ICYMI: In Trenton, Mikie Sherrill Introduces Plan to Help New Jersey Workers and Businesses Compete
Sherrill to Continue Building American Jobs and Competition Plan with Legislation to Protect Economic and National Security
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In case you missed it, this week in Trenton Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill announced and introduced the first pillar in her new American Jobs and Competition Plan. Sherrill’s Leading Global Innovation Resolution is a call to action for both the public and private sectors to combat the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) escalating economic aggression and attempts to dominate the technologies of the future.
The American Jobs and Competition Plan is Sherrill’s first legislative package as part of her new assignment on the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party. In the coming months, Sherrill will add to the plan with legislation to address security challenges posed by CCP-affiliated technology, combat the CCP’s unfair trade practices, boost the role of the Department of Commerce, and strengthen America’s partnerships and alliances across the world.
Read more about her plan below:
Fox News: House Democrat sounds alarm on Beijing's plan to dominate tech sector
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., a retired Navy helicopter pilot, is introducing a three-part resolution on Monday taking aim at the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s "Made in China 2025" (MIC 2025) initiative. Sherrill’s legislation would formally document Beijing’s strategy and the unscrupulous practices it’s accused of using to accomplish that goal.
It would also urge the relevant U.S. sectors to "take stock" of their own capabilities, according to a one-pager obtained by Fox News Digital, to be more aware of where the U.S. stands next to China now.
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Sherrill said businesses in her home state of New Jersey "have been targets of the CCP’s unfair and illegal trade practices."
NJBIZ: In Trenton, Sherrill launches new effort to combat CCP aggression
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Sherrill said the goal of these efforts is pretty simple, especially in this era of global competition.
“We can’t stand idly by as New Jersey makes and the CCP takes,” said Sherrill. “I’m introducing this resolution as part of my new assignment on the House [Select] Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. A very long title for a very clear goal. We want to make sure that we have a fair playing field. American companies, American innovation, American workers can compete with anyone – if it is fair competition.”
NJ.com: U.S. must act swiftly to counter China’s economic aggression, N.J. congresswoman says
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Sherrill described the resolution as a call to action that urges the public and private sectors to invest in industries and initiatives that are key to maintaining a competitive edge with China.
Manufacturers have been urging Congress to rethink the U.S. approach to economic relations with China and to “hold China accountable for the commitments it has made to the U.S. and the world,” Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, said in a statement.
“The Global Innovation Resolution spearheaded by Congresswoman Sherrill will bring much needed protection from and oversight of China’s continuing efforts to dominate innovation in the global market,” Siekerka said, noting that businesses must “guard against intellectual property theft, cyber espionage and the discriminatory treatment of foreign investment to protect U.S. innovation and to advance it forward.”
Axios: Lawmakers make bipartisan push on U.S. competitiveness with China
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It's not just an issue of national strategic significance, Sherrill told Axios in an interview. "Unfair competition from the Chinese Communist Party has had real impacts locally," she said. "It's a New Jersey problem."
What to watch: Sherrill plans to introduce legislation in the coming months that will boost U.S. companies, give the Department of Commerce more tools to fight unfair trade practices and strengthen cooperation with U.S. allies.
"We need to more than simply pass resolutions going forward," Sherrill said. "We need to appropriate funding for research and development, for tech hubs, for the National Science Foundation," and other initiatives.
"These are the ways we are moving our economy forward."
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This resolution already has received endorsements from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, IBEW Local 102, Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, New Jersey Veterans Chamber of Commerce, New Jersey Business & Industry Association, Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey and New Jersey Council of County Colleges.
Pat Delle Cava, business manager at IBEW Local 102, said the plan would ensure organized labor is at the front and center of our economic strategy moving forward — and protect U.S. workers from CCP economic aggression that undermines jobs in New Jersey.
“Mikie has always had our backs, and we’re proud to stand with her and support this legislative plan moving forward,” he said.
News12: Rep. Sherrill says China has likely targeted New Jersey businesses for espionage, disruption
New Jersey Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill says businesses in New Jersey have been targeted for espionage and disruption by the Chinese Communist Party.
Sherrill, who is a member of the bipartisan House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and China, unveiled a strategy in Trenton Monday for economic competition with China.
“All U.S. firms, from the biggest chip manufacturer like Intel, to small businesses here in Trenton, are CCP targets for disruption, espionage and IP theft and commercial coercion,” the congresswoman said during a speech at Thomas Edison State University.
Sherrill said People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping will “likely only double down” on disruption as his reign continues.
New Jersey Globe: Sherrill unveils plan to strengthen American competition against the Chinese Communist Party
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State Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro) ,who chairs the bicameral, bipartisan Legislative Manufacturing Caucus, praised the plan.
“This is what today is about: Keeping Trenton, New Jersey, and the United States at the forefront of manufacturing the technology of the future,” Greenstein commented.
“Congresswoman Sherrill’s resolution will help give New Jersey workers and businesses a level playing field on which to compete with international actors, like China.”
Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman Dan Benson (D-Hamilton), the Democratic nominee for Mercer County Executive, was also in attendance.
“It’s an all-of-government proactive strategy that ties in education, labor, manufacturing, and business because we can’t do this alone,” Benson said at the event.
While the plan fundamentally views the CCP as an adversary, Sherrill emphasized that hate against Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities will not be tolerated.
“And yet doubling down on demands for fairness from the CCP cannot and must not result in hate against our AAPI community,” Sherrill said today. “This is important: Asian Americans have always and will continue to contribute mightily to the American economy and American innovation; more broadly to the American story.”
InsiderNJ: Hamilton Never had to Handle this
The history of making “stuff” in New Jersey is pretty rich.
There’s an iconic sign here reading “Trenton Makes -The World Takes,” and then, of course, there’s no less a personage than Alexander Hamilton who founded Paterson as the nation’s first industrial center. But Hamilton never had to deal with China’s theft of U.S. property.
It was that challenge that brought Rep. Mikie Sherrill and an array of government, business and union officials together Monday morning to talk about an initiative to combat the unsavory steps China uses to its advantage in global competition.
As Sherrill said, fair competition is one thing, but China’s alleged stealing of computer technology and the use of forced labor is not.
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Sherrill’s idea has been endorsed by Republican Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, the committee chair.
Very little in Washington these days is bipartisan, but dealing with China may be.
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