WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott released the following statement ahead of the Senate’s vote to take up the 2,900 page, $250 BILLION COMPETES Act. Last year, Senator Scott and his colleagues fought hard to amend an earlier version of this bad bill to actually pay for the more than $200 BILLION in spending it authorized. Although America is drowning in $30 TRILLION of debt, Senate Democrats blocked these amendments. Senator Scott has introduced multiple bills that counter Communist China’s aggression and protect Americans, and offered several of these bills as amendments to the predecessor of the COMPETES Act when it was under consideration in the Senate last year.

Senator Rick Scott said, “The COMPETES Act is a terrible, $250 BILLION bill and I will fight it with every tool at my disposal in the U.S. Senate. Communist China is committing genocide against the Uyghurs, regularly steals U.S. technology and intellectual property (IP), lies and cheats to manipulate markets and has crushed democracy in Hong Kong. The vast majority of the provisions in the COMPETES Act do not do anything to fix these problems and spends BILLIONS we don’t have on Green New Deal policies, like the UN Green Climate Fund, and wild handouts to universities partnering with Communist China and tech companies making record profits.

“I have been clear that aggressively combatting the threats posed by Communist China and decoupling our nation from General Secretary Xi’s evil regime is critical to protecting the future security and prosperity of America, and we can do that without spending billions of American’s tax dollars. If Congress would only take up legislation to actually put Americans first and protect families and businesses by eliminating America’s dependence on Communist China and holding it accountable for its crimes, I’ll be the first to vote yes. That’s not what this bill does and I won’t support even more inflation-fueling, reckless spending that will sink America deeper in debt.”

Here’s what the COMPETES Act really does:

• Provides a $52 BILLION handout for semiconductor chip manufacturers which have made huge profits in recent years, like Intel. Intel alone made nearly $20 billion in net income last year, with a profit margin of over 25%.
• Spends $8 BILLION on the UN Green Climate Fund.
• Gives BILLIONS to universities without prohibiting funding from going to institutions that host Confucius Institutes, Communist China’s program to steal U.S. technology and IP at our universities.
• Directs the U.S. Government and the Chinese Communist Party to work together on research projects.
• DOES NOTHING to hold Communist China accountable for the COVID-19 pandemic.

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