During the opening hearing of the new House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (commonly referred to as the Select Committee on China), committee members outlined the work and issues they plan to pursue and went to great lengths to highlight their bipartisan agreement regarding concerns about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
 
In his opening remarks, Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) described the CCP’s decades-long strategy of working toward global acceptance as an economic power while at the same time undermining global democratic freedoms.  Rep. Gallagher noted that we are at a moment of “existential struggle” for what American life in the 21^st century looks like.”  He called on Congress to work together, even though politically divided, to regain “our strategic competition,” so that the American economy regains its footing and Americans retain their freedoms. He used most of his opening time to share a video describing the suffering of the Chinese people under the CCP and reminded the committee that there is a difference between the CCP and the Chinese people. 
 
Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) reinforced similar themes regarding the failure of global trade policies and investments to induce the Chinese government to adopt democratic ideals or develop a democracy. As the committee conducts its work going forward, he urged members to always prioritize protecting American values and interests; focus on improving our technology, workforce, and supply chain; fixing the weakened American economy; and practicing bipartisanship while not being anti-Chinese or anti-Asian.  Rep. Krishnamoorthi believes the CCP wants Americans to be divided and prejudiced.  
 
The panel heard from a slate of bipartisan witnesses, including former military and intelligence leaders, a human rights advocate, and a manufacturing executive. Their testimony reflected consistent concerns about the failure of the global inclusion of China in the World Trade Organization because while it helped pump billions of dollars into the global economy, its participation in global markets did not lead to China’s democratization. Each witness in their own way said this unintended control gained by the CCP has resulted in lost American jobs, failures of American industry, and silence from American and other global corporations because of business agreements.
 
The select committee plans to work with the standing committees of Congress to develop bipartisan legislation to address these and other issues related to the CCP. While higher education was not specifically mentioned during the high-level discussion, it is expected to be an area of interest as it has been since before the pandemic. Foreign influence on campus, research security, and the role of Confucius Institutes are three major areas in higher education that could receive attention in the work of the select committee during the 118^th Congress.