Washington, D.C. – Today, Eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) helped pass the bipartisan Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521) to prevent foreign adversaries, like the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), from targeting, surveilling, and manipulating the American people through applications such as TikTok.

In an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 352-65, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the legislation to require ByteDance – which is controlled by the CCP – to divest TikTok and other applications it controls within 180 days or face a ban. The bill also creates a narrow process to allow the President of the United States to prohibit access to an application that is owned by a foreign adversary if it poses a threat to national security.

“H.R. 7521 is the result of diligent and bipartisan efforts to protect Americans’ data and address the serious national security threat posed by our enemies. Applications controlled by foreign adversaries can be weaponized to target, manipulate, and surveil millions of Americans. This cannot continue,” said Rodgers. “I commend Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), as well as our colleagues, Reps. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi, for their leadership on this important legislation. I urge our colleagues in the Senate to act as swiftly as the House and advance this bill to the president’s desk.”

We will NOT tolerate our adversaries weaponizing our freedoms against us.

H.R. 7521 will end this abuse by preventing apps controlled by foreign adversaries from targeting, surveilling, and manipulating the American people. pic.twitter.com/ZPzKUBLFhz

— CathyMcMorrisRodgers (@cathymcmorris) March 13, 2024

Prior to this morning’s vote, Cathy delivered the following remarks on the House Floor in support of H.R. 7521:

“I rise today in support of H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. 

“Foreign adversaries, like the Chinese Communist Party, pose the greatest national security threat of our time. TikTok’s access to 177 million American users makes it a valuable propaganda tool for the CCP to exploit.  

“Over the past week, we saw in real time how CCP-controlled TikTok used its influence and power to force users to contact their representatives if they wanted to continue using the app. This is just a small taste of how the CCP weaponizes applications it controls to manipulate tens of millions of people to further its agenda.  

“Today’s legislation will end this abuse by preventing apps controlled by foreign adversaries from targeting, surveilling, and manipulating the American people.  

“We have given TikTok a clear choice: Separate from your parent company ByteDance, which is beholden to the CCP, and remain operational in the United States, or side with the CCP and face the consequences.  

“The choice is TikTok’s.  

“Companies controlled by a foreign adversary, like the CCP, will NEVER embrace American values like freedom of speech, human rights, the rule of law, and a free press.  

“If given the choice, they will always choose the path for more control, more surveillance, and more manipulation. And in the case of TikTok, we wouldn’t even know.  

“Today we will send a clear message that we will not tolerate our adversaries weaponizing our freedoms against us.”

CLICK HERE to read the full bill text.

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