Rep. Robert Pittenger wants one more victory, one more signature bill. But he's suddenly finding that what he expected would be a smooth victory lap is full of potholes and detours.
Pittenger, R-N.C., who lost his May 8 GOP primary to former Charlotte pastor Mark Harris, figured he'd cement his legislative legacy with a bill aimed at preventing China from acquiring sophisticated U.S. technology.
While the House is expected to approve Pittenger's bill quickly and overwhelmingly, the plan is getting mired in Senate and White House controversies over trade and national security policy in the Senate.
The Senate version of Pittenger's bill, authored by Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, is attached to a must-pass defense policy measure that's become a vehicle for lawmakers to air their grievances over President Donald Trump's latest trade action.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Corker, R-Tenn., is eying to attach a measure to that defense bill to challenge Trump’s authority to implement trade tariffs on national security grounds. It's their response to tariffs he recently placed on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union, Mexico and Canada, citing national security.
In addition, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., wants to make it difficult without congressional approval for the White House to roll back sanctions against ZTE, a Chinese telecommunications company that violated U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced on CNBC Thursday that the administration has struck a deal with ZTE to lift sanctions in return for paying a $1 billion fine and adding a U.S.-chosen compliance team to the company.
All of this controversy is making Pittenger's bid for a pleasant sendoff bumpy and unpredictable.
“We’ve had a good run, but this is definitely the major legislation that will be a legacy piece,” Pittenger told McClatchy. “It has the most transformational effect of any legislation I’ve led on.”
Pittenger’s legislation would boost the powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interagency body housed in the Treasury Department that vets purchases and takeovers of U.S. businesses by foreign entities for potential national security threats.
Among other things, the bill would give CFIUS the power to review real estate transactions near sensitive U.S. facilities.
Negotiations to push Pittenger's effort forward are underway. Cornyn and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Senate Banking Committee chairman, met with Trump on CFIUS and China at the White House earlier this week.
“Part of it was just to discuss with the president and his advisers about how CFIUS is not about trade, it’s really about national security,” Cornyn said Wednesday.
Still, some foreign affairs and business experts are concerned about the bills for their spotlight on China over other technology-seeking nations.
“It has become a China-bashing thing,” said John Zindar, a partner with the European-American Business Organization and a former U.S. Army intelligence officer.
“It’s never a good idea to politicize foreign economic policy," he said. "If you’re going to always err on the side of ‘Well, it’s China, we’re not going to approve then,’ then there’s a real downside to that. And we believe it will affect the competitiveness of the United States.”
Pittenger makes no apologies for the tone and tenor of his bill. He said it’s needed to keep China from obtaining sensitive U.S. technology to China through business acquisitions.
“What America had in the past was the edge in technology, and China wants that edge,” he said. “If they can’t steal it, they want to buy it. And we’ve given them access in the past to buy it. We’re going to close that door.”
William Douglas: 202-383-6026, @williamgdouglas