Congressional Democrats doubled down last night on a version of their $1.75 trillion spending package after it was revealed that they had removed a prohibition on the distribution of new research funding to Chinese companies complicit in the Uyghur genocide.
The removal of an amendment that had barred the bill’s funding for National Science Foundation programs to go to Chinese companies listed under the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act came to light only yesterday, though it appears to have been removed before a new version of the bill was introduced on October 28. Suggesting that the exclusion of the previously included provision wasn’t a mistake, Democrats went on to pass an amendment to the legislation incorporating other legislative fixes last night, but not addressing the removed Uyghur provision.
NR’s requests for comment to the House Science Committee, the House Rules Committee, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office have gone unanswered.
As Congress prepared for a vote on rules surrounding the social-spending bill that will take place later today, President Biden said in remarks about his legislative agenda: “Let’s show the world America’s democracy can deliver.”
