U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., former rivals in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries and both of whom are looking at running again in 2024, paired up on the “Protecting America from Spies Act” last week.
The bill would let the U.S. State Department deny visas to those who engaged in espionage and stole American intellectual property. U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., is championing the bill in the U.S. House.
“We know that the Chinese Communist Party will spare no effort to steal from and exploit American companies and universities,” Rubio said. “If a Chinese citizen has spied on us before, we should absolutely assume he or she will do so again. This legislation prevents repeat offenders from gaining access to our country.”
“The Chinese Communist Party takes a whole-of-state approach to espionage and intellectual property theft, and relentlessly seeks to infiltrate and steal from America and American institutions,” Cruz said. “There is no better example of this than the State Department’s closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston last year, which the Chinese government was exploiting for malign purposes. People who try to spy on the U.S. and their family members should not be granted access to our country.”
“America is the holder of precious sensitive information and secrets which China will go to unimaginable lengths to obtain,” Hartzler said. “When we catch these bad actors, America should be able to deny them access to our nation under any circumstances. The threat of China and the prevalence of its spies warrant strict and steadfast action to limit their destructive espionage efforts — which is why the Protecting America from Spies Act is urgently needed. I thank Sen. Cruz for his leadership and collaboration fighting the rise of China and its abusive actions.”
Cruz filed the bill last week which was sent to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
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