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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Todd Young (R-IN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Chris Coons (D-DE), members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, reintroduced legislation that would require the administration to regularly produce and submit to Congress a Global Economic Security Strategy. Based on the belief that global stability and the national security of the U.S. depends in large part on a vibrant, growing, and secure economy, the legislation seeks to ensure the U.S. responds in the most effective manner possible to international predatory economic practices.
 
“For the first time in almost three decades, the United States is confronted with a near-peer competitor on the global stage in China,” Rubio said. “The Chinese Communist Party is undertaking a patient effort to reorient the global order to reflect their values and their interests at the expense of ours, including using subsidies and protectionism to build up their capabilities in various key industries while destroying American competitors. This bipartisan legislation recognizes the importance of combatting the threat China poses to U.S. national and economic security by upholding the U.S.-led global order.”
 
“Predatory economic practices by China and other strategic competitors has the potential to weaken America’s national security and our standing in the world. We must combat these predatory practices by working together with our like-minded partners and allies around the globe,” Young said. “This bipartisan legislation would help ensure that our different government agencies work together and with partners around the world to create coordinated policies to promote and protect our economic security.”
 
“For decades, the global race to the bottom in labor and environmental standards has left fewer and fewer reliable, living-wage manufacturing jobs for America’s working families,” Merkley said. “This bipartisan bill would help ensure that America has a plan in place to respond to other countries’ predatory economic strategies, so we can ensure a level playing field and help working families thrive for generations to come.”
 
“A strong U.S. economy is vital to the prosperity and security of the American people. I am proud to cosponsor this bipartisan legislation which requires the Administration to develop a national economic security strategy,” Coons said. “This bill will ensure that the current and future Administrations continue to foster free and fair economic relationships, U.S. industry and innovation, and environmental stewardship. It will also reduce threats to our nation’s economy and promote fair competition for American workers and families.”
 
The Global Economic Security Strategy Act of 2019 explains why a Global Economic Security Strategy (GESS) is necessary and creates a statutory requirement for the production and submission of the strategy to Congress. An initial GESS would be required 180 days after enactment of the bill, and subsequent versions would be required following the inauguration of a new President or production of a new National Security Strategy. The GESS would complement the National Security Strategy, focusing in more detail on U.S. economic interests. Informed by the best scholarship regarding strategy formulation, the legislation details at length what the GESS must include. Its goal is to promote free, fair, and reciprocal economic relationships between the U.S. and foreign countries.
 
Senators Rubio, Young, Merkley, and Coons introduced similar legislation last Congress.