H.R. 6405 — Introduced in House

I 116th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 6405 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 26, 2020Mr. Steube introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To direct the President, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, to develop and carry out a strategy to seek reimbursement from the People’s Republic of China of funds made available by the United States Government to address the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Chinese Government COVID-19 Accountability Act. 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The United States economy has been severely affected by the Government of the People’s Republic of China’s controls on media reporting that limit coverage of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). (2) United States Government senior officials have expressed concerns about the completeness and timeliness of information China is reporting on COVID-19 and about the overall economic impact of COVID-19 in the United States. (3) China should be held financially responsible for funds made available by the United States Government to address COVID-19. 3. Executive strategy to seek reimbursement from China of funds made available by the United States Government to address COVID-19 (a) Executive strategy The President, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall develop and carry out a strategy to seek reimbursement from the People’s Republic of China of funds made available by the United States Government to address COVID-19. (b) Report Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the strategy required under subsection (a) and its implementation. (c) Appropriate congressional committees defined In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees means— (1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on the Budget, and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives; (2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on the Budget, and the Committee on Finance of the Senate; and (3) the Joint Economic Committee.