Compensation for Americans Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7007 To initiate negotiations for a bilateral agreement on compensation between the United States and the People’s Republic of China relating to the spread of the virus responsible for COVID–19, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2020 Mrs. WAGNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Over- sight and Reform, the Judiciary, Financial Services, Energy and Com- merce, Armed Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To initiate negotiations for a bilateral agreement on com- pensation between the United States and the People’s Republic of China relating to the spread of the virus responsible for COVID–19, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Compensation for Americans Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7007.IH H7007 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7007 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. Sec. 3. Findings. Sec. 4. Sense of Congress. Sec. 5. Statement of policy. Sec. 6. Coronavirus compensation fund. Sec. 7. Bilateral agreement on compensation between the United States and China. Sec. 8. Authorization to freeze Chinese assets. Sec. 9. Encouraging developing nations to seek compensation from China. Sec. 10. Suspension of requests made by Chinese entities to acquire United States entities under certain circumstances. Sec. 11. Prohibition on procurement of certain products from a covered foreign entity, including products intended to be included in the Stra- tegic National Stockpile. Sec. 12. Report on integrity of the United States supply chain. Sec. 13. Restriction on Federal funds to propose, finalize, implement, or en- force any rule that reconsiders or amends certain Bureau of Industry and Security rules. Sec. 14. Authorization of sanctions. Sec. 15. Export controls on certain telecommunication equipment. Sec. 16. Visa ban on researchers affiliated with the PLA. Sec. 17. Prohibition on investment of TSP I fund in China. Sec. 18. Protecting pharmaceutical access for Americans. Sec. 19. Removal of China’s designation as a developing country in inter- national bodies. Sec. 20. Protecting America from cyberattacks. Sec. 21. Ensuring transparency for Chinese listings on U.S. Exchanges. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act: 4 (1) CHINA.—The term ‘‘China’’ means the Peo- 5 ple’s Republic of China. 6 (2) COMPENSATION FUND.—The term ‘‘com- 7 pensation fund’’ means the Coronavirus Compensa- 8 tion Fund. 9 (3) WHO.—The term ‘‘WHO’’ means the 10 World Health Organization. 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7007.IH H7007 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7007 IH SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) In the early weeks of the spread of the virus 3 responsible for COVID–19, the Government of 4 China systematically suppressed, misrepresented, 5 and falsified information concerning such spread. 6 (2) The first reported instance of such virus 7 may have occurred on November 17, 2019, in 8 Wuhan, China. The Government of China did not 9 notify the WHO that it had detected an unknown 10 respiratory illness until December 31, 2020. 11 (3) The Government of China violated inter- 12 national law by covering up the origins and spread 13 of such virus. 14 (4) Articles 6 and 7 of the International Health 15 Regulations of 2005 require notification to the 16 WHO within 24 hours of an assessment of events 17 that may constitute a public health emergency of 18 international concern. 19 (5) The International Health Regulations re- 20 quire the WHO to be notified of ‘‘all relevant public 21 health information’’ regarding public health events 22 of international concern, and for information to be 23 shared in a ‘‘timely, accurate, and sufficiently de- 24 tailed manner’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7007.IH H7007 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7007 IH (6) The Government of China failed to share 1 information with the WHO, and embarked on a 2 campaign to silence doctors, scientists, and whistle- 3 blowers in an attempt to mislead the Chinese people 4 and the international community concerning the 5 spread of such virus. 6 (7) On December 27, 2020, samples of the 7 virus found in hospitals in Wuhan, China, were ana- 8 lyzed and determined to be a novel coronavirus. 9 (8) The Government of China did not share 10 with the WHO such determination concerning the 11 novel coronavirus. 12 (9) On January 3, 2020, the Government of 13 China ordered Chinese scientists working to se- 14 quence the genome of such virus to surrender or de- 15 stroy their samples and the Government of China 16 did not publicly share the genetic sequence until 17 January 12, 2020. 