Democrats Announce House China Panel Nominations; Rep. Krishnamoorthi as Ranking Member

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) during a hearing before the House Intelligence Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Nov. 20, 2019. Samuel Corum-Pool/Getty Images

House Democrats have announced their nominees, led by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), to serve as members of the newly created House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) announced the 11 members in a prepared statement on Feb. 1, saying that the selection of lawmakers would bring a diverse array of backgrounds and expertise to the committee.

“As we begin the new Congress, it remains my goal to prioritize and value input from every corner of the Caucus so we may unleash the full potential of our team,” he said.

“The members of the select committees reflect the tremendous experience, background, and ability of the House Democratic Caucus, and authentically represent the gorgeous mosaic of the American people.”

Jeffries named Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) to serve as the panel’s ranking Democrat member; Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) is the chairman.

“The Chinese Communist Party poses serious economic and security threats to the United States and to democracy and prosperity across the globe, illustrated by its threats against Taiwan’s democracy, its weaponization of TikTok, and its theft of hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of American intellectual property,” the Illinois lawmaker said in a statement.

Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi previously worked together to urge sports media giant ESPN to drop TikTok as a sponsor.

“I’m thrilled to have Rep. Krishnamoorthi as my partner on this critical bipartisan effort and to work with the other members that Leader Jeffries has selected,” Gallagher told The Epoch Times in an email.

The other Democrats named to the select committee include Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Shontel Brown (D-Ohio), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.).

Notably, Brown was among the 65 Democrats who voted against establishing the panel. The Ohio Democrat said she looks forward to “bipartisan collaboration to advance our economic interests and address issues affecting global security.”

“I remain optimistic that we will reach common-sense, bipartisan solutions to prioritize America’s global competitiveness while actively fighting against dangerous rhetoric that could lead to irreparable harm to our Asian American communities,” she said in a statement.

The bipartisan committee was created by a 365-65 vote to investigate the malign influence of the CCP, which rules China as a single-party state. While the panel doesn’t have legislative authority, it is tasked with providing policy proposals to Congress for countering the communist regime.

Gallagher has vowed to call on corporate leaders to testify before the committee regarding their alleged ties to the CCP and alleged efforts to censor U.S. citizens at the request of the regime.

“The threat posed by the CCP is not abstract,” Gallagher said on the House floor before the vote to create the committee. “The CCP’s aggression is not limited to Taiwan, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, or even Xinjiang, where two successive administrations, Republican and Democrat alike, have determined that the CCP is engaging in genocide.

“The select committee will expose the CCP’s coordinated, whole-of-society strategy to undermine American leadership and American sovereignty while working on a bipartisan basis and within the committee’s jurisdiction to identify long overdue common sense approaches to counter CCP aggression.”

The text of the bill creating the committee allows for nine Republicans and seven Democrats to serve. The parties have currently nominated 13 and 11 members, respectively. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will now appoint the members in consultation with Jeffries.

Jeffries didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

This article was updated to include statements from Gallagher and Brown.