Whether it’s TikTok or a spy balloon, the United States has been caught flat-footed in countering Chinese influence.  We must end this trend.

As a part of their plan to put communism on top, the People’s Republic of China has tried to overtake America in control of one of the most powerful communications tools on the planet: undersea cables.

These cables are vital: they support trillions of dollars on daily financial transactions and add billions of dollars to our economy every year.  With more than 95 percent of all the international calls and trillions of dollars of financial transactions traveling through these cables daily, everyone relies heavily on these cables in our day-to-day lives.

Thankfully, the House yesterday unanimously passed the bill I introduced - the Undersea Cable Control Act - which would require the Biden Administration to develop a strategy to limit foreign adversaries like China from accessing goods and technologies capable of supporting undersea cables and establishing agreements with allies and partners to do the same.

The bill is now headed to the Senate.

We cannot sit idly by as the Chinese Communist Party attempts to surpass the United States.  I will continue to fight to ensure that the U.S. steps up to counter the influence.