NW Kentucky News

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) delivered opening remarks at a hearing titled “Defending America from the Chinese Communist Party’s Political Warfare, Part III.” The Committee's investigation has highlighted how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is conducting an influence campaign that threatens key U.S. economic sectors and federal agencies. The Committee has reviewed 25 federal agencies, revealing significant delays in implementing measures to counter CCP tactics.

In his statement, Chairman Comer emphasized that federal agencies have left Americans vulnerable to CCP political warfare and failed to provide a cohesive strategy to address these threats. He stated that the hearing is an opportunity to discuss what actions federal agencies should take to secure America from the CCP's ambitions.

"This hearing is the third in the Oversight Committee’s investigation into the federal government’s response to the Chinese Communist Party’s use of a strategy known as political warfare," said Comer.

Comer noted that the CCP employs this strategy to infiltrate and influence communities and critical sectors across the nation with the goal of weakening America. The Committee has consulted experts from various sectors and held briefings with 23 federal agencies, finding that "the CCP is waging a 'war without weapons' against America" without a government-wide strategy from the Biden-Harris Administration.

"By any reasonable analysis, the United States faces a new cold war, but right now, only its opponent—the CCP—is committed to winning it," Comer remarked.

He pointed out that unlike during the first Cold War, today's adversary is already entrenched within U.S. borders through institutions, businesses, universities, and cultural centers by capturing elites in influential circles. Without a cohesive government strategy, diverse solutions formulated by surveyed agencies have been largely ineffective.

"Too many federal agencies have failed to understand, acknowledge, and combat CCP political warfare," Comer said. He stressed that some agencies may have succumbed to CCP influence operations designed to shape U.S. decision-making for China's benefit.

Comer underscored that it is essential for federal agencies to recognize what the CCP represents—a totalitarian force under General Secretary Xi Jinping waging unrestricted warfare against America. He noted Congress alerted federal agencies about this threat 25 years ago but acknowledged current tactics still pose significant dangers while U.S. responses lack urgency.

"In previous hearings in this investigation, both Republican and Democrat witnesses recognized CCP political warfare as a serious threat," he added.

The hearing will feature testimonies on what actions federal agencies should take moving forward. Comer urged transparent communication as part of an effective deterrence strategy and called for rejecting mixed messaging or appeasement strategies in favor of targeted approaches against specific CCP methods like united front work and elite capture.

"The Intelligence Community should not hide behind classification systems when open-source information shows clear evidence of CCP infiltration operations," he argued.

He also emphasized resisting internal influences within ranks by rejecting notions such as it being racist to criticize the CCP—clarifying America's adversary is not Chinese people but their ruling regime—and encouraged using platforms effectively for community strengthening initiatives securing future technologies for national strength.

"A government-wide strategy is decades overdue; American people deserve better from their government,” concluded Comer before yielding time for Ranking Member Raskin's remarks.