18 (10) In early January, the Government of 19 China jailed eight medical professionals who sought 20 to share information relating to such virus. 21 (11) A Chinese ophthalmologist, Dr. Li 22 Wenliang, tried to warn the medical community of 23 such virus. The Government of China forced Dr. Li 24 to sign a letter stating that he made ‘‘false state- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7007.IH H7007 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7007 IH ments’’ concerning such virus. Dr. Li later became 1 infected with such virus and died on February 7, 2 2020. 3 (12) The Government of China insisted that no 4 evidence existed concerning the spread of such virus 5 through person-to-person transmission, and allowed 6 Chinese citizens to travel unimpeded, including dur- 7 ing the Lunar New Year, when travelers numbered 8 in the hundreds of millions. 9 (13) On December 31, 2020, the Government 10 of Taiwan noted the possibility that such virus could 11 spread through person-to-person transmission. Offi- 12 cials of the WHO sent to China did not announce 13 that such virus could spread through person-to-per- 14 son transmission until January 22, 2020. 15 (14) The Government of China continues to 16 neutralize or eliminate actors who threaten to expose 17 the Government of China’s culpability in the spread 18 of such virus. 19 (15) Wuhan Central Hospital reprimanded Dr. 20 Ai Fen for sharing a picture of a patient report la- 21 beled ‘‘SARS Coronavirus’’. In an interview pub- 22 lished in the Chinese magazine Ren Wu on March 23 10, 2020, Doctor Ai said ‘‘This incident has shown 24 that everyone needs to have their own thoughts be- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7007.IH H7007 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7007 IH cause someone has to step up to speak the truth.’’. 1 Dr. Ai has been missing since March 29, 2020, and 2 it is believed the Government of China is involved in 3 his disappearance. 4 (16) The repeated violations of the Inter- 5 national Health Regulations by the Government of 6 China caused the spread of such virus first in 7 Wuhan, China, and then worldwide. 8 (17) As of May 18, 2020, such spread affected 9 188 countries worldwide, resulting in millions of con- 10 firmed cases and more than 317,000 deaths. 11 (18) As of May 18, 2020, 496,509 Americans 12 were infected by such virus and 89,874 of those peo- 13 ple died. 14 (19) On May 15, 2020, the Asia Development 15 bank estimated that such spread will cost the global 16 economy between $5.8 trillion and $8.8 trillion in 17 2020. 18 (20) The International Labor Organization esti- 19 mated that the spread of such virus caused a 10.5 20 percent drop in working hours globally, which is 21 equivalent to 305 million full-time jobs. 22 (21) As of April 2020, the Bureau of Labor 23 Statistics reported 26.5 million Americans lost their 24 jobs. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7007.IH H7007 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7007 IH (22) More than 38.6 million Americans filed 1 unemployment claims over an eight-week period end- 2 ing on May 16, 2020, bringing the total of unem- 3 ployed Americans to more than 40 million. 4 (23) The real unemployment rate is estimated 5 to be between 22.8 percent and 25 percent. 6 (24) On April 24, 2020, the Congressional 7 Budget Office predicted that the United States 8 Gross Domestic Product would fall 12 percent in the 9 second quarter of 2020, equivalent to a decline at 10 annual rate of 40 percent. 11 (25) To mitigate the economic impact of such 12 spread and bolster response efforts, Congress appro- 13 priated nearly $3 trillion in emergency spending. 14 (26) In April 2020, the Congressional Budget 15 Office nearly quadrupled its Fiscal Year 2020 Fed- 16 eral budget deficit projection from $1 trillion in Jan- 17 uary 2020 to $3.7 trillion. 18 (27) If China had acted in accordance with its 19 international obligations just three weeks earlier, the 20 number of early coronavirus cases may have been 95 21 percent lower. 22 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 23 It is the sense of Congress that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7007.IH H7007 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7007 IH (1) in February 2020, the United States cor- 1 rectly designated Chinese state-owned media outlets 2 as foreign missions; 3 (2) the Secretary of State should limit to 100 4 or fewer people the total number of Chinese citizens 5 who may work for a Chinese state-owned media out- 6 let in the United States; 7 (3) such limitation may encourage China to 8 allow American journalists and other foreign inde- 9 pendent reporters to live and report in China with- 10 out threat or harassment by China; and 11 (4) United States entities should avoid sup- 12 porting or spreading propaganda from China by re- 13 viewing the policies of such entities relating to media 14 advertisements created by China or advertising in 15 media outlets owned or operated by China. 