The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“China (Executive Session)” mentioning Tom Cotton was published in the Senate section on pages S835-S836 on Feb. 24.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
China
Mr. President, on another matter. Everyone knows our country and our economy face daunting challenges beyond COVID-19. While our two parties don't agree on a whole lot, both Republicans and Democrats know that one of the main challenges of the 21st century will be competing with and confronting China.
The roots of this challenge go back decades. When I was first elected to the Senate visiting all corners of New York, I saw entire industries going under as a result of unfair Chinese competition and the manipulation of the currency by China. For decades, China has effectively cheated and stolen its way to economic growth, engaging in brazen theft of American intellectual property via cyber operations, forced technology transfers, the dumping of cheap goods in our economy, and for a while, the pernicious manipulation of its currency. American workers, academics, and businesses of all sizes have paid the price to the tune of millions of jobs and trillions of dollars of wealth.
More recently, China has directed its energy and mercantilist policies toward beating the United States and like-minded countries to the pole position on all leading technologies in the 21st century.
When I say ``China,'' I mean the Chinese Government and the China Communist Party. The American people have nothing against the Chinese people.
I have made no secret of America's failure to hold the Chinese Government accountable, and that has been a failure of both parties--
both parties in the past. After another bout of tough talk, we are not much closer to reining in China's predatory behavior than we were 4 years ago. That is why yesterday, I asked the chairs and members of our relevant Senate committees to begin work on legislation to enable the United States to outcompete China and create American jobs.
At the core of this effort will be the Endless Frontier Act. This is a bipartisan legislation that Senator Young and I sponsored and drafted together over a year ago. It would surge resources into the National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce to advance American innovation in a number of critical technologies.
We must also consider significant investments, even through emergency appropriations, to rebuild the capacity of the U.S. semiconductor industry. This, too, is a bipartisan effort that Senators Cotton and Cornyn joined Senator Warner and I, and we placed the original authorizing legislation in the Defense bill.
Right now, semiconductor manufacturing is a dangerous weak spot in our economy and in our national security. Our auto industry is facing significant chip shortages. This is a technology the United States created, and we ought to be leading the world in. The same goes for building out 5G, the next-generation telecommunications network. There is bipartisan interest on both these issues.
Overall, the new legislation must achieve three goals: one, boost American competitiveness by investing in our economy and our workers; two, leverage our alliances abroad; and, three, stop once and for all China's predatory practices. A number of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have strong bipartisan ideas on these issues, including Senators Menendez and Risch, Brown and Toomey, Cantwell and Wicker. I hope we can all work together to craft a bill that meets that moment.
It is my intention to put this legislation on this topic on the Senate floor for a vote this spring. I urge the committees to continue their work in a bipartisan way so we can have strong legislation before us.
It so happens that today, at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, significant work will be done on the same issues. President Biden has invited a bipartisan group of lawmakers to the White House to discuss concerns with the U.S. supply chain, particularly the semiconductor shortage, and will sign an Executive order aimed at plugging the holes. I applaud both the meeting and the Executive order. The new administration is taking a strong first step in shoring up America's critical supply chains and putting a spotlight on American competitiveness
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