Highlights from Interviews with Fox Business, Scripps News, and Newsmax

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) joined Fox Business, Scripps News, and Newsmax this morning to highlight the need to pass H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.

Applications controlled by foreign adversaries, like TikTok, are exploiting and weaponizing Americans’ data. These applications are a national security threat to the American people.

H.R. 7521 is bipartisan legislation that will protect Americans by preventing foreign adversaries, such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), from targeting, surveilling, and manipulating the American people through applications, like TikTok.

We have given TikTok a clear choice through this legislation: Divest from your parent company ByteDance—which is beholden to the CCP—and remain operational in the United States, OR side with the CCP and be prohibited in the U.S. The choice is TikTok’s.

Here are highlights and top moments from Chair Rodgers’ interviews:

Chair Rodgers on Fox Business with Maria Bartiromo:

“We had a very strong vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, 50–0, a unanimous vote which only underscores how strong the bill is and how members believe this action needs to be taken.”

[…]

“The bill is narrow. It is targeted to address the national security threat that we believe these apps, like TikTok, pose to the United States because of its ownership by a foreign adversary.”

Chair Rodgers on Scripps News’ Morning Rush:

“TikTok has repeatedly been caught in a lie that it is not beholden to the Chinese Communist Party through ByteDance, its parent company, and we know that we cannot trust the Chinese Communist Party. They’re collecting a massive amount of data so they can target, manipulate, surveil, and, in essence, control what Americans see on TikTok.”

[…]

“This is a national security threat. This is a destructive tool that is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

“This bill will force TikTok to make a choice. TikTok will either have to choose if it wants to maintain the current relationship it has with ByteDance and ultimately be controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, or […] divest, which means it would have to sell and break away from ByteDance in order to remain operating in the United States of America. It’s TikTok’s choice to make.”

Chair Rodgers on Newsmax’s National Report:

“[This bill] does not address content on the platform. This is in response to national security concerns raised by these apps being controlled by foreign adversaries.”

[…]

“We have evidence that TikTok has spied on American journalists through its parent company ByteDance. Those cases are before the Justice Department now. We know that they are collecting data for purposes of targeting, surveilling, and manipulating 170 million users.”