Michael McCaul

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Green).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Wisconsin an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, at this point, I will continue to reserve until Chairman Engel is prepared to close.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, at this point I continue to reserve the balance of my time until the chairman is prepared to close.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Abraham).

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the distinguished Republican leader.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Texas (Mr. Arrington).

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Meadows).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, for decades China has been infiltrating the United States, espionage, intellectual property theft. I know the issue today is Iran, but when I asked the Secretary of State what the greatest threat to the United States is long term? It is China. We have to compete with China. We can say they are a bad actor, but we have to compete. And when it comes to artificial intelligence, to quantum computing, and yes, to 5G, if we can't compete, we lose long term, and the next generation is counting on us to win this race. Madam Speaker, if you look at the global map, they are moving from 4G to 5G in almost 50 percent of the globe now. What happens when the Chinese come into a developing nation and plant their cheap telecommunications into the ground? They suck all the country's data. They steal all the data, and they do it because, long term, they want to dominate. We have to compete with this. We have to win. This is equivalent to when we had a space race to the Moon. This is equivalent to that race. It is a digital space race, a digital space race against the Chinese to win against espionage, to win against theft of intellectual property, and to win for the American people. I thank Ms. Spanberger for working with my office on this important measure. She is very involved in the 5G issue, and I applaud that. Being from the intelligence community, she knows how important this is. It is refreshing to have a bipartisan moment in this Chamber. I think that is what most Americans want us to be doing right now. I look forward to the passage of this bill. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of my Promoting United States International Leadership in 5G Act of 2019, which I am pleased to introduce with my good friend, Mr. Cuellar, who is also from the great State of Texas. Texas is home to many leading technology and communication companies and is an innovation hub. Cutting-edge technology like 5G holds the promise to create millions of jobs and add hundreds of billions of dollars to the United States' economy. The standards which are set at international bodies, such as the ITU and the 3GPP, are critical to the future of 5G. They establish a uniform criterion across devices, markets, and more. For example, standards are the reason that your USB memory stick fits into any USB port on any device. And for years, these standards were adopted on merit. However, over the last few years, China has been using coercive and underhanded tactics at international bodies to adopt Chinese technology in 5G standards. These efforts unfairly benefit Chinese companies and empower the Communist Party of China. The 2018 report to Congress by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission states that: ``The Chinese Government is encouraging its companies to play a greater role in international 5G standards organizations to ensure they set global standards; such leadership may result in higher revenues and exports from internationally-accepted intellectual property and technology and more global influence over future wireless technology and standards development.'' My bill will ensure the U.S. maintains and, in some cases, increases leadership at the international standards-setting bodies. Specifically, it creates an international working group to provide assistance and technical expertise to enhance our representation and leadership at these bodies. Additionally, my bill will create strategies for increasing engagement with our allies, partners, and the private sector. These strategies will help increase the United States' leadership in the global race to develop and deploy 5G and future generations of mobile telecommunications systems and infrastructure. Finally, my bill will provide an assessment of Chinese activities at those international bodies. This assessment will help us to ensure that the standards-setting bodies are not unduly influenced to adopt standards that unfairly advantage Communist Party of China connected and supported companies like Huawei. China seeks to control critical industries and infrastructure by making them reliant on Chinese technologies. These Chinese companies are beholden to the laws and regulations in China that demand cooperation with Chinese intelligence services. The free flow of information and security of a country's data cannot be guaranteed using Communist Party of China supplied technology. There are credible reports of China taking advantage of network equipment supplied by its companies for intelligence advantage that date back almost 2 decades. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that the United States leads at these standards-setting organizations so we are not beholden to Communist Party of China controlled technologies that will severely impact the freedoms and securities that we value here in the United States. I will say the war on 5G is on, and some would argue in the IC that we are losing that war, and we need to compete with China, and we need to win. I think this bill will go a long way towards the United States taking the lead and backing the Communist Chinese Party from its intelligence service data collection. I urge support of the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Meadows).

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Texas (Mr. Taylor).