16 SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 17 It is the policy of the United States to seek com- 18 pensation from China for intentionally concealing and dis- 19 torting information concerning the spread of the virus re- 20 sponsible for COVID–19 resulting in— 21 (1) the avoidable loss of life, health, or property 22 of citizens of the United States; and 23 (2) the damage to the national economy of the 24 United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7007.IH H7007 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7007 IH SEC. 6. CORONAVIRUS COMPENSATION FUND. 1 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 2 Treasury a compensation fund to be known as the 3 Coronavirus Compensation Fund. 4 (b) DEPOSIT OF FUNDS.—There shall be deposited 5 into the compensation fund— 6 (1) the amount agreed upon, if any, between 7 China and the United States relating to the bilateral 8 agreement on compensation initiated under section 9 7(a) of this Act; and 10 (2) the amount, if any, collected from the freez- 11 ing of assets belonging to China under section 8. 12 SEC. 7. BILATERAL AGREEMENT ON COMPENSATION BE- 13 TWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA. 14 (a) NEGOTIATIONS.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 17 of State shall enter into negotiations with China 18 concerning a bilateral agreement on compensation. 19 (2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The initiation of ne- 20 gotiations required under paragraph (1) shall relate 21 to— 22 (A) the efforts of China to intentionally 23 distort and conceal information concerning the 24 spread of the virus responsible for COVID–19; 25 and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7007.IH H7007 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7007 IH (B) the avoidable loss of life, health, or 1 property of citizens of the United States and 2 the damage to the national economy of the 3 United States caused by the actions of China 4 described in subparagraph (A). 5 (b) DEPOSIT OF FUNDS.—Any money received relat- 6 ing to negotiations initiated under paragraph (1) shall be 7 deposited into the compensation fund established under 8 section 6(a). 9 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION TO FREEZE CHINESE ASSETS. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall use his au- 11 thorities under the International Emergency Economic 12 Powers Act to freeze or block any Chinese asset subject 13 to the jurisdiction of the United States in order to reach 14 a bilateral agreement on compensation with China. With 15 the consent of China under the bilateral agreement on 16 compensation, the President may deposit all or some of 17 these frozen funds into the compensation fund established 18 under section 6(a). 19 (b) PUBLIC REPOSITORY OF CERTAIN ASSETS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 22 of Treasury shall publish online a public repository 23 described in paragraph (2). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7007.IH H7007 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7007 IH (2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The public reposi- 1 tory described in this paragraph shall include infor- 2 mation relating to the following: 3 (A) Chinese state-owned entities in the 4 United States. 5 (B) Chinese entities financed, directed, or 6 controlled by the Government of China or the 7 Chinese Communist Party. 8 (C) United States entities financed, di- 9 rected, or controlled by the Government of 10 China or the Chinese Communist Party. 11 (3) SELF-REPORT.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 13 graph (B), not later than 60 days after the date 14 of the enactment of this Act, a United States 15 entity employed by a Chinese entity, including 16 a firm in the United States financial, con- 17 sulting, or legal industries, shall self-report to 18 the Secretary of Treasury and be added to the 19 public repository described in paragraph (2). 20 (B) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding any 21 other provision of law, if a public report under 22 subparagraph (A) would [Text truncated for display. 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