BRIDGE Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2978 To require a report regarding the scope of efforts by the People’s Republic of China and Chinese Communist Party to utilize the Belt and Road Initiative to undermine the United States-led international world order and a detailed strategy regarding how the United States Government intends to counter such Initiative, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 4, 2021 Mr. FITZGERALD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To require a report regarding the scope of efforts by the People’s Republic of China and Chinese Communist Party to utilize the Belt and Road Initiative to under- mine the United States-led international world order and a detailed strategy regarding how the United States Gov- ernment intends to counter such Initiative, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2978.IH H2978 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2978 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Build Responsible In- 2 frastructure Development for the Global Economy Act’’ or 3 the ‘‘BRIDGE Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress makes the following findings: 6 (1) The Chinese government’s Belt and Road 7 Initiative (BRI), enshrined in the CCP’s constitu- 8 tion, is a comprehensive, long-term economic devel- 9 opment strategy founded by General Secretary and 10 President Xi Jinping to link regions worldwide 11 through multi-billion infrastructure projects. The 12 CCP utilizes the BRI’s informal framework as a ve- 13 hicle to establish a Sinocentric world order based on 14 its authoritarian model of governance. 15 (2) The BRI poses immediate and long-term 16 risks to the national security, economic security, and 17 international influence of the United States and our 18 partners by giving the PRC the ability to project 19 power more widely in geostrategic regions such as 20 the Indo-Pacific. The BRI, covering countries rep- 21 resenting over half of the world’s population and 22 over one-third of global economic output, seeks to 23 pull nations into Beijing’s geopolitical orbit. 24 (3) Despite the BRI’s well-documented scope 25 and consequences, the United States government has 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2978.IH H2978 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2978 IH never formalized an official view or strategy to 1 counter its efforts. This puts our national security 2 objectives at a severe disadvantage as Beijing seeks 3 to leverage its regional inroads worldwide through 4 the BRI and other PRC-alternative institutions to 5 achieve global preeminence. 6 (4) The United States should not underestimate 7 the significance of the BRI and establish a coherent, 8 government-wide strategy that effectively seeks to 9 counter Beijing’s economic and political scope and 10 influence through the BRI. 11 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 12 It is the policy of the United States to counter efforts 13 by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese 14 Communist Party (CCP) to create an integrated economic 15 and political order under its leadership, which continues 16 to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and econ- 17 omy of the United States 18 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 19 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 20 retary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Com- 21 merce, and the heads of other relevant Federal depart- 22 ments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate con- 23 gressional committees a report that includes the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2978.IH H2978 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2978 IH (1) Information relating to the scope of efforts 1 by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Chi- 2 nese Communist Party (CCP) to utilize the Belt and 3 Road Initiative (BRI) to undermine the United 4 States-led international world order. 5 (2) Information relating to the means and ob- 6 jectives of the PRC and the CCP in using the BRI 7 as a vehicle to create a parallel order of alternative 8 PRC-centric organizations. 9 (3) An assessment of current United States 10 Government tools and strategies to counter the BRI. 11 (4) A detailed strategy regarding how the De- 12 partment of State, the United States Agency for 13 International Development (USAID), and the De- 14 partment of Commerce intend to coordinate its re- 15 sources to counter the BRI. Such strategy shall in- 16 clude the following elements: 17 (A) A description of interagency efforts to 18 counter the BRI, together with recommenda- 19 tions on how to bolster the United States Gov- 20 ernment’s economic competition against China. 21 (B) An assessment of past efforts by the 22 United States Government to mitigate the ef- 23 fects of BRI, as well as the gaps in current 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2978.IH H2978 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2978 IH United States Government policy and imple- 1 mentation. 2 (C) A timeline that holds the United 3 States Government accountable in planning and 4 executing such strategy. 5 (D) A strategic roadmap that details how 6 the United States Government will link such 7 strategy to broader national security priorities 8 and objectives, including the National Security 9 Strategy and the National Defense Strategy. 10 (E) A description that elaborates how the 11 United States Government will align strategic 12 planning and coordination with key allies and 13 partners to effectively respond to the BRI, par- 14 ticularly in the Indo-Pacific. 15 (b) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than one 16 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 17 retary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Com- 18 merce, and the heads of other relevant Federal depart- 19 ments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate con- 20 gressional committees a plan for implementing the strat- 21 egy described in subsection (a)(4), including the following: 22 (1) A description of clearly defined program 23 metrics, goals, targets, and planned outcomes for 24 such strategy. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2978.IH H2978 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2978 IH (2) A plan to monitor and evaluate such strat- 1 egy, and progress made toward achieving such goals, 2 targets, and planned outcomes. 3 (3) A plan to ensure such strategy is promoting 4 United States foreign policy goals in the Indo-Pa- 5 cific by offering a positive vision for shared economic 6 and infrastructure growth in a free and open inter- 7 national order. 8 (c) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 9 shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include 10 a classified annex if necessary. The unclassified portion 11 of such report shall be made available on a publicly avail- 12 able internet website of the Federal Government. 13 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES 14 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con- 15 gressional committees’’ means— 16 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 17 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee 18 on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives 19 and 20 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 21 Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee 22 on Finance of the Senate. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2978.IH H2978 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS