U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) to reintroduce the bipartisan Taxpayers and Savers Protection (TSP) Act to stop the funneling of retirement savings of servicemembers and federal employees to state-sponsored Chinese companies directly funding the People’s Republic of China.
“The People’s Republic of China should not be profiting from the retirement accounts of U.S. government employees and service members. It’s dangerous to prop up companies that threaten the interests of the U.S. and our allies, and it would be particularly egregious to do so with the hard-earned savings of federal workers, including our military and civilian workforce,” said Senator Shaheen. “I am proud to again join Senator Rubio on this bicameral, bipartisan legislation to ensure that this does not continue, and I’m glad our legislation now expands this ban to adversaries like Russia, Iran and North Korea to send a clear message about how the U.S. characterizes Xi’s behavior and the actors he aligns with.”
The legislation prohibits the TSP from investing in companies listed on the exchanges of a country of concern, headquartered in a country of concern, or substantially controlled by a country of concern. It identifies countries of concern based on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s annual threat assessment. Those countries are China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
Senator Shaheen is a leader in the Senate in the push against an increasingly competitive and aggressive Xi regime. Shaheen is Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, and secured important provisions in the historic Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act of 2022, which was signed into law last year. The historic legislation develops U.S. policy to address strategic, economic and diplomatic tools for a global strategy that will allow the United States to confront the challenges that China poses to the United States.
Earlier this year, Shaheen introduced the Protecting American Capital Act, bipartisan legislation that would require the U.S. Department of Treasury to annually report to Congress on the United States’ financial exposure to China. Shaheen previously led the Transatlantic Telecommunication Security Act (TTSA), which would strengthen European telecommunications infrastructure and counter China’s influence by helping key allies in the region build 5G networks.
Shaheen serves as an honorary co-chair of the Global Tech Security Commission, which seeks to develop a global tech security strategy that safeguards freedom through the adoption of trusted technology. Shaheen also joined bipartisan legislation, the China Grand Strategy Commission, which would create a China Grand Strategy Commission to hold China accountable for its attempts to undermine international norms.
