At the end of last week, U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., brought out the “Chinese Communist Party Politburo Accountability Act.”
“The bill would impose sanctions on senior officials of the Chinese Communist Party, specifically four CCP leaders widely known to be responsible for the violations of human rights and freedoms of individuals living in Hong Kong, Macau, Tibet, and Xinjiang. Additionally, the bill would follow U.S. policy of sanctioning CCP officials who participate in or lead campaigns of disinformation and political warfare against the U.S., steal U.S. intellectual property, and commit severe human rights abuses against the people of China,” Cammack’s office noted.
Cammack weighed in on why she thought the bill was needed on Friday.
“For too long, the Chinese Communist Party has worked to violate the human rights of its own citizens, undermine basic freedoms, and spread anti-American propaganda worldwide,” said Cammack. “The CCP’s leadership has also been complicit in stealing U.S. intellectual property through Confucius Institutes here in the U.S. Just a few months ago, a CCP-linked researcher at the University of Florida in my district was indicted for committing fraud against the NIH in an attempt to steal U.S. intellectual property. This has to end.”
Cammack rounded up more than a dozen co-sponsors including fellow Florida Republicans U.S. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Scott Franklin, Carlos Gimenez and Greg Steube.
The bill was sent to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs and the Judiciary Committees on Friday. So far, there is no companion measure over in the U.S. Senate.
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
