Chairman Menendez Statement on Senate Approval of China Legislative Package

WASHINGTON – Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), issued the following statement after the Senate voted to approve a comprehensive legislative package to mobilize all of the United States’ strategic, economic, and diplomatic tools to compete effectively with China and confront Beijing’s challenges to our national and economic security.

Entitled the U.S Innovation and Competition Act of 2021, the bipartisan legislation brings together the Strategic Competition Act of 2021 authored by Chairman Menendez and Ranking Member Risch, as well as the Endless Frontier Act (Schumer-Young), the Meeting the China Challenge Act of 2021 (Brown-Toomey) and additional bipartisan legislation from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, HELP Committee, Judiciary Committee, and Appropriations Committee.

“Today’s approval of the U.S Innovation and Competition Act is an extraordinary victory for America’s global leadership and for those interested in securing a 21^st century regional and international order built on progressive values,” said Chairman Menendez.

“The need to outcompete China and recalibrate our diplomatic strategy is one of the biggest foreign policy challenges of our time. This legislation puts core American values and human rights at the heart of our foreign policy, replenishes the sources of our national strength here at home, supports our alliances and stability, and prioritizes fair economic competition.

“As China challenges us across every dimension of national security – militarily, economically, diplomatically, and on values  – the Senate is laying out a bold new vision that ensures our country is positioned to compete, and succeed, for decades to come. Getting our strategy right is essential to deter and constrain problematic PRC behavior — and to encourage Beijing to make different choices that could open up a different range of possibilities and opportunities for greater cooperation where we face shared challenges.

 “As the lead author of the foreign policy section of this package, I’m honored to have seen it through to passage and look forward to continue working with my colleagues so that President Biden can sign it into law as soon as possible.”