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Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata issues committee reports

Amata in veterans committee meeting
Source: Uifa’atali Amata’a Washington D.C. office press release

Washington, DC — Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata took part last week in a full slate of committee activities, especially votes and hearings in the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) regarding China’s competitive activities, including cosponsoring three foreign affairs bills passed by the Committee. 

FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

  • •            Amata is the sole original cosponsor upon introduction with Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) of H.R. 1149, to establish certain reporting and other requirements relating to telecommunications equipment and services produced or provided by certain entities, and for other purposes.
  • •            She is one of six cosponsors of H.R. 1093, introduced by Chairman McCaul, to direct the Secretary of State to submit to Congress a report on implementation of the advanced capabilities pillar of the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
  • •            She cosponsored H. Res. 90, led by Chairman McCaul with over 30 cosponsors, demanding that the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Communist Party of China immediately release Mark Swidan, an American businessman wrongfully detained for over ten years. 

Also in this markup, the Committee passed H.R. 1107, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Is Not a Developing Country Act, led by Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific Young Kim (R-CA), on which Amata serves as Vice Chairman. Chairwoman Kim’s bill is to ensure that the Chinese government cannot receive favorable treatment that is meant to economically help truly developing nations.

Chairman Michael McCaul’s bill, H.R. 1153, which provides legislative authority to the President to ban TikTok or any software applications that threaten U.S. national security, also passed the committee 24-16. 

In addition to these votes, the full committee held a thorough hearing, titled, Combatting the generational challenge of CCP aggression, which includes China’s global efforts in economic influence. Amata took part in question and answers with Undersecretary Alan Estevez regarding China’s role in chip manufacturing. 

 “Congress is putting new energy into a much-needed focus on China’s strategic activities, not least in the Indo-Pacific, and I appreciate these efforts by Chairman McCaul and others in House leadership,” Amata said. 

Amata is also congratulating Ambassador Cindy McCain as she takes on the international role of Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), a leadership effort to combat global hunger, currently strained by high costs of food and fuel. 

NATURAL RESOURCES AND VETERANS COMMITTEES

Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is apprising Veterans of an ongoing congressional oversight effort regarding inaccuracies on the newly unveiled Korean War Memorial’s Wall of Remembrance.

Last week, Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) with Ranking Member Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), numerous Chairmen and Senators, led a bicameral oversight request for information regarding potentially hundreds of inaccuracies and spelling errors on the Wall of Remembrance, a new addition that honors fallen heroes as part of the national Korean War Memorial.

“I will provide updates to our veterans as this effort develops, so we can all know that the over 36,000 Service Members who gave their lives, and the 1.8 million Americans who served in theater, are properly honored at this beautiful Memorial,” Amata said.

The wall was authorized by Congress in the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance Act (Public Law 114-230) signed into law by President Obama in October 2016. The rest of the Memorial, managed by the National Parks Service, also had a recent upgrade under the Commemorative Works Act. Veterans can read the full letter on this issue to Secretary of Defense Austin here

In other news, the full Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held its first oversight hearing of the 118th Congress with Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Inspector General Michael Missal, focusing on corrective measures for past VA shortcomings identified in IG reports.

Also, the House Veterans Committee and the Senate Committee in a yearly joint hearing took testimony from Veterans Service Organizations (VSO) about their priority issues as they work directly with the nation’s millions of Veterans. These hearings will continue next week.

Last week, the full Natural Resources Committee held a legislative hearing on a discussion draft of the Building United States Infrastructure through Limited Delays and Efficient Reviews (BUILDER) Act of 2023. This legislation, led by Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana, would modernize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) statute to provide more certainty to local governments in dealing with transportation, infrastructure and energy.

Finally, the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs (IIA), on which Amata also serves, held an oversight hearing on efforts to unlock Indian Country's economic potential based on potential streamlining of land use restrictions.

(Source:  Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata’s D.C. staff press releases)