Let’s hope not.
Congress may soon hand over the keys of a critical piece of our transportation infrastructure to China via the very legislation designed to strengthen America's national defense.
O.K., let me explain.
On Friday, I spent some time discussing the National Defense Authoritzation Act (NDAA), which is the pending legislation that Congress could use to ban China’s state-owned, controlled or subsidized companies (SOEs) from receiving taxpayer money to build American rail cars or buses. It's vital that this legislation becomes law, since these SOEs pose a big threat to U.S. economic and national security. There's also strong bipartisan support on Capitol Hill to enact such a ban, especially given growing unease in Washington when it comes to China.
But there's a hiccup.
See, while Congress has a reputation for not getting much of anything done, for 58 straight years the legislative branch has managed to pass the NDAA. It's a streak nobody wants to break, given that the bill does things like authorize counterterrorism activities and make sure America's troops get paid. Both the Senate and the House have passed versions of the NDAA, and key Members of Congress are now working out the differences in conference.
This go-around, though, there's a handful of things holding up the bill, most notably a heated fight over funding for President Trump's border wall. That's a fight that probably isn't going away.
So, in an effort to keep the NDAA streak alive but also sidestep all the controversial stuff, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced a "skinny" version of the legislation. At just 67 pages long, it only covers the bare bones stuff, like troop pay. Anything remotely controversial or in need of a compromise is left out, even if it's possible that the two chambers can agree on a path forward.
That includes the ban on China's SOEs. When the Senate passed its version of the NDAA, it included language banning Chinese companies from using tax money to manufacture rail cars and buses. But when the House passed its version of the NDAA, that ban only applied to rail cars.
Now the whole thing could get left off the table. If that happens, Congress will effectively hand China’s authoritarian regime a major win.
China wants to dominate global industry, including rail car and electric vehicle manufacturing. The goal isn’t to make money; China’s SOEs severely underbid on these transit contracts, and ultimately want to nab enough of them that they drive their competitors out of business.
There are 900,000 good-paying U.S. jobs in the transportation supply chain, and all would be at risk if China pulls this off.
That’s not all. Military officials and other defense experts have raised very legitimate national security concerns about allowing companies owned or controlled by the Chinese state to build key pieces of America’s transportation infrastructure.
Some Members of Congress might be in a rush to finalize the NDAA, and of course, there's very important work that has to be done. But Congress also must stand up for America’s workers, safeguard our national defense and put a stop to China’s ambitions.