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, for the first time in history, the House is moving to impeach a duly-elected president without asserting a crime. Instead, they are charging President Trump with a vague ``abuse of power'' for allegedly conditioning U.S. security assistance to Ukraine on an investigation into an energy company. This deeply flawed inquiry did not produce clear evidence or bipartisan support. At a minimum, one would expect bipartisan support for such an extraordinary measure. As a former federal prosecutor with the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice, I approached this inquiry with the same standards I would have applied to any case I handled during that time. During six weeks of depositions, I listened diligently and sought out relevant facts. But the Majority, driven by a political timeline, insisted on a rush to judgment with an incomplete factual record. Instead of interviewing multiple people with firsthand knowledge, they settled for speculation and innuendo. Ultimately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle failed to prove the President tied U.S. aid to a political investigation. Here's what we learned instead: The president placed a temporary hold on U.S. security assistance in mid-July and released it September 11 without Ukraine ever announcing an investigation. Multiple witnesses provided testimony that the pause was due to the President's longstanding concerns about corruption in Ukraine. It took for firsthand accounts from administrative officials, such as Vice President Mike Pence, to see the sincerity of Ukraine's new President Volodymyr Zelensky. He campaigned as an anti-corruption reformer and made historic progress after his party took over the Ukrainian parliament in August. The Democrats' key witness--of which there was the only one who talked with the President about the aid--is Ambassador Gordon Sondland. When pressed, Sondland admitted he never knew why the aid was delayed. Neither President Trump, nor anyone else, ever told him that aid was tied to investigations, and any opinion he expressed to others about such a connection was only him ``speculating.'' President Zelensky and his senior advisor Andriy Yermak, the key Ukrainians in the Democrat narrative, have repeatedly and strongly denied they were ever pressured or given any sense that the temporary hold was connected to investigation requests. Indeed, they were not even aware of the hold until it was publicly reported in the press. History will judge this inquiry for the rush to impeach President Trump without direct evidence, in defiance of historic precedent and as a one-sided political probe. The ``investigation'' was held in the most secret room in the Capitol. Depositions occurred on days lawmakers were out of town. The Minority was denied basic fairness and did not allow them to call a single witness. The administration was not allowed to bring executive branch lawyers to defend themselves during depositions. This contrasts with previous impeachment inquiries, where Presidents Nixon and Clinton could have administration lawyers attend all depositions and hearings, ask questions, make objections, present evidence, and request their own witnesses. Those rights were denied in this inquiry, as this impeachment process was weaponized for political gain. Opposing impeachment does not mean embracing every decision made by the administration in this case. I strongly disagreed with the hold on the security assistance that Congress had appropriated for Ukraine and wrote an urgent letter with the gentleman from New York, Chairman Eliot Engel, a week before the aid was released. Then and now, I believe that unwavering support for Ukraine to counter Russian malign influence is a vital component of U.S. national security. But the truth is, Democrats began their three-year effort to impeach the President the day he was sworn into office. In fact, 104 of my Democratic colleagues voted for impeachment before the phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky ever took place. Our constitutional order demands far more than this to remove a duly- elected President. Sixty-three million Americans voted for President Trump. With an election less than a year away, Americans should decide their elected president at the ballot box, as our Constitution requires.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 546. Under President Putin's leadership, Russia has invaded and occupied parts of Ukraine and Georgia, assassinated political opponents at home and abroad, and enabled the corrupt regimes of Assad in Syria and Maduro in Venezuela. Putin has also waged cyber warfare and disinformation campaigns against the United States and our allies, interfered in our elections, and spied off of our coasts with their submarine warfare capability. All of these actions go against the fundamental principles of the Group of Seven and threaten democracies around the world. As I have said many times over the years, Mr. Putin is not our friend. The United States and our allies cannot trust him to be a reliable partner as long as he continues to lead his country down a path of corruption, assassinations, and oppression. As stated in this resolution, Russia should not be readmitted to the Group of Seven until Putin respects the principles shared by the other members, relinquishes his choke hold over Crimea, and ceases his global attacks on democratic institutions. Maintaining the integrity of the Group of Seven is vital to the group's success, and Russia cannot be allowed to bully its way back in. I would like to thank Representative Sires for his hard work on this resolution, and my good friend, Representative Smith, for championing this resolution today. Under Putin's leadership, the world has become more deadly and more dangerous, and his people have fewer freedoms and greater poverty. In closing, we need to stand up to dictators like Mr. Putin. I do think this is not, again, a Republican or a Democrat issue. Standing up against a hostile enemy, Mr. Putin and the Russian Federation, is an American issue.