The legislation is aimed at banning CCP-controlled publications from House facilities.
Freshman Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.) on Wednesday used his first legislation as a congressman to target the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) influence in Congress.
Hamadeh, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer and a former prosecutor, introduced a resolution aimed at banning the distribution of CCP-controlled publications such as China Daily within the U.S. House of Representatives facilities.
In an interview with EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders” program, Hamadeh said he introduced the resolution after finding China Daily among other newspapers distributed in the halls of Congress.
The publication is “propaganda by a foreign government that’s trying to influence the highest echelons of the United States government. It’s unacceptable,” he said.
“And we should ban it, at least for it to be publicly distributed into the halls of Congress.”
China Daily is one of several major CCP mouthpieces controlled by the party’s Central Propaganda Department. The publication’s Chinese website says its English edition “actively publicizes and explains Xi Jinping Thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era,” and strives to influence public opinion in favor of communist-ruled China.
Its U.S. distributor China Daily Distribution Corporation has been registered as a foreign agent in the United States since 1983 under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
It’s among 17 organizations designated by the U.S. State Department as “foreign missions” in 2020. Among them, 14 are news publications or broadcasters.
Hamadeh said there are “real life consequences” of having a CCP-controlled publication in Congress as many young staffers may not know China Daily is paid by a foreign government when they see the publication within House facilities.
“So if they’re able to influence these staffers who then go ahead and influence their boss, their congressman, that’s a big problem.
“I’ve met with Uyghurs, and I’ve seen the plight that they’ve had to go through. Again, these staffers who continue to read this—and if it could influence a vote, for instance, or it can influence sanctions on the communist Chinese—it moves far past just information warfare,” he said.
It’s “the new reality” of modern warfare, Hamadeh said.
By Lily Zhou and Jan Jekielek
