WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the Exposing China’s Belt and Road Investment in America Act of 2023 to review investments that businesses controlled by the Chinese Communist Party make on U.S. soil. China routinely makes such “greenfield” investments while buying land, building factories and taking advantage of state and local tax breaks in America to expand China’s influence. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) is the bill’s lead co-sponsor.
“The Chinese Communist Party is both aggressive and manipulative. Beijing uses greenfield investments to gain leverage over America’s economy and job market. We can’t be blind to the ways China is gaming our system to take American assets, real estate and innovation away from U.S. businesses. The Exposing China’s Belt and Road Investment in America Act is key to countering the threat China’s regime poses to our economy and national security,” said Kennedy.
“Every land acquisition, investment, corporate merger, and building of agricultural facilities, influenced by foreign adversaries, is another step away from American ownership and sovereignty over our own food systems and supply chain. Placing greenfield investments under CFIUS review will enhance the review process of purchases from Chinese-operated enterprises. Let’s fend off bad, foreign investment once and for all,” said Cramer.
Greenfield projects involve a parent company in one country establishing a subsidiary in another country. These are the most common way that Chinese companies enter the American market. They are quickly becoming Beijing’s preferred method for expanding influence under its Belt and Road Initiative, the international infrastructure plan the regime is using to increase its global power. At the same time, the Chinese government keeps its domestic markets largely insulated from foreign influence.
China’s state-operated enterprises use the greenfield model to siphon intellectual property, influence and other assets away from U.S. businesses.
The Exposing China’s Belt and Road Investment in America Act of 2023 would put Chinese greenfield initiatives under the review of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The legislation would also require greenfield investments to file a declaration with CFIUS if China’s government controls or has a substantial interest in the investment. CFIUS would review these investments for national security purposes.
Specifically, the bill would require a CFIUS review for any investment that is made by a foreign person that both:
- involves the acquisition of real estate in the U.S. and the establishment of a U.S. business on such real estate, and
- results in China’s direct or indirect control of that U.S. business.
Text of the Exposing China’s Belt and Road Investment in America Act is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the Main Street Growth Act to expand small companies’ access to capital markets.
“Small business owners work hard to serve their communities. Their challenge is that these job creators can’t easily access existing capital markets. The Main Street Growth Act would give smaller companies a way to list on their own specialized exchanges, where they would be more visible to investors. These exchanges would promote growth in America’s economy by better meeting the needs of small business owners, their employees and investors,” said Kennedy.
Small companies often have difficulty accessing capital markets because their stocks are less visible and are traded less frequently than the stocks of larger companies.
The Main Street Growth Act would create tailored, dedicated exchanges known as “venture exchanges” for trading stocks in smaller companies. Giving small companies their own specialized exchanges would increase their visibility and access to capital. Venture exchanges would also give investors more access to the potential growth opportunities that small companies offer.
Listing on a venture exchange would be completely optional for small businesses, start-ups and emerging growth companies that qualify under the bill.
Text of the Main Street Growth Act is here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations committee, today announced $2,396,936 in a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant for Louisiana.
“I am glad to see that this $2.4 million will help protect Louisianians’ properties in Tangipahoa Parish from flooding,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $2,396,936 to Tangipahoa Parish for the elevation of 11 properties.
MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $5,985,086 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana disaster aid.
“I am grateful for this $5.9 million, which will help protect Livingston Parish from flood damage,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $5,985,086 for the elevation of 30 properties in Livingston Parish.
MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $44,014,147 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana disaster aid.
“Hurricane Ida hit our state hard, and this $44 million will help cover the costs related to the protective measures the Health Department took when Louisianians were in need,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $44,014,147 to the Department of Health and Hospitals for emergency protective measures as a result of Hurricane Ida.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) in introducing a resolution expressing support for the Pledge of Allegiance and congressional approval of the U.S. flag on June 14, 1777. The Senate passed their resolution.
“Only one flag represents the U.S.—the stars and stripes that Congress approved to represent our country 246 years ago. Brave Americans have given their lives to defend its promises, and I’m proud to pledge allegiance to our American flag on this Flag Day and every day,” said Kennedy.