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bipartisan UIGHUR Act. I want to commend my colleagues, all three of them, from New Jersey-- I think this is New Jersey Day on the floor--Mr. Smith, Mr. Sires, and Mr. Malinowski. For the last several years, the Communist dictatorship in Beijing has been unleashing a brutal crackdown on the Uighur and Turkic Muslims in western China. It is believed that between 1 to 3 million ethnic minorities have been detained and sent to internment camps where they are indoctrinated with state propaganda and tortured. The goal of the Chinese Government is to strip these individuals of their religious and cultural identity. Many people detained are never heard from again. Families have been torn apart. Sons and daughters are left wondering if they will ever be reunited with their moms and dads. Some of our most senior officials, including National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien, have described these detention centers as ``concentration camps.'' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has referred to China's repression as the ``stain of the century.'' The Chinese Government states that these camps are part of their efforts to combat violent extremism. They also say these detention centers are job training facilities. But what is happening is nothing less than a state-sponsored and systematic campaign designed to enforce a ``cultural genocide.'' As the beacon of hope and freedom to the rest of the world, the United States cannot stay silent. If we do, our silence will be remembered as our complicity; our inaction will become our appeasement. We know that the Chinese Communist Party would love nothing more than for the rest of the world to mirror its authoritarianism. We cannot allow this to happen. This legislation gives us the opportunity to take real action and help stop these evil crimes: First, it provides that the United States policy towards China should be explicitly linked to the human rights abuses; Second, it requires the application of the Global Magnitsky sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for repression against Uighur or Turkic Muslims; Third, it mandates the State Department submit to Congress a report on human rights abuses in this western province of China; and Fourth, it restricts the export of certain U.S. technology items to China that are used to suppress individual privacy, freedom of movement, and basic human rights. This is a very important bill, and, again, I would like to thank our colleagues--and particularly Brad Sherman, who introduced this along with Senator Rubio--for all their efforts to get this done to where we are today. So let's come together as Republicans and Democrats to ensure that atrocities committed by the Communist dictatorship in Beijing will have consequences. Let's show the world that the United States will impose a cost on the Chinese Communist Party's leaders for their crimes now and in the future.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the End Neglected Tropical Diseases Act, a bill sponsored by my good friend, Mr. Smith of New Jersey. I want to commend him for his efforts as being a steadfast leader on this very important issue that is going to save lives--and has saved lives. He is really the conscience, I think, of this body when it comes to this issue. NTDs represent a group of parasitic and bacterial diseases that currently afflict more than 1.4 billion people worldwide. They can result in severe disabilities such as blindness, compounding existing social and economic challenges in the areas where these diseases thrive. To be clear, the United States has taken a leadership role in the fight against NTDs. As many of these diseases have approved treatments, USAID's NTD program has supplied medicine to key impacted countries using an innovative public-private partnership, as Congressman Smith alluded to. Since 2006, USAID has leveraged more than $22 billion in donated medicines to provide about $2.6 billion in treatments. However, there is much more to be done, especially to build global political support to fight NTDs. To that end, this bill directs our flagship global health program, PEPFAR, to find opportunities to integrate NTD research and care into their existing efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, where appropriate. To lessen the U.S. burden in this fight, this bill also encourages greater participation in the research, treatment, and care of NTDs from the Global Fund, the United Nations, and other G-20 partners. NTDs pose a significant threat to health outcomes and have a detrimental effect on developing economies. I again thank Mr. Smith for his great leadership on this issue. And, once again, to pass something in this House that will save lives is truly one of the most gratifying experiences that we, as Members of Congress, have.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlemen from New Jersey, Mr. Smith and Mr. Sires, and Mr. Engel for their hard work on this important resolution that I support, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Over the last 17 years, 32 million lives have been saved as a result of the Global Fund partnering with U.S. programs to change the course of health outcomes. Yet, there is much more work to do. The Global Fund set a fundraising goal of $14 billion over the next 3 years in order to save an additional 16 million lives. Since 2003, the United States has been a longtime and consistent partner of the Global Fund and the largest bilateral donor. The U.S. has historically provided $1 for every $2 raised by other donors. Our contributions have been an effective tool to leverage other donors and secure greater commitments. However, uncertainty over final spending bills has complicated the U.S. contribution. That is why my friend Chairman Engel and I introduced this resolution, to reaffirm our commitment to the Global Fund and assure our donors of this U.S. commitment. In October, pledge amounts for the next 3 years were submitted, and I am pleased that this resolution played a role in affirming the U.S. commitment to the Global Fund and helped spur more donors to step up to the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution, and I also hope that we can consider a final appropriation bill soon that provides the necessary $1.56 billion over the next 3 years to the Global Fund. Rarely, Mr. Speaker, in this Chamber do we pass laws and resolutions that have such a direct impact on the lives of others. That is the true calling, the true mission, that I think we share on both sides of the aisle, to make this world a better place. This resolution will certainly do that.