Chinese Government COVID-19 Accountability Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6405 To direct the President, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, to develop and carry out a strategy to seek reimbursement from the People’s Republic of China of funds made available by the United States Government to address the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 26, 2020 Mr. STEUBE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To direct the President, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, to develop and carry out a strategy to seek reimbursement from the People’s Republic of China of funds made available by the United States Government to address the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chinese Government 4 COVID-19 Accountability Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Apr 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6405.IH H6405 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6405 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) The United States economy has been se- 3 verely affected by the Government of the People’s 4 Republic of China’s controls on media reporting that 5 limit coverage of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 6 (COVID-19). 7 (2) United States Government senior officials 8 have expressed concerns about the completeness and 9 timeliness of information China is reporting on 10 COVID-19 and about the overall economic impact of 11 COVID-19 in the United States. 12 (3) China should be held financially responsible 13 for funds made available by the United States Gov- 14 ernment to address COVID-19. 15 SEC. 3. EXECUTIVE STRATEGY TO SEEK REIMBURSEMENT 16 FROM CHINA OF FUNDS MADE AVAILABLE BY 17 THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO AD- 18 DRESS COVID-19. 19 (a) EXECUTIVE STRATEGY.—The President, in con- 20 sultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall develop 21 and carry out a strategy to seek reimbursement from the 22 People’s Republic of China of funds made available by the 23 United States Government to address COVID-19. 24 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 25 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6405.IH H6405 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6405 IH President shall submit to the appropriate congressional 1 committees a report on the strategy required under sub- 2 section (a) and its implementation. 3 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE- 4 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres- 5 sional committees’’ means— 6 (1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com- 7 mittee on the Budget, and the Committee on Ways 8 and Means of the House of Representatives; 9 (2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com- 10 mittee on the Budget, and the Committee on Fi- 11 nance of the Senate; and 12 (3) the Joint Economic Committee. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6405.IH H6405 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS