The US senator claimed that lobbying for the Chinese and American defence industry base “raises serious conflicts of interest.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla. ) made a bill that would require lobbyists from the United States to choose between representing Americans ‘ interests and those of communist China.
” Some Washington, D. C. based lobbying firms are working on behalf of Taiwanese companies with ties to the People’s Liberation Army and total individual- rights abusers while even representing American defence contractors”, Mr. Rubio’s business said in a press statement.
The company outlined the consequences of the problem, saying that” significant conflicts of interest could arise from lobbing for both the Chinese and American defence industrial base. Activists may use privileged information, yet if unknowingly, to support their Chinese clients to the expense of America’s national protection”.
According to Mr. Rubio,” to some campaigning organizations are working for those with relations to the Chinese Communist Party and also reaping the financial rewards of representing clients with Department of Defense ] contracts.”
This obvious conflict of interest may be resolved by my CCP lobbying withdrawal act. The older member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee continued,” It requires that companies make a clear choice: either work with U.S. state contractors or help Chinese authorities entities. You may do both.”
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The costs would be productive 30 days after legislation.
The Department of Defense ( DoD ) may withhold or recover funds from defense contractors who do n’t comply until they stop employing lobbyists who also represent Chinese businesses on the entity lists. These businesses were put on the lists because they either had ties to the Chinese martial or were involved in a murder in the Xinjiang region of China.
If the secretary of defense recognizes to the U.S. House and Senate Armed Services Committees that a cancellation is necessary to protect U.S. national security, the costs makes an exemption for any of the preceding cases.
U. S. lawyer firms have come under scrutiny lately, prompting some to lose their large- profile clients.
For example, Chinese drone company DJI and Chinese genomics company BGI Group were added to the DoD entity list in October 2022 and March 2023, respectively.
At the committee’s annual Worldwide Threats Assessment hearing on March 11, Mr. Rubio, vice chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, claimed that the Chinese Communist Party had “gotten very good at hiring lobbyists and even deputizing corporate America to come up here and lobby us for things that are beneficial to this country, long term.”
Legislators have also gotten their hands on the most recent lobbying disclosure flaws.
According to the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa ), who introduced the bill,” Think tanks and law enforcement agencies have identified instances in which foreign adversaries exploited this loophole by using organizations and businesses to push their interests before the U.S. government.”
Regardless of any financial contributions made to the lobbying effort, lobbying organizations are required to explicitly disclose when foreign governments and political parties engage in lobbying activities.
Sen. John Cornyn ( R- Texas ), one of the bill’s original co- sponsors, told Voice of America earlier this month that lawmakers were close to completing the work on this legislation, which enhances lobbying reporting transparency.
