Source: United States Senator for Florida Marco Rubio
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) released a statement after voting against the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 (S. 1260), which fails to address many of the most serious challenges facing the United States in its competition with the Chinese Communist Party and Government. Rubio, who outlined a bipartisan path forward on China, has long advocated an industrial policy to counter Beijing and stronger actions to confront the CCP’s malicious activities.
“I have been talking about increased investment for research and innovation in America for years, well before it was popular, but this is not the China bill America needs,” Rubio said. “Not only does it fail to protect American taxpayer investments, it also fails to secure our capital markets from the CCP’s exploitations, fails to restore fair trade, and fails to counter Beijing’s military aggression.”
Last month, the Senate killed Rubio’s amendment to protect taxpayer funding from being stolen by Chinese intelligence agencies. The Senate also adopted an amendment that would make us more reliant on China for basic products, including personal protective equipment.
Rubio filed 22 amendments to S. 1260, including #1778: Targeting Chinese aggression in the South China and East China Seas, which failed to make it into the final bill despite promises from Senate Democrats.
Rubio is Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.