More than 20 Republican senators joined the resolution, while no Democrat senators co-sponsored the measure.
The resolution:
- Celebrates the 246th anniversary of the creation of the United States flag.
- Recognizes that the Pledge of Allegiance has been a valuable part of life for the people of the U.S. for generations.
- Affirms that the Pledge of Allegiance is a constitutional expression of patriotism and strongly defends the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Full text of the resolution is available here.
View Kennedy’s floor speech here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) condemned the Biden administration and the Department of Energy for their proposed rule on dishwashers today in a speech on the Senate floor. The new regulation could make dishwashers more expensive and less effective—all to the benefit of the Chinese manufacturers that produce the majority of all new dishwashers.
“I want clean air. I want bright water. We all do. But this new proposed rule by the Department of Energy is not going to help anything or anybody. It's only going to make the American people have to spend more money on less efficient machines. The costs dramatically outweigh the benefit,” Kennedy said.
“In the past few months, the Biden administration has proposed new regulations for electric motors, for beverage vending machines, for microwaves, for ovens, for refrigerators, for furnaces, for air conditioners, for lightbulbs,” he later added. “In fact, the Biden administration added more than 110 regulations since being in office on appliances and equipment during past two years. For most of these policies, if you weigh the costs and the benefits, it makes no sense. Not in terms of CO2 emissions. Not in terms of energy savings. Not in terms of water savings. And certainly not in terms of the pocketbook of the American people.”
“President Biden and his administration are saddling Americans with harmful, maybe even hateful, regulations because they care more about what the activists say on TikTok than they do about the quiet suffering of everyday families in America and all over this country,” Kennedy concluded.
“They have a blind spot for the lives and concerns of ordinary Americans. And it's why this administration is more worried about dishwashers and gas stoves than the fact that the average Louisiana family is paying $740 more a month—not a year—because of inflation,” he said.
View Kennedy’s full speech here.
Kennedy, Feinstein, Tillis introduce bipartisan, bicameral bill to protect homeowners from natural disasters
Jun 14 2023
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Reps. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) in introducing the Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act of 2023 to exempt from federal taxes rebates that homeowners receive for hardening their homes against natural disasters.
“No one knows the pain of having a home blown away or flooded like Louisianians. They shouldn’t face extra federal taxes when receiving a rebate for simply protecting their homes against vicious weather. The Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act will not only do away with the federal tax, but it will also encourage more folks to protect their homes,” said Kennedy.
“Hardening one’s home against threats from natural disasters remains one of the best ways to mitigate damage from the increasing frequency of disasters like wildfires and hurricanes. Many states, including California, offer homeowners rebates for making these smart home improvements. Unfortunately, these rebates are subject to federal taxes. By exempting the rebates from federal taxes, our bill will make home improvements more affordable and encourage more homeowners nationwide to harden their homes,” said Feinstein.
“Federal taxes being taken out of a North Carolina homeowner’s rebate is the last thing they should have to think about after a natural disaster strikes and they need to be made whole again. I’m proud to work on this bipartisan bill to provide additional relief to the North Carolinians who need it,” said Tillis.
The legislation would exempt state rebates for wildfire, wind and earthquake mitigation measures from federal income tax.
The Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act is available here.
Kennedy to Biden admin’s CFPB: “Why do you want to know what a small business woman’s sexual preference is?”
Jun 13 2023
Watch Kennedy’s exchange here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, today questioned Rohit Chopra, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on its rule to implement Dodd Frank Section 1071. The Biden administration rule would require banks to collect data on small business owners when they seek a loan.
Key excerpts from the exchange are below.
Kennedy: “Is your rule going to require banks to ask the customer about their race?”
Chopra: “So, that is in the statute—"
. . .
Kennedy: “Your rule would require a bank to ask the question of a small business person, ‘What's your race? What's your ethnicity? What's your sexual preference? Are you gay? Are you a woman?’
“Now, that’s—you can bubble-wrap this all you want, but that’s what your rule does.
