WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed President Biden’s upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his bipartisan outbound investment transparency amendment to the Senate’s defense authorization legislation, which passed overwhelmingly in July and would increase transparency of investments by American entities in sensitive technologies in China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.

“This is an especially fraught time for U.S.-China relations.”

“I hope the President will deliver a clear message to President Xi that China’s aggressive and hostile actions will not be met with kid gloves.”

“The Chinese Communist Party is focused on shoring up technologies that bolster its military strength and its economic power. Unfortunately, American investors are fueling the success of Chinese military-civil fusion, possibly unwittingly, without even knowing exactly what’s happening.”

“Senator Casey and I introduced an outbound transparency provision that was adopted as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, and it passed by a vote of 91-6.” 

“This measure simply requires companies to notify Treasury of investments in specific sectors, including advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and hypersonics.”

“Congress needs to enact strong guardrails around investments in China, but before you do that, you need good information, which is what our outbound investment transparency provision provides.”

“I’m glad Chairman Gallagher and Chairman McCaul will bring their expertise to the defense authorization bill conference committee, and I’m optimistic they can work out with our Senate colleagues a provision that will earn strong bipartisan support.”

“I don’t understand why anyone would be opposed to outbound investment transparency.” 

“This information is key to our national security and will help the U.S. manage risks related to China, and I hope we can get the job done soon.”