New select committee takes important step in fostering unity against threat of China

It should come as no surprise that the Congress has had yet another fascinating start to the new year. Hard-fought battles for leadership positions and a general lack of decorum have defined the early stages of the 118th Congress. In the midst of all this chaos, the House of Representatives was able to establish a new bipartisan committee – the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – and their timing for once couldn’t have been better.

The startling news of a Chinese spy balloon being spotted over Billings, Mont., alarmed Americans and dominated the airwaves. The Biden administration made the right decision to bring it down off the coast of South Carolina, but unfortunately this national security challenge is far from over.

Luckily, the new the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the CCP will bring a renewed and long overdue focus on the relationship between the United States and China. It will focus on various complex issues ranging from competition to critical supply chains, human rights, technology, trade, national security, and even spy balloons.

It is clear Congress is taking major steps to better understand, monitor, and most importantly compete with China as an economic world power. With China’s growing global influence, the United States must be well-positioned to compete with its government at every level. This new committee will be equipped to issue subpoenas, investigate, and shape U.S. policies on China. It will lead the charge in reforming and strengthening our U.S. approach and strategy by bringing in key experts and holding necessary hearings as it works to draft and pass legislation.

For years now, China has engaged in the theft of intellectual property from companies throughout North America, Europe and other parts of Asia. The FBI has noted the wide range of technology areas China seeks information in including biotechnology, nanotechnology, agricultural technology, quantum computing and more. FBI Director, Christopher Wray, calls China’s theft of information the “greatest long-term threat” and “one of the largest transfers of wealth in human history.” In 2017, the estimated cost to the U.S. of the digital information China steals and its attacks on U.S. software amounted to $225-$600 billion yearly.

Congress and its senior leadership know we must protect America’s businesses, intellectual property, and national security from China’s overreach and digital invasions. The bipartisan support for the creation of this new committee is evidence that there is an appetite to work together to hold China accountable even during these polarizing political times at home.

My own local congressman, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), is on the committee and has become a leading voice on China issues.  Khanna stated that he “look[s] forward to working with Chairman Gallagher” and he plans to use his seat on the committee to “bring attention to our trade deficit with China while also working to address the security risk China poses to Taiwan.”

This cooperation is crucial to ensuring the safety and success of the next generation of Americans. By working together and setting aside political differences, Congress is taking an important step in fostering national unity against the threat of China. 

As the committee’s chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) stressed in his recent floor speech he will be “working on a bipartisan basis, because that’s the only way we’re going to be successful over the long term.”

This bipartisan support and collaboration show that even in today’s divisive Washington, and as we soon enter another presidential campaign cycle, both sides of the aisle can agree that our American citizens and interests must remain protected.

Arvin Patel is an American inventor, innovator, and entrepreneur. Patel currently serves as Nokia’s Chief Licensing Officer of New Segments. Patel has decades of experience in the technology and entertainment sectors and is an IP industry veteran known for creating non-traditional strategies to develop products and services. He has overseen R&D and IP for world-leading companies and held senior leadership roles at TiVo, IBM, and Technicolor. He most recently served as Intellectual Ventures’ Chief Operating Officer for the Invention Investment Fund – a portfolio dedicated to investing and working with the world’s best minds and businesses.