Dems Water Down China Provisions in Defense Bill

House Democrats stripped down an anti-China bill that unanimously passed in the Senate by removing language reining in Chinese government influence on U.S. campuses.

The Senate's National Defense Authorization Act included a provision that authorized the Department of Education to withhold funding from U.S. universities that host Chinese government-backed Confucius Institutes on campus.

The House Democrats' decision to water down the provisions comes after Pelosi stonewalled action on the CONFUCIUS Act for months, pushing her caucus to vote down Republican attempts to put it on the House floor.

"Who could be surprised by Speaker Pelosi's refusal to crack down on China's infiltration of universities? She won't even crack down on Chinese Communist infiltration of the Democratic Party," said Indiana congressman Jim Banks, a Republican who has pressed for Swalwell's removal.

The amendment narrowed down the focus of the bill to "Safeguarding Defense-funded research activities instead of the broad range of protections the original bill contemplated," according to a senior congressional aide.

"The changes to the Confucius Institute language in NDAA are another example of the Democrats' China problem," McCarthy said.

The bill pertains to all Department of Defense funding for higher education, expanding an earlier ban on department funding for Chinese language education.
 

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/dems-water-down-china-provisions-in-defense-bill/