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Rubio Statement on NDAA Conferees Removing Bipartisan ZTE Amendment

Jul 23, 2018 | Press Releases

Washington, DC U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) released the following statement today after the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) FY 2019 Conference Report was stripped of a provision that would reinstate penalties against Chinese telecom company ZTE:
 
“No nation steals American intellectual property or spies on America more than China, and Chinese telecommunication companies are among the most powerful tools they use to do this,” Rubio said. “That is why I fought so hard last month to put ZTE out of business. And that is why I am so shocked that some of my colleagues decided to let ZTE continue to do business. Once again, China has figured out how to play the United States. We can’t continue to let this happen.”  
 
Rubio recently released a statement after the U.S Department of Commerce announced it reached a deal with ZTE to lift a seven-year ban against the export of U.S. parts and components to the Chinese firm. Rubio and several of his colleagues had urged the chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services committees to include the Senate-passed Cotton-Van Hollen-Schumer-Rubio amendment in the NDAA Conference Report.