Ricketts Celebrates Committee Advancement of His Bills to Deter Communist China, Keep Americans Safe

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, The Pacific, & International Cybersecurity Policy, celebrated the advancement of a bipartisan package of legislation he authored to deter Communist China and keep Americans safe. The Ricketts bills advanced yesterday include the THINK TWICE Act, the PORCUPINE Act, and the AUKUS Improvement Act. The Foreign Relations Committee also advanced Ricketts legislation recognizing the 74^th anniversary of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the U.S. and the Philippines. All advanced by voice vote.

“Communist China’s malign aggression threatens our security and the security of our allies and partners,” said Senator Ricketts.  “By combatting Chinese arms sales, supporting Taiwan’s self-defense, and strengthening military cooperation between the U.S., Australia, and the United Kingdom,these bills will help keep Americans safe. They will help deter continued aggression from Communist China. I’m grateful to my colleagues for joining me to advance them to the Senate floor.”

Additional bills that help counter Communist China’s aggression that passed out of Committee today with Ricketts’ support include the Deter PRC Aggression Against Taiwan Act, the Strengthening U.S. Leadership at the IDB Act, the SCAM Act, the Critical Minerals Partnership Act, the STOP Russia and China Act, the U.S. Taiwan Partnership in the Americas Act, the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, the China Exchange Rate Transparency Act, and a resolution condemning Communist China for engaging in transnational repression. The bills now head to the Senate floor.

The THINK TWICE Act, as amended, would:

• Require the Director of National Intelligence, in coordination with the Secretaries of State and Defense, to assess arms sales facilitated by entities in Communist China.  The report requires inclusion of:
  • The specific Chinese weapons systems, technical aspects, and capabilities of those weapons;
  • The Chinese weapons that present the greatest security risks regarding the potential to collect intelligence on or compromise U.S. platforms;
  • The countries mostly likely to procure Chinese weapons systems; 
  • The weapons systems in development in Communist China that could be on the global market in the next 5 years;
  • The factors that incentivize countries to procure Chinese weapons; 
  • The Chinese entities that have violated UN security council resolutions regarding the sales of arms to Iran and North Korea;
  • the Chinese weapons systems purchased by foreign countries for the ultimate use of non-state actors;
  • And Communist China’s strategy regarding arms sales.
• Require the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, to develop a strategy to dissuade purchases of new weapons systems and defense equipment from the PRC.  The strategy would include:
  • An information campaign to warn countries interested in procuring weapons systems and defense equipment originating from Communist China about risks, the inability to integrate such weapons with U.S. weapons, and the potential limitation of future security cooperation with U.S. if such weapons are acquired;
  • A description of actions the U.S. and American defense firms can take to make U.S. weapons systems more attractive to prospective buyers of Chinese-origin weapons;
  • An analysis of whether sanctions or economic restrictions targeting potential buyers could be used as an effective deterrent; 
  • And a plan to combat Chinese disinformation campaigns targeting the performance of Western weapons.

The PORCUPINE Act, as amended, would:

• Elevate Taiwan in the NATO-plus category for seven years for shorter formal Congressional notification times and higher weapons value thresholds.
• Requires the Secretary of State to assess the feasibility of establishing an expedited decision-making process for blanket third party transfers of defense articles and services from NATO member countries, Japan, Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand or Israel to Taiwan, including transfers and re-transfers of U.S. origin grant, FMS, and DCS end-items not covered by an exemption under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

The AUKUS Improvement Act would:

• Exempt State Department-vetted entities that have been approved as AUKUS Authorized Users from the requirement to obtain Third Party Transfer approvals under Foreign Military Sales. 
• Exempt Australia and the United Kingdom from the need for Congressional Notification for overseas manufacturing.