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise today in support of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. Two months ago I had the opportunity to join a press conference with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chairman Engel, my colleague, Chris Smith, and Hong Kong prodemocracy activists Joshua Wong, Nathan Law, and Denise Ho to denounce China's authoritarian brutality. I said it then and I will say it again; today we stand here not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans united in our strong support for Hong Kong. And I would like to take this opportunity to speak directly to the people of Hong Kong, who I know are watching this right now. America stands with you, and America will always support you. We hear you sing our national anthem. We see you carrying our American flag. This is a battle between democracy versus dictatorship, liberty versus tyranny, and freedom versus oppression. This bill sends a clear message to China that there will be consequences to the ruthless and brutal actions. Congress, the United States, and the world will not stand by idly as the Chinese Communist Party fights for itself and not its own people. Again, I want to thank the authors of this bill. I am proud to be a part of this movement, this cause. And we have seen quite a bit of response on social media on this bill coming directly from the people of Hong Kong to the Members who are on this floor saying thank you for standing up for us. That is democracy in action. That is what this country stands for. And it is a proud moment, I think, for both sides of the aisle as we are going through this time in our history to be able to stand together for democracy and such a great movement and cause for freedom.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding. I rise in support of this bill to help end the inhumane practice of shark finning. After a shark's fins are removed, these majestic creatures are thrown into the ocean to die, and multiple species face extinction. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend, Congressman Sablan, for his courageous leadership to introduce this bill, which I strongly support. The United States banned shark finning. Now we must end the shark fin trade. Major retailers, airliners, and shipping companies refuse to ship or sell shark fin products. And 12 states, including my home State of Texas have bans on shark fin trading. It is time for a Federal ban, Mr. Speaker. The United States led in ending the trade of trafficking ivory and rhino horns, and now we must lead in the shark fin trade itself. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to end and close with a personal thanks to my wife, Linda, who is an oceanographer who spent many years serving our country in Naval intelligence tracking Soviet submarines, and now she tracks sharks by tagging sharks and following them around the world as they exist. As she told me when she returned from Guadeloupe Island, on the very same boat that Peter Benchley went out on as he saw the majestic great white shark, in his words, he says that the greatest regret of his life was writing the book ``Jaws.'' I thank Delegate Sablan, and I thank my wife, Linda, for great testimony before this committee. I stand in strong support, and I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join us on this momentous day.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I would also argue that Article I does not say you can do whatever you want to do. The Constitution says that, and our Founding Fathers said that, as well. Madam Speaker, for 38 days, I have objected to this impeachment probe because it denies due process, fundamental transparency, and basic fairness to Republicans, the White House, and the American people. From day one, Democrats have ignored the rules and 45 years of historic impeachment precedent. Without any authorization, Adam Schiff has conducted a secret probe outside of his committee's jurisdiction. He has blocked us from calling our own witnesses. His witnesses are being interviewed behind closed doors in the most secretive room in the United States Capitol. That is not democracy. He has muzzled Republicans--I have been in the room--placing a gag order on depositions, while leaking cherry-picked facts to the press. He refuses to even allow us to read the transcripts without being babysat by a Democrat staffer. He has refused to let us hear from the most important witness who brought this entire thing: the whistleblower. He has barred White House counsel from any participation. And now, 38 days into the Democrats' rush to impeachment, Speaker Pelosi claims she wants to establish ``rules'' and transparency. You cannot make your game fair by allowing the opposing team onto the field at the 2-minute warning. The bipartisan precedents from Nixon and Clinton still must be followed, and they are not being followed under this resolution. White House counsel remains shut out of this process. This is unacceptable. Only three times in our Nation's history has Congress exercised its grave power of impeachment. Our Founding Fathers, in Federalist Paper No. 65, Alexander Hamilton warned us of abusing this power because they saw a future Congress abusing it.