Exclusive — Rep. Mike Gallagher Outlines Goals of Select Committee on China

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), who has been tapped to chair the House Select Committee on China, laid out some of the key goals of the newly formed committee and deemed China the “greatest threat that faces our country right now” in an interview on Breitbart News Saturday.

The committee, approved in a  365-65 vote, will focus on “elevating the discussion on China and injecting it with a sense of urgency,” the congressman said, noting that lawmakers have done a poor job of clearly and aggressively communicating with the American people why the threat of China matters.

“Why should someone in Northeast Wisconsin care about the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party, which I think is the greatest threat that faces our country right now? So we have to answer the why. That’s what the committee is going to be doing,” he explained.

China-related legislation often gets referred to several committees, he continued, explaining that the new committee will help “ensure that good ideas don’t fall through the committee cracks.” It will ensure that “bad ideas don’t get out of this Congress as well.”

“So those are at least two areas initially where I think we can have a big impact,” Gallagher said, adding that the committee will also focus on what he described as “niche” issues that “nobody’s paying attention to.”

“For example, banning TikTok is bound up in this broader question of cross-border data flows. The question of Chinese police stations on American soil is something we’re going to draw attention to. So — a lot of areas where I think we can have a really unique and immediate impact,” Gallagher said, noting that they also hope to draw attention to China’s global influence initiatives as well, using the U.S. defense of Taiwan as an example.

“It’s easy for some Americans to say well, you know, that it’s pretty far away, you know, why should we care? You know, who cares if China becomes, you know, the dominant power in Asia? Well, if you look at all the things that you just laid out, I would submit to you that Las Vegas rules don’t apply. What happens in Taiwan won’t stay in Taiwan,” he said, adding that what happens in China would not stay in China either. He explained that the CCP’s ambitions are the “triumph of world socialism with Chinese characteristics” which “implies the demise or the extreme diminishment of the free world capitalist system led by the United States.”

“So getting people to understand both the stakes of the competition and the CCPs global strategy for domination is going to be a key challenge and part of our mission on the select committee on China,” the Republican said.
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Gallagher said the committee hopes to come out of the gate “sprinting” with hearings, which he said could include a hearing on “how we got China wrong” and “mistaken assumptions about the Chinese Communist Party and how should that inform policy going forward.”

“We want to do a hearing on victims of the regime,” as well as a hearing on TikTok, he continued.

“So there’s a series of hearings we want to do in the first quarter of this year,” he said, noting that they have logistical issues to solve first, as they do not yet have office space or members.

Gallagher also said the committee will be prepared to issue subpoenas if necessary, outlining his desire to hold a hearing on Chinese influence featuring executives at Disney, Apple, and Hollywood.

“It need not be an antagonistic discussion if they’re willing to show up and engage in a productive debate about the choices they have to make in order to get access to the Chinese market,” he said, noting that they will be prepared to issue subpoenas “but of course will request the presence of witnesses nicely first before we use that.”