The COVID-19 pandemic has opened the eyes of many Americans to the danger the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses to our supply chain, especially for critical items such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and lifesaving pharmaceuticals. When COVID was allowed to spread rapidly throughout China and the world, Chinese Communist Party officials hoarded supplies of PPE and banned their export to other countries -- a move they were able to make because of their stranglehold on that supply chain. And just as frightening, the United States sources approximately 80 percent of its active pharmaceutical ingredients from overseas, including the People's Republic of China. Through one of its propaganda outlets, the CCP even threatened to impose export controls on pharmaceuticals needed to fight the coronavirus the party allowed to spread. Can you imagine what would have happened if they had followed through? That's why it's important that we secure critical medical supply chains now. We also need to secure our technological supply chains before it is too late -- and that starts with re-establishing the United States as a true leader in the production of advanced semiconductors. Semiconductors are the tiny chips that serve as the brains behind your toaster, your smartphone, all the way to fighter jets and, in the very near future, they will serve as the brains behind the innovations of tomorrow such as 5G, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence (AI). America is already a leader on semiconductors, with the U.S. industry accounting for nearly 50 percent annual global market share and with American companies at the forefront of advanced semiconductor chip design. But our leadership is being threatened. The Chinese Communist Party is spending billions of dollars to become the leader in the production of advanced semiconductors, posing a serious threat to our economic and national security. Unless we take bold action, the United States may lose its edge in making advanced semiconductor chips to our adversary and endanger our technological future. That's why I worked with Democrats and Republicans in both Chambers of Congress, including my House colleague Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), and my Senate colleagues Senator John Cornyn and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), to introduce the CHIPS for America Act. By providing funding and support throughout the semiconductor supply chain--from research and development to production--our bill will supercharge investment, create thousands of jobs, and safeguard national security. I am proud a version of the CHIPS for America Act passed on the House floor as an amendment to this year's National Defense Authorization Act, and will work with my colleagues in the Senate to get this to the president's desk. Existing semiconductor ecosystems like ones in Austin should be further energized by this bill, which will have a cascading effect on the local economy. And with the Army's Future Command, the University of Texas and the high-tech community already based in Austin, our city is ideally situated for this industry to grow and thrive here. Semiconductor manufacturing jobs--which net an average salary of $150,000 per year--create nearly five additional jobs in the broader economy. We have already seen this effect in Austin thanks to the Samsung Semiconductor facility -- the most significant foreign direct investment in this country. Beyond this fabrication facility, there are dozens of semiconductor companies that conduct research, design, or testing of semiconductors in my district, and dozens more that use a semiconductor to power a finished product, such as Apple, which builds its MacBook Pro computer in Austin. Now is the time to act to preserve American leadership in the development and manufacturing of the technologies of the future. This op-ed first appeared online in the Austin American-Statesman on August 7th, 2020.

By Rep. Michael McCaul Last December, the president signed the Global Fragility Act into law. I was pleased to join my friends, Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Chris Coons (D-Del.) in championing this important legislation. This bipartisan success story is already driving the U.S. government to take a more multi-faceted approach to stabilizing conflict-affected areas by addressing the root causes of fragility before conflict arises. The enactment could not have come at a more important time. We are now dealing with a pandemic that has reached every corner of the world. The economic, political and physical ramifications of COVID-19 puts countries and regions that were already considered fragile at risk of further destabilization. As governments focus on reversing the health and economic fallout in their home countries, the international community must also consider the indirect effects of COVID-19 around the world and prioritize investments in fragile countries. Without assistance, the virus will likely hurt the most vulnerable people most, including women, children and displaced people. Globally, almost 80 million people are displaced, over 80 percent of which live in lower- and middle-income countries -- numbers that will likely rise due to the economic strain of COVID-19. Refugee camps represent some of the most densely populated areas in the world. Access to adequate shelter, clean water and disinfectants is extremely limited in most camps, and proper social distancing is almost impossible, making them ripe for an outbreak that could result in massive loss of human life. In June, Cox Bazaar in Bangladesh reported its second COVID-19 death, the same day the surrounding community reported a record number of over 3,000 new cases and 45 deaths over 24 hours in the country. There are over 850,000 refugees living in Cox Bazaar and, in some places, more than 100,000 people live in one square mile. There are also confirmed cases in a camp in South Sudan, a country which has one of the world's weakest health systems after years of conflict and crises. In other words, we are on the verge of a massive humanitarian crisis if the virus spreads as rapidly in refugee camps or in fragile states as it has done in some U.S. cities. The global humanitarian system is already strained addressing existing humanitarian crises and there is great concern countries on a positive trajectory could devolve into chaos. Sudan's civilian-led government was formed less than one year ago after the ouster of 30-year dictator Omar al-Bashir, and was already in economic crisis before the pandemic hit. Ethiopia's first ever multi-party elections, scheduled for August, have been suspended due to COVID-19. Both of these countries challenges are compounded not by the largest locust outbreak in over 70 years, but also by COVID-19. As this virus spreads chaos and fear, authoritarian regimes, terrorist groups, and hostile nation states will try to take advantage. In June, the UN Under Secretary for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix testified to the UN Security Council that terrorist groups are trying to capitalize on the pandemic to undermine and destabilize governments in the Sahel. The Chinese Communist Party, acting both as the arsonist and the firefighter, is leveraging this pandemic to project their power and influence through economic dependencies seeded by their Belt and Road Initiative. The U.S. must band with likeminded partners and democratic nations to push back against these growing threats. The U.S. has been a leader in providing global health and development assistance for decades. So far, the U.S. has given $1.5 billion to help control the spread of this deadly disease and mitigate its impact, including support for refugees and for humanitarian assistance in fragile states. The State Department, USAID and the Pentagon must effectively implement the long-term planning required by the Global Fragility Act and prioritize our assistance to prevent further conflict and destabilization. We must also address the long-term impacts of COVID-19, including its impact on election preparedness, democratic governance, counter terrorism operations, vaccination campaigns, education systems, food security, and on supply chains. If we do not, the destabilization caused by COVID-19 will be exponentially more. I look forward to working with the administration and my colleagues in Congress to ensure that the goals of the Global Fragility Act are applied to this dynamic reality.

By Mochael McCaul As the world battles the coronavirus, Russian President Vladimir Putin is following his favorite rule: "never let a good crisis go to waste." Using the cover of coronavirus, Putin has tightened his grip at home and launched a charm offensive abroad. But his transparent attempts to rebrand Moscow as a responsible and capable global player -- undeserving of international condemnation, political isolation and Western sanctions -- should fool no one. Putin is not our friend and cannot be trusted. In Russia, Putin is sharpening his tools of repression under the guise of combating coronavirus. Moscow's mayor has expanded the city's surveillance system and facial-recognition technology. The capital has also introduced a digital tracking system to enforce its lockdown. During a pandemic, this type of technology can be used by responsible actors to bolster public health efforts. However, in the hands of an authoritarian strongman like Putin, this technology will almost certainly be used to monitor Russian citizens long after lockdowns are lifted. A new Russian law has made spreading false information about coronavirus punishable by fines and lengthy prison terms. While this appears to be a good faith effort to stop the spread of misinformation, there's a catch: Russian authorities decide what is "false." The Putin regime and its cronies are already dangerously abusing the law to silence criticism of the coronavirus response. For example, a Russian doctor Anastasia Vasilyeva was detained for voicing her concerns about inadequacies in their health care system and for questioning official figures on the virus's spread in Russia. Putin also has seized on the global misery and chaos caused by coronavirus to launch yet another harmful disinformation campaign. The Kremlin has done nothing to stop the development and spread of false reports that the United States created and weaponized the coronavirus. Putin's sophisticated network of pro-Kremlin media, bots and trolls also have sought to further his longstanding goal of weakening the European Union, amplifying frustrations with the EU response to the pandemic and the idea that the EU itself is coming undone. Meanwhile, the Russian-controlled media has extensively covered the medical supplies the Kremlin delivered to the United States as proof that Moscow is a responsible global actor. However, what on the surface appear to be gestures of good will are actually calculated moves for geopolitical gain. While the Russian media portrayed the medical supplies delivered to the United States as humanitarian aid, the State Department set the record straight that the United States purchased these supplies. The Putin regime also chose to deliver those supplies from a business linked to a Russian holding company under U.S. sanctions for developing weapons used in Russia's war in Ukraine -- an unambiguous message that undercutting Western sanctions, not assisting coronavirus-stricken New York, was the ultimate goal. Medical supplies were also sent to Italy in Russian military vehicles adorned with "From Russia with Love," and Russian and Italian flags flying side-by-side on them. The supplies were accompanied by Russian military personnel, raising concerns that the Kremlin also planned to gather intelligence in a key NATO ally's territory. A whopping 80 percent of that aid reportedly was "useless" to Italian health professionals. In addition, videos spread by pro-Russian media showing the Russian anthem playing in the streets of Italy were later discredited. It's clear the Putin regime cares more about winning the propaganda war, not the actual war the rest of the world is fighting together against the coronavirus. Aid to Russia's partner countries from Syria to Serbia are intended to reinforce Moscow's strategic alliances. For example, Serbia has served as Russia's bridgehead into the Western Balkans, which Moscow perceives to be in its sphere of influence.The large number of Russian soldiers sent to assist their Serbian counterparts in fighting the virus are not there for purely humanitarian reasons. Rather, Putin, who is unhappy with the region's Western integration as well as China's expanding role in Serbia, is working to solidify Russian influence in the country. Putin must stop exploiting this global pandemic for his own geopolitical gain and discontinue the Russian coronavirus disinformation campaign. In addition, he must end Russia's war in eastern Ukraine and illegal occupation of Crimea, halt Russia's ongoing slaughter of innocent people and bombings of hospitals and other civilian infrastructure in Syria, cease continued efforts to meddle in the domestic affairs of the United States and our allies, and release the hundreds of political prisoners in Russia as well as U.S. citizen Paul Whelan. If President Putin wants to be treated as a responsible global partner, he needs to start acting like one.