good morning, and thank you, Mr. Chairman. In a couple weeks, Congress will recess and we’ll all go home to meet our constituents and hear from them about their priorities, especially for this committee. Ahead of those conversations, I’d like to share with you an interesting stat about how the American people perceive relations between the U.S. and the PRC. According to a Pew survey, 6 percent of Americans see the PRC as a partner, while 52 percent see the PRC as a competitor.  

This select committee is focused on winning that competition. We’ve explored the economic competition, both through the CCP’s actions toward American companies, and how we proactively can work with partners and allies and up our own game to increase our competitiveness and protect our interests. We’ve also examined the CCP’s human rights abuses against the Uyghurs, and we’re investigating how Uyghur forced labor infects supply chains and undercuts our businesses.

This morning’s hearing gives our witnesses a chance to convey what the Biden administration is doing to win the competition. And it gives the American people a chance to hear important questions about our progress, where we are winning, and where we’re falling short. One question I hear from my constituents is: how do we avoid an open conflict with China?

The majority of Americans see China as a competitor, but they are concerned about that competition turning into a war. A survey from late 2021 shows that 71 percent of Americans are concerned about a potential war with China in the next five years. As you can see, this concern about a war is widespread regardless of party. We don’t want a cold war, or a hot war, with the PRC.  But we also don’t want to see a continuation of the CCP’s aggressive behavior that we’ve seen over the past year.

We’ve seen that behavior play out in three primary ways: cyber-attacks, aggressive military intercepts, and actions against American companies to harm the American economy.

First, we’ve seen CCP-directed cyber-operations targeting American infrastructure and officials. In May, the New York Times reported on PRC hacking operations targeting Guam. Just last week, PRC actors hacked emails of American officials – including U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. These attacks are simply unacceptable. We need to know why we were not prepared, and what is being done to make sure they don’t happen again.

Second, we’ve seen increasingly dangerous behavior in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. Earlier this year, a PLA Air Force jet intercepted a U.S. aircraft and a PLA Naval vessel engaged in a dangerous maneuver against U.S. and Canadian ships. These actions brought us just one mistake away from a deadly incident. It’s important that we know how often these incidents are happening and what is being done to reestablish military-to-military communications so that the chance of war can be minimized.

Finally, we’re seeing actions by the CCP targeting American companies operating in the PRC. From forced technology transfer to state-sanctioned theft of U.S. IP, to cyberespionage and economic coercion, these actions harm our ability to be competitive. We need to know what the government is doing to level the playing field to give American workers and entrepreneurs a fair shot at winning the economic competition while preventing a series of retaliatory actions that could severely impact the American economy.

The American people never shy away from a competition, but they do not want a fight.  I hope our witnesses here today clearly articulate to everyone listening at home our plan to not just win this competition, but to make sure we prevent open conflict. I look forward to hearing your testimonies and I yield the balance of my time.

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