House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) joined Viriginia Allen on the Daily Signal Podcast to discuss H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.

The bill, which passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support, 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.

Highlights and excerpts from the podcast: 

On why H.R. 7521 Passed with Strong Bipartisan Support: 

“The reason that there's so much bipartisan support for the bill is because of the national security concern with TikTok having access to 170 million American users’ data. That is a valuable tool for China to exploit and use in nefarious ways.

“TikTok is owned by ByteDance, which is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party. We know that China uses access to user data, in this case, American user data and they've used it in the past to surveil American journalists. They're currently under investigation by the US Department of Justice for this. 

“We know that TikTok has been repeatedly caught in a lie that they don't answer to the Chinese Communist Party through ByteDance. But even internal recordings from TikTok employees have revealed that they said, “everything is seen by China,” and we know that we cannot trust China to safeguard our data or uphold American values of freedom.  

“Right now, they are collecting unlimited amounts of data on 170 million American users. This includes sensitive data, location data, search engine data, and this, ultimately, is a national security threat.

“That's what the bill is focused on: when apps are controlled by a foreign adversary, like China, and having this unlimited access to be used in nefarious ways.”

On the Immediate Threat Posed By CCP-Controlled TikTok:

“Well, this bill is a very targeted approach. It addresses what we believe is an immediate threat that the Chinese Communist Party controls TikTok, or other apps that are controlled by foreign adversaries, but in this case is TikTok.

"Ultimately, the Chinese Communist Party having access to 170 million Americans user data is a very real and immediate threat. This legislation is targeted toward that current threat.

“It also protects against other future apps and current apps that would be controlled by foreign adversaries. It identifies China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea, but this is this is just one step in addressing the threats that are posed by these apps.

“We also passed a bill out of the House, just recently along with the TikTok bill, that would prohibit data brokers from selling personally identifiable and sensitive data to these same foreign adversaries.

“This is another way to protect Americans, and we're working on data privacy and security legislation also.

“This is just one step, but this addresses what is the very real and immediate threat that TikTok poses to America because it is a tool controlled by the Communist Party of China. It’s a very destructive, powerful tool that's targeting America and especially American children.”

On the Bill’s Momentum in the Senate:

“I'm having some positive conversations with senators. I was encouraged that the day that the bill passed the House, with overwhelming support 352 to 65, [...] the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Mark Warner, and then Senator Marco Rubio, who is the Ranking Republican, issued a statement of support.

“There are other senators who are looking at this legislation. The Senate also just recently received a classified briefing on the threats that are posed by apps like TikTok that are controlled by foreign adversaries. I'm hopeful that the Senate will act swiftly.

“I believe that it is important that they do address this immediate threat and get this on the President's desk. This legislation is our best chance to end the Chinese Communist Party’s abuse of these apps that are targeting, surveilling, and manipulating Americans.”

On Protecting Americans from the Threats Posed by the CCP:

“I believe that TikTok is a tool of the Chinese Communist Party, and right now China is our greatest adversary. It poses a significant threat to the United States of America, both from a national security perspective and an economic security perspective.

“When you think about their access, ultimately by the Chinese Communist Party to 170 million Americans user data, and how they can use that to surveil, to manipulate, to target Americans. We know that they surveilled on American journalists. It's a very real threat. ByteDance has said before that they won't divest.

“This legislation would say to TikTok ‘you have a choice. Either you can divest from ByteDance, you can separate from ByteDance and continue to operate in the United States of America. Or, if you don't, you will be banned because we believe that this is a national security threat that needs to be addressed.’”