Last week, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., brought out a “bill to close a loophole in existing law in order to limit joint military operations and exercises between the United States and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)” with the support of U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.
Rubio introduced the “No PLA Loopholes Act” which has the support of Scott and fellow Republican U.S. Sens. Mike Braun of Indiana, Ted Cruz of Texas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Josh Hawley of Missouri.
“The No PLA Loopholes Act would strike the blanket exception, provided by Section 1201 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2000, that has allowed joint military operations and exercises with the PLA for humanitarian and disaster relief. The bill would further amend Section 1201 by specifying that all logistical operations and exercises with the PLA should be prohibited, as opposed to just those that are considered ‘advanced,’” Rubio’s office noted.
“It is past time we limit our military’s interactions with the PLA,” Rubio said. “Any cooperation provides an opening for the PLA to gain insight into how we operate. This is incredibly dangerous, as the CCP uses all available information and technology to further their own interests and undermine our nation. My bill would ensure that U.S. law reflects this threat and mitigates Beijing’s ability to exploit this loophole.”
“The genocidal regime in Communist China has a clear track record of undermining the United States and could easily use joint training exercises to gather intelligence to use against us,” Scott said. “Communist China is not our friend or partner, it is our enemy and must be treated as such. This common sense bill puts our national security interests first and I urge all my colleagues to support the No PLA Loopholes Act.”
Rubio’s bill was sent to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on which he sits. So far, there is no U.S. House counterpart.
