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State Rep. sponsors legislation reviewing Pa.’s competitive status with China
Ed Gruver//February 15, 2023
State Rep. sponsors legislation reviewing Pa.’s competitive status with China
Ed Gruver//February 15, 2023
To review Pennsylvania’s competitive status with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Lehigh) is sponsoring legislation to create a select committee in the House of Representatives.
The legislative is bipartisan, as Rep. Danilo Burgos (D-Philadelphia) is the measure’s co-prime sponsor.
If the measure is approved, the select committee will investigate, review, and provide findings and recommendations regarding the status of the CCP’s economic, technological, and security progress as it relates to its competition with Pennsylvania and the United States.
The U.S. House of Representatives recently created a committee to investigate competition with the CCP at the federal level, and Mackenzie said in a statement that Pennsylvania’s select committee would be similar.
“We believe there are many issues at the state level regarding our competition with China that need to be examined as well,” said Mackenzie.
State-related issues referenced by Mackenzie include the following:
- Banning TikTok on all Pennsylvania government-owned devices.
- Divesting the state from Chinese assets connected to the CCP.
- Prohibiting the sale of state agricultural land and critical land near military bases by Chinese investors with ties to the CCP.
- Oversight or banning of Chinese investment or donations connected to the CCP that may be made to Pennsylvania colleges and universities.
- Locations of, and work being conducted by, Department of Community and Economic Development trade offices.
A co-sponsorship memo seeking bipartisan support for the legislation is being circulated by Mackenzie and Burgos. The legislation is expected to be introduced in the approaching weeks.
