Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) highlighted the need for the Senate to take action on TikTok in a floor speech on Monday, telling his colleagues that “America’s greatest strategic rival is attacking us right here on American soil.” “This has been threatening the security of the world for decades,” he said. of millions of American families. ”
“This is an issue that deserves urgent attention from Congress,” he said. “And I support common-sense, bipartisan steps to take one of the Chinese government’s favorite tools of coercion and espionage off the table.”
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McConnell sounded the alarm on TikTok in a floor speech on Monday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite/File)
McConnell’s comments about the popular social media app, which is under scrutiny for its ownership by the Chinese company ByteDance, come after a bill to force the sale of the company to a non-Chinese entity passed the House with an overwhelming bipartisan majority last month. It was conducted.
Only one abstained from the Protecting Americans from Regulatory Applications by Foreign Adversaries Act, introduced in the House by Rep. Mike Gallagher, Republican of Wisconsin, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Democrat of Illinois. was. Pass, 352-65.
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TikTok is a popular social media app. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File)
When the bill reached the Senate, instead of rushing through it as some had hoped, it was referred to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee for a price increase. The process and timeline the bill currently faces is unclear, as committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) has announced her intention to hold public hearings on the issue.
McConnell joins many other senators call for urgent action Senate Intel Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) also supported the bill.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping is pictured here. Under Chinese law, Chinese companies must divulge personal information. (Lingtao Zhang/Getty Images/File)
But with Schumer’s immediate decision not to bring the bill to the floor for a vote and Cantwell planning a public hearing, the swift action they were hoping for is unlikely. I think that the.
The Senate minority leader also addressed arguments made by several Republican colleagues about the TikTok bill, slamming suggestions that it violates the First Amendment.
“This is not a debate about limiting speech,” McConnell said.
The Senate did not expedite the bill passed by the House. Sen. Maria Cantwell and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are pictured here. (Getty Images/File)
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“The issues we face are about behavior, not content,” he said.
And, according to McConnell, “requiring companies influenced by the Chinese government to divest from TikTok would fall squarely within established constitutional precedent.”