“Now, the customer—particularly in a small town—is going to go, ‘Woah, what’s my sexual preference have to do with a loan?’
“And the customer can say, ‘I don't want to answer,’ but then the bank has got—you're requiring the bank to tell you that they wouldn't answer, and all of this data is going to go to your agency, and, we don't have the slightest idea how you're going to use it, except you say you're going to publish it.”
Chopra: “Well, we will not get any names at all . . . ”
Kennedy: “Yeah, but you're going to have data sets, so that it's possible—you can't tell me it's not possible to have this information known. Why do you want all this information?”
Chopra: “I don't—”
Kennedy: “Why do you want to know what a small business woman's sexual preference is?”
Chopra: “Okay, that's a mischaracterization of it.”
Kennedy: “No, it’s not.”
. . .
Kennedy: “Why do you want to know what a small business woman—let's say in a town of 20,000 people, going to her local bank [to] borrow money—why do you want to know what her sexual preference is? What business is that of yours?”
Chopra: “We sought to implement what the congressional requirements are—"
Kennedy: “What business is that of yours, what a small business woman does in her bedroom?”
Chopra: “Again—"
Kennedy: “Who appointed you pope?”
Chopra: “Again, people are able to self-identify, if they wish.”
Kennedy: “You're making them.”
Chopra: “We are not making them.”
Kennedy: “Yes, you are . . . and we have no idea how you’re going to use this information.”
Background:
- Kennedy today introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to the CFPB rule to implement Dodd Frank Section 1071, which amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).
- Kennedy introduced the Transparency in CFPB Cost-Benefit Analysis Act to ensure that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) does not establish regulations that would foist unreasonable costs or harms onto taxpayers, financial entities or consumers.
- Kennedy introduced the Small LENDER Act to block the Biden administration’s CFPB from requiring community banks and lenders to collect and report social data—such as race, gender and ethnicity—from borrowers.
Watch the full exchange here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) rule to implement Dodd Frank Section 1071, which amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).
Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) has introduced the resolution in the House of Representatives.
“By collecting and publishing personal demographic and other information, the CFPB is putting small business owners at risk of having their private financial affairs exposed to a watching world. Reporting these personal details is an invasion of privacy and a waste of resources aimed at furthering the woke agenda. The practical impact of this rule could hamstring lending to Main Street,” Kennedy said.
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) new rule is a continued attack on Main Street America. Each day, small businesses struggle with rising costs, increasing interest rates, and ongoing labor shortages, and this new rule only builds on those issues. We cannot allow the CFPB to continue to add burdensome requirements without any consideration of their impact on small businesses and lenders. I am proud to stand by my commitment to protect Main Street America from costly over-regulation by unelected bureaucrats,” said Williams.
Kennedy’s CRA would ensure that the CFPB’s final rule on Dodd-Frank Section 1071 does not go into effect.
Background:
On March 30, the CFPB promulgated the final rule implementing Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which amends the ECOA. The rule was published in the Federal Register on May 31, 2023.
Section 1071 requires covered financial institutions to collect and report certain personal information on small business loan applicants and report that to the CFPB. The CFPB may then make certain parts of that information public, including data that could publicly identify the small business credit applicant.
In order to comply with the Biden CFPB rule, financial institutions would have to collect information about applicants, including the applicant’s census tract, North American Industry Classification System and years in business, among other information. Further, banks are required to report the owner’s race, ethnicity and sex; and whether the business is minority-owned, women-owned or LGBT-owned.
- The rule applies to financial institutions that originated at least 100 small business loans in each of the two preceding calendar years.
- Based on the number of credit transactions for small businesses, covered financial institutions must comply with the final rule beginning October 1, 2024; April 1, 2025; or January 1, 2026.
- A small business is defined as a company with $5 million or less in revenue from the previous fiscal year.
Among the many concerns about the CFPB’s collecting and storing such personal information is that the agency recently experienced a data breach including the personally identifiable information of 256,000 consumers and failed to properly inform them for two months.
The implementation of this rule may reduce the availability and accessibility of small business credit by increasing compliance costs of lenders.
Text of the resolution is here.
