Rep. Gallagher to Chair New House China Select Committee, Vows to Fight ‘CCP Aggression’

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) speaks to reporters after a House Republican Caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 21, 2021. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Republican lawmakers will establish a new Select Committee on China to counter threats from China’s communist regime when they assume the majority of the House of Representatives in January, chaired by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), the GOP announced Dec. 8.

Gallagher vowed that the effort would build out a bipartisan front to combat Chinese communist aggression.

“The greatest threat to the United States is the Chinese Communist Party [CCP],” Gallagher said in a prepared statement. “The CCP continues to commit genocide, obscure the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, steal hundreds of billions of dollars worth of American intellectual property, and threaten Taiwan.”

“The Select Committee on China will push back in bipartisan fashion before it’s too late. Even in divided government, we have an opportunity to build a united front against CCP aggression.”

Gallagher was appointed Chair by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) after he announced the creation of the panel.

The committee, McCarthy said, would be vital to coordinating a whole-of-government approach to defend against and counter malign activities by the CCP.

“The Chinese Communist Party is the greatest geopolitical threat of our lifetime,” McCarthy said in an associated statement. “We need a whole-of-government approach that will build on the efforts of the Republican-led China Task Force and ensure America is prepared to tackle the economic and security challenges posed by the CCP.”

McCarthy also said that Gallagher was uniquely qualified to lead the effort, given his service as a Marine and time spent promoting a stronger military to counter the CCP’s aggression.

“To effectively lead this effort, we need someone at the helm who understands the complexities of this generational challenge,” McCarthy said in an associated statement.

“As a Member who served in uniform as a Marine Counterintelligence officer and has dedicated his time in Congress to understanding, educating, and defending America from the threat the CCP poses, Mike Gallagher is exceptionally qualified and is the right person to lead and advance this important agenda at this vital moment.”

Gallagher currently serves as a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Personnel.

He was elected to the House in 2016 after serving two tours in Iraq on different intelligence teams and serving on Gen. David Petraeus’ Central Command Assessment Team.

Gallagher has long been a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s apparent efforts to shrink the U.S. Navy, and previously argued that the U.S. military was not currently prepared to win a war against China should the communist power invade Taiwan.

“It’s clear to me that if we went to war in the Taiwan Strait tomorrow, we’d probably lose,” Gallagher said during a webinar hosted by the Project 2049 Institute in October 2021. “It’s also clear to me that the threat horizon for the Taiwan scenario is growing more near by the day.”

“[CCP] General Secretary Xi Jinping won’t let us [go back],” Gallagher said. “He’s getting more aggressive by